No two ancient coin dies were exactly alike. Every die was engraved by hand, so every detail, from a letter's shape to the curl of an emperor's hair, was uni...

To a beginner, a worn ancient coin can seem impossible to identify. Yet experienced numismatists attribute coins surprisingly quickly, not by luck, but by fo...

Not all counterfeit ancient coins were made the same way. Some were cast in molds, others struck with dies, and knowing the difference is one of the most use...

A second portrait. Letters that don't belong. Part of another design peeking through from beneath. Many collectors mistake these for damage, but they're some...

"Plate Coin." You've seen it in auction catalogs and numismatic books, and for many collectors the term is confusing. Is it a special type? More valuable? Th...

Counterfeiting money isn't a modern invention, it's as old as valuable coins themselves. The fourrée is one of the most fascinating examples: an ancient coun...

The first time you open an ancient coin auction catalog, it can feel overwhelming: abbreviations everywhere, references you've never seen, Latin legends, die...

RIC II Trajan 123. Sear 1058. RPC I 4567. HGC 6, 123. To a new collector, those strings of letters and numbers in auction listings look like a secret code, b...

Most people assume a genuine coin from the Roman Empire or Biblical Judaea must cost thousands. The surprising truth is that many cost less than a dinner for...

A Roman emperor's portrait, but the legends are in Greek, the reverse looks unfamiliar, and the mint isn't Rome. Many new collectors hit that exact moment of...

IMP. AVG. P P. TR P. COS. At first glance a Roman coin looks like a circle of random letters, and the lettering is one of the most intimidating parts of coll...

"Broad flan." "Minor flan crack." "Off-center on a small flan." If you've read auction descriptions, you've seen the word, but what is a flan? It's the blank...

"Horn silver" sounds alarming in an auction description, but it's one of the most misunderstood conditions on ancient silver coins. It's silver chloride that...

New collectors often assume every soft detail on an ancient coin comes from circulation. Often it doesn't. Sometimes the coin left the mint that way, because...

Ever seen an ancient coin with a small portrait or symbol stamped over its original design? That's a countermark, an official mark added after the coin was s...

A deep cut across a beautiful ancient coin can be disappointing, until you understand why it's there. When the cut was made, the coin wasn't an artifact. It ...

Look at enough ancient Greek silver and you'll spot something odd: a small punch, a tiny square, a symbol stamped into the surface. At first it looks like da...

"That coin has great eye appeal." You'll hear it constantly in the hobby, but what does it actually mean? Eye appeal is the overall visual impression a coin ...

"Ex Smith Collection." "From a collection formed before 1970." If you've read auction catalogs, you've seen provenance, and it can sound mysterious. In reali...

You've seen "brushed" on a certified ancient coin and wondered what it means. Was it damaged? Cleaned? It's one of the most debated surface descriptions in t...

You've seen "smoothed" in an auction catalog and wondered what it means. Like tooling, it can sound intimidating, but the two aren't the same: tooling change...

You've seen the word "tooled" in a coin description and wondered: what does it mean? Is the coin fake? Tooling is one of the most misunderstood subjects in a...

Ask ten ancient coin collectors what makes a coin great, and you'll hear ten different answers. Some chase rarity, others want a beautiful portrait, others c...

The first time you hold an ancient coin, you might notice what seems wrong. It's off-center. It has a crack. The lettering runs off the edge. To a modern eye...