i'm new to this tribe, and just wanted to say "hi".
although it kinda seems like there's no one here to hear it. oh well...

i've been collecting coins since the sixties, although the past 20 years or so has been mainly devoted to collecting ancients. i was driven to this fascinating aspect of the hobby by the investment madness during to 80's, a time when the yuppies were driving U.S. coin prices right through the roof, only to seel a year or two later while leaving us collectors stuck with artificially inflated prices!
of course this didn't last, and many who bought during this time gave up collecting when they found out that the Morgan Dollar they paid $100 for was really only worth about $45. that is NOT what anyone wants to see.

this mania never did hit the ancient market, at least not nearly as hard. and the historical value of these coins is a big plus, imo.
that average collector on a budget can still buy nice Roman bronzes of the later Emperors for about $10-15 each, and that's a cheap price to pay to hold something in your hand that is 1700 years old!

well like i said, i'm not sure anybody will read this, but i wanted to introduce myself regardless.

: )