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Just as in a casino, the house always wins. Good to notify the community.

The whole thing has a taste of "ancient coins for people who doesn't care about ancient coins (but who don't want to miss the ancient coin rush and profit from the price surge)."

Extremely well analyzed! I absolutely agree that turning works of ancient art into casino chips is a disgrace, thankfully they didn’t get their hands on a Syracuse tetradrachm…

That was enjoyable Leo. Sadly I'm usually in the black area when it comes to purchasing coins. But at least when you have to budget you almost get a closer connection to the coin(s) you buy individualy.

With 700 dollars I could finally complete my Constantine dynasty collection and get a nice coin of Hanniballianus.

Thank you for educating people about these scams.

This box is basically you paying over $600 and ending up with three coins of $40-150 in value each. The more valuable pieces are quite rare, all things considered. That's not all - you end up with three completely random coins which could be one late Roman Imperial piece, a Cappadocian Kingdom piece, and a Tabaristanian piece. You may be excited for a moment because you have no idea what you'll find, but then you realize that you just spent a bunch of money on random coins that may hardly fit in your collection. It's glorified gambling in the form of real life loot boxes, and it's shocking to see people paying over $1k for these boxes after they were sold out.

There is only one good way to buy drop boxes of Roman or other ancient coins and that is when it is through reputable well established uncleaned coin dealers. Rather than $650, you won't spend more than $200 even if you go crazy, my purchases tend to be $70 to $150. You also know what kind of expectations to have, debased antoninioni, 4th century LRBC, and occasionally something special. You won't break even simply due to the labor it takes to clean them but its the experience of cleaning they are selling you rather than the straight value of the coins. Occasionally you find a gem, but that's just extra.

Can you make a video on how ppl kept, stored and carried their coins? Did they lock their coin jars up?

Good video. It's crazy enough to pay Vaultbox retail for common coins. Paying scalper/flipper prices is even crazier.

The Vault Box is something of which only flippers are aware. In fact, I only became aware of it through a few amateur and professional dealers on YT. As you mentioned, grading ancients requires much more assessment than a simple grade, and NGC does that somewhat w/ their "Strike" and "Surface" number grades, but even that does not account for things like toning, die wear, die style, etc. I once thought "what if" Vault Box had an "ancients" theme, but dismissed it, since such coins have too many variations in quality and style, compared to machine-struck coins... but here we are. This series did not have as much hype as previous releases, but the Vault Box now has an established customer base, and the flippers will be quick to snap up any release.

After seeing some unboxing videos of this series, the general responses from the recipients have been "Nice, red core! Boo, black core!", general confusion about what exactly they're holding, and how much they can receive by selling it back to Vault Box. While the company does have general info on their website about each particular coin type, it would have been more helpful if there were also descriptions and translations of the legends. There is something dirty about turning Greek and Roman coins into "loot box" fodder... this feels like a high-priced version of the "grab bag" you covered in a previous video, except is does not inspire potential collectors, but rather caters to that "chase the key-date" mentality, w/ the simple "red core/black core" distinction. I am almost certain that whoever received the Julius Caesar aureus, or the Justinian II solidus, isn't so much thrilled about the coin itself, but rather how much Vault Box will pay them in the buyback...

Excellent video thank you. I am both new to your channel and ancients (although have coin collected for some years). Appreciate the education.

Just thinking of what I would be able to buy spending $650 on coins. Looking at my watch list of coins I didn't buy but would if I had that kind of money available. The most stunning Faustina the Younger denarius I ever saw went for $300, a recent Pertinax in VF condition went for $450, fantastic Sesterti from the 2nd century that go for $250, Venetian Silver for $100 and what about a JULIUS CAESAR PORTRAIT I saw go for $650? Ridiculous. No way would I drop that kind of cash on a casino drop box.

Ur perspective was much appreciated on these series

You are doing a great service Leo ,but unfortunately the silly people that buy that rubbish don't watch you brilliant channel,and wonder why they get ripped off.😢

Gambling is infecting everything. I don't watch sports, but it seems the major advertisers now are Gambling websites. I understand that, watching other men do stuff (play with a ball) is incredibly boring, so you need to bet on it.

