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Hoard of coins from Norman Conquest is Britain's most valuable treasure find

cnn.com

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Re: Hoard of coins from Norman Conquest is Britain's most valuable treasure find

#11

Post by jamesfinlayson »

boomboomsubban wrote: post #10
nlh wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Professional coin nerd here) You’d be surprised! It’s all about supply and demand. You can get very common Ancient Greek coins from 300 BC (eg ~2300 years old) for $50 these days. For example: https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-phoenicia-s... Of course you can also get rare ones for $thousands or $millions. All about who cares and how many there are.

I understand rarity and all, but it's still strange that there are US pennies worth far more than these coins. It makes sense, but instinctively feels wrong.

I think it's one of those things where people love US pennies because it's what they know and or grew up with (and possibly got them into collecting) - at least in the US. I always got the impression that collecting ancient coins like this was much less mainstream than people collecting the coins of the country that they currently live in.

Re: Hoard of coins from Norman Conquest is Britain's most valuable treasure find

#12

Post by crtified »

I'm sure there are portion of us for whom this treasure trove recalls fond childhood memories of reading Dahl's short story The Mildenhall Treasure, a creative account of real events in 1942 surrounding the controversial finding of a huge cache of 4th century Roman silverware - one of the other great historical hoards dug up in modern Britain.

Re: Hoard of coins from Norman Conquest is Britain's most valuable treasure find

#13

Post by kleton »

hellavapid wrote: post #6
nlh wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Professional coin nerd here) You’d be surprised! It’s all about supply and demand. You can get very common Ancient Greek coins from 300 BC (eg ~2300 years old) for $50 these days. For example: https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-phoenicia-s... Of course you can also get rare ones for $thousands or $millions. All about who cares and how many there are.

wonder how much that coin is worth now vs how much it was worth in 300 Bc

Prices in Ancient Greece in Athens in the 5th century BC

1 loaf of bread 1 obolos

The standard rate for a prostitute 3 oboloi

6 oboloi are 1 drahma, about 4 drahmai to the shekel. That coin is 1/16 shekel, so about 1.5 loaves

Re: Hoard of coins from Norman Conquest is Britain's most valuable treasure find

#14

Post by jim-jim-jim »

kadushka wrote: post #2

A thousand year old coin for $1000? That seems rather cheap.

I was similarly surprised recently when I found out you can legally purchase many ancient artifacts, like lamps, seals, and burial items. They're by no means cheap, but they aren't priceless treasures either. We've always mass produced stuff, and the museums aren't interested in most of it.

Re: Hoard of coins from Norman Conquest is Britain's most valuable treasure find

#15

Post by fngjdflmdflg »

freeqaz wrote: post #7
ChuckMcM wrote: post #4

One wonders if they are worth face value given inflation. It would be a fun exercise to figure out their value in pounds sterling and then calculate what that number would be in the present. That said, my kids and I buried 50 copper coins in a forest in the sierras, perhaps a thousand years from now the aliens visiting our dead planet will find them. :-(

It's have to be deflation for them to be worth more. The only thing here that would be the equivalent would be the value of the silver. I'm _guessing_ that the silver is worth like 1% of the valuation (from looking at the photos). Doesn't seem like it's 2500 kilos of silver (~$1100 per kg at current prices)!

>The only thing here that would be the equivalent would be the value of the silver

Not necessarily. A lot more silver has been mined since the Norman Conquest (for example in the New World, but also in the Old World) which increases its supply. The demand for and utility of silver in general has also changed since then.

Re: Hoard of coins from Norman Conquest is Britain's most valuable treasure find

#16

Post by MaxHoppersGhost »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #4

One wonders if they are worth face value given inflation. It would be a fun exercise to figure out their value in pounds sterling and then calculate what that number would be in the present. That said, my kids and I buried 50 copper coins in a forest in the sierras, perhaps a thousand years from now the aliens visiting our dead planet will find them. :-(

Why would our planet be dead in 1000 years? And why did you decide to have children if you believe that?

Re: Hoard of coins from Norman Conquest is Britain's most valuable treasure find

#17

Post by ldx1024 »

kleton wrote: post #13
hellavapid wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

wonder how much that coin is worth now vs how much it was worth in 300 Bc

Prices in Ancient Greece in Athens in the 5th century BC 1 loaf of bread 1 obolos The standard rate for a prostitute 3 oboloi 6 oboloi are 1 drahma, about 4 drahmai to the shekel. That coin is 1/16 shekel, so about 1.5 loaves

[flagged]

Re: Hoard of coins from Norman Conquest is Britain's most valuable treasure find

#18

Post by Loughla »

nlh wrote: post #5
kadushka wrote: post #2

A thousand year old coin for $1000? That seems rather cheap.

(Professional coin nerd here) You’d be surprised! It’s all about supply and demand. You can get very common Ancient Greek coins from 300 BC (eg ~2300 years old) for $50 these days. For example: https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-phoenicia-s... Of course you can also get rare ones for $thousands or $millions. All about who cares and how many there are.

If I was looking for one of those coins as a gift for a friend who is very into ancient Greece, where would I go?

Bearing in mind that I know nothing about ancient Greece and coins in equal parts.

Re: Hoard of coins from Norman Conquest is Britain's most valuable treasure find

#19

Post by aegis4244 »

ldx1024 wrote: post #17
kleton wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prices in Ancient Greece in Athens in the 5th century BC 1 loaf of bread 1 obolos The standard rate for a prostitute 3 oboloi 6 oboloi are 1 drahma, about 4 drahmai to the shekel. That coin is 1/16 shekel, so about 1.5 loaves

[flagged]

Yes, but which half ?

Re: Hoard of coins from Norman Conquest is Britain's most valuable treasure find

#20

Post by mmooss »

nlh wrote: post #5
kadushka wrote: post #2

A thousand year old coin for $1000? That seems rather cheap.

(Professional coin nerd here) You’d be surprised! It’s all about supply and demand. You can get very common Ancient Greek coins from 300 BC (eg ~2300 years old) for $50 these days. For example: https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-phoenicia-s... Of course you can also get rare ones for $thousands or $millions. All about who cares and how many there are.

Will the number of coins in the OP cause prices to drop?
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