Collecting Ancient Coins
By Joel Potgieter - February 2026
Ancient coins hold a special place in numismatics. Minted thousands of years ago, these coins are highly prized by collectors worldwide today for their historical importance and beauty. However, this doesn’t mean that one must be super wealthy to be able to put together a nice collection of these tiny artworks.
For centuries, ancient coins have been dug up by everyone from seasoned archaeologists hunting for clues about the ancient world to lucky children playing in a field. Since the invention of the metal detector, even more have come to light, sometimes in hoards of thousands or even tens of thousands. Because the supply is so large, many ancients are surprisingly affordable today.
There are many ways to collect ancient coins. Some of the common ways include collecting them by the issuing city (very popular for Greek coins, less so for Roman coinage), by denomination (for example, collecting only Greek tetradrachms or only Roman denarii) or by portrait (whoever’s face or bust is depicted on the coin).
A common goal among ancient coin collectors is to collect a coin from the reign of each Roman emperor, thereby assembling a portrait gallery in miniature of these ancient rulers.
Unfortunately, collectors do need to be careful of the many fake or altered ancient coins out there. The best defence is to buy from reputable dealers who offer a lifetime guarantee of authenticity for all the coins they sell. Buying coins graded and slabbed by NGC is also a very sure way to avoid accidentally spending lots of money on a forgery. Thankfully, most ancient coins on the market today are genuine, but it pays to be careful.
When you hold an ancient coin in your hands, you cannot help but wonder about what this coin has seen and heard in its lifetime. Was this silver tetradrachm of Alexander the Great (see above) minted from silver taken from the rebel city of Thebes, or even during the legendary fall of Tyre? Was this Roman sestertius of Emperor Nero (see above) used to pay for part of the cost of building Nero’s palace on top of the smouldering ruins of Rome after its devastating fire? What paths did these coins take over the centuries that led all the way to them being in your collection today?
Sadly, we may never know the full answers to these questions.
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