Sure, there are some people who opt to collect ancient coins purely as a financial investment. For most folks, there’s a larger and purer motivation. Looking at your mantle and seeing a case that holds a coin that was in a shipwreck, or one from ancient Greece, that feeling inexorably ties you to history.

But what’s the best way to get started with collecting? Glad you asked, since we’ve got tips to get you going.

• Are your friends, family, or spouse going to all share your passion for tracking down a coin from the time of Hadrian? Not a chance, but it’s worth it to try. It can make the process more interesting if you have someone to share not just the coin itself, but the history that lives behind it.

• But what if your spouse/friends truly aren’t interested? No big thing, just go online and find either an ancient coin club, or a website and community specializing in ancient coins. Not only will you get useful information, but you’ll make new friends.

• Unless you’re independently wealthy, it behooves you to set up a budget. Crunch the numbers and figure out a reasonable monthly expenditure, then do not deviate from it. You don’t want to get into a situation where you can’t pay your power bill, but you just bought coins from the time of John the Baptist. Priorities.

• Research is your friend. Get on the mailing lists for coin catalogues, browse the Web, and check out books about ancient coin collecting from your local library. People who have been at this game for decades have a lot of valuable information. Use that info.

• What kinds of coins should you start with? Well...that’s up to you. Poke around a little, see what grabs you. Maybe you want to get coins from all of the Greek city-states, or coins depicting the Emperor Constantine. There’s no wrong move.