Aside from the fact that this is an enormous ripoff, I think this is fundamentally wrong and counter to the spirit of this beautiful hobby. At its best, ancient coin collecting is pursued in an academic and historical spirit, with respect for and stewardship of these incredible pieces of history and important cultural artifacts. They should not be treated as mere casino chips to be wagered, or simply commodities to fill loot boxes. In the current collecting climate, with regulators increasingly infringing on collector's freedoms, this kind of bullshit fuels their narrative by blatantly disrespecting these artifacts we are lucky enough to collect and study. I urge my fellow ancient collectors to not support this corruption of our passion. Keep this bullshit in the US coin collecting realm. Their obsession of slabbing and grading has fully commodified their collecting space. Gambling with coins seems normal when you view your coins as mere commodities to be wagered and invested, not much different than stocks, crypto, or sports cards. Let's not let our hobby be corrupted in the same manner.

I'd personally not gamble on such a box. I'd rather have a single (if somewhat lower quality) Julius Caesar, Nero, etc.

Reminds me of the scourge of "mystery boxes" in the comic book industry. Just a blatant attempt to dump undesirable product on people.

Thank you for spending the time on this. I don't like the idea. I'd put the 700 towards Otho to complete my 12 Ceasars instead.

This is really a good video about a horrific news. I can even imagine who can buy this box, and believe this is the way of collecting ancient coins .

With $700 I would buy coins of Ceasar or maybe Augustus, probably not the best condition.

Great video. Id like to get into greek coins. What literature would you recommend and which period? I mainly collect 1918 -1939 polish coins, but would like to try something else. Thank you

I absolutely hate that gambling has to infect every hobby out there, its disgusting and insidious

Even if I had enough money to even entertain the thought of buying this box, coin collecting is not something I do to gamble and stress myself. I want (somewhat) shiny witnesses of past economic and socio-political circumstances.

I’d rather get a respectable corinthian stater for that price.

Yall: casino chips Your children: loot boxes 😂

Another great video. As you stated, the game is set up so that the House always wins. That type of pre-packaged bundle just reeks of trouble. I would very much like to own several specific Roman Denarius coins; Julius Caesar, Marcus Agrippa, M. Aurelius and something from Iberia during the rebellion of Quintus Sertorius. Thanks again.

Right now i have been more interested in roman republic and greek (both classical and Hellenistic) coins. if i had 700 i would buy something greek most likely, like a few really nice greek coins maybe even a Athenian owl or some coins minted under Alexander III or Seleucid empire coins or just a mix of greek and or roman republic coins. or.... a coin of Pupienus because haha funny name 😆

I have to agree on all points. Grades on ancients never give the full story. I have bought at coins over an or MS because they look nicer, better style, full legends etc.

If someone wants to buy one of these boxes, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you!😅

$649 and sold out within hours, still sold out.

What I hate the most about this is that they’re making ancient coins now just an object to invest in, like all the other great hobbies have become. (Most of) This new wave of collectors only care about how much they can flip the coin for down the road, not what it represents in our history. It’s a shame really.

8:36 form what I know they are relatively rare

Yikes- this is pretty awful. I mean you can't call it a scam since they clearly state everything about the system, so it's more like a lottery- but it's dirty nonetheless. They know they're taking people for a ride and are okay with that. These box things are just scummy. Well it's a top-notch evaluation, and I'm really glad you took the time to advise the wider community about this. Luckily, it's unlikely any real collectors will fall for it, but relatives and maybe new people might. But at that price, I truly can't think of who would have bought these- maybe those with a gambling addiction, or...? I don't know. But it's really a shame.

I think these are as bad as the subscription boxes. It’s just a waste of money

Sinceramente, eu acho isso meio patético. Em minha opinião, seria muito melhor comprar moedas com a sua própria escolha, do que conseguir uma moeda que nao tenha valido a pena pelo preço que você comprou.

People gambling, Hoping to hit it big.

Thanks for telling people Leo. That looks like a version of scratch cards. Wow Leo 700 bucks would buy a reasonable solidus. No thanks and best of luck to anyone buying that nonsense.😮😮😮

Aren't dealers/shops usually going to have similarly large markups? They don't keep the lights on by giving you a great deal.

I can't watch no more. Don't show people your collection. I know coin groups are good. But iam from 🌎 I don't trust that many humans.