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Comment by Loughla | Hacker News Reader

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.

Do you have a coin shop in your town? If you do they tend to have a bit of everything (though most likely a focus on coins from the country you live in) and should have a few moderately priced ancient coins to choose from.

I do, but they do not. I'm the Midwest, small towns, coin shops are just very specific pawn shops. They have a fine selection of silver and gold new coins. Thanks for the suggestion though! I may drive to the nearest urban center to look. I hadn't thought of that.

If you want to be sure it's legit, try the site vcoins - they have a good selection of shops specializing in ancient greek coinage, and they have a good reputation for vetting.

Is there any particular city state / public person your friend is fond of? I'd plug that in their search bar and see what comes up.

Actually that's a really good question. I'll have to surreptitiously dig to find out.

And by dig, I mean ask literally anything and listen to the half hour lecture.

Thanks!

I would choose another gift. The trade in ancient coins encourages looters to dig up ancient archeological sites, destroying their value to archeology.

Yeah, I get that. I guess maybe I was hoping for a coin with some kind of certified providence. Like gems mined without slave labor sort of thing.

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