New Club Alert! David Sundman’s Coins of Antiquity
We’re excited to announce the launch of a new club for coin collectors! Leaning into the expertise of Littleton’s chairman, the club is called David Sundman’s Coins of Antiquity.
Have you ever been on the fence about committing to one of our coin clubs? Read on to see if this new one is for you!
Silver & Bronze Coins Hammered by Hand
Across his long career as a collector, David Sundman has always been fascinated by coins hammered by hand. Handpicked by him for discerning collectors, this new coin club of silver and bronze issues covers an influential span of history from 400 B.C. to A.D. 1500.
Increasingly hard to find, these early pieces in precious metal tell the stories of kingdoms and empires that shaped politics, religion and trade centuries ago. As a Coins of Antiquity club member, you’ll experience the Greek and Roman Empires, the Kingdom of Judaea, plus the walled-in city on the Bosphorus Strait that was the last empire’s capital before the Ottoman Turks invaded.
Coins of Antiquity also offers an extra opportunity for multi-generational collecting, like David had with his father, the founder of Littleton Coin, Maynard Sundman. Of course, we can go back even further with this mentor tradition to the father-son team which influenced formation of the United States of America. Take a look at how ancient history connects to early America in this blog on John Adams Amazing Ancient Coins.
How to Pronounce a Dead Language
When I came to work at Littleton Coin, I hadn’t been the Latin scholar my father had hoped for. I stumbled over pronouncing drachm, antoninianus and scyphate – just a few of the Latin names for ancient coins you don’t hear talked about in everyday conversations.
Turning that minus into a plus resulted in this Heads & Tails blog How to Speak Antiquity. Note the choices, plus their phonetic spellings – I listened to a lot of online audio! The ancient coins I selected are ones most sought after, either by denomination or with the profile of a ruler on the obverse.
A Map. A Timeline. A Pocket Guide.
Where in the world do your Coins of Antiquity originate from? Good question. The 20th century witnessed countries change not only names, but borders – perhaps none more so than around the Mediterranean Sea and along the Silk Road between Rome and China. Where did the Sassanians rule? What happened to Byzantium? Does Tabaristan still exist?
Having spent a year lecturing in the Geography of Tourism to brand-conscious college students, I was thrilled to discover Coins of Antiquity membership includes a map! It’s one of the free gifts you’ll receive after you sign up. Knowing where your coins originated deepens your understanding of how to build your collection.
You’ll also get an equally useful timeline and the sixth edition – updated in 2024 – of our popular booklet How to Collect Ancient Roman Coins: Collectors Guide & Checklist. But that’s not all to make your collecting experience enjoyable.
Various shipments of silver and bronze coins will also come to you with pages illustrated with photos and filled with fun facts about ancient history. They’ll be a handy reference to help put your coins in context as your collection grows.
These pages will fit into one of our sturdy, archival-quality albums custom designed for coin collectors. In Littleton green, this three-ring binder is also free. It lies flat when opened and serves double duty for protecting as well as displaying your coins. Bonus gift: It also comes with vinyl pages for ancient coins and their individual story cards!
To get all those member benefits, where do you start? Well, this is how our unique Coins on Approval works. Built on the time-honored tradition of trust, it’s designed for the convenience of collectors because you’re allowed to examine precious metal coins in the security and comfort of your home – and to make a choice. The blog lays out the details, including how to accumulate Rewards Points that you can apply to receive free Littleton Coin merchandise.
By the way, since we went totally digital with our Rewards program, did you know there are now double the choices over our former print editions?
Are you ready? Sign up here. Your adventure with Coins of Antiquity is waiting for you!
