#782 – Dean Kinzer – Ancient Coin Expert | Founder of Kinzer Coins
#781 – Luke Storey on loneliness, recovery, integrity, and writing A Horse Named Lonesome
September 22, 2026
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Interview starts at 32:00
Dean Kinzer of Kinzer Coins joins Graham Dunlop and Darren Grimes for a wide ranging conversation about ancient coins, the family roots that pulled him into collecting, and why coins are really compact historical records. Dean explains how ancient coinage evolved from electrum globs and early stamped pieces into state backed currency, and why collectors can use coins to trace politics, propaganda, economics, and the rise and fall of civilizations.
We discuss why ancient coins are still accessible to new collectors, how grading and slabbed coins reduce the risk of counterfeits, and why Dean built tools to help people understand value without getting burned. Along the way, the conversation covers Roman debasement, the Ides of March coin, Viking treasure, mythological imagery, and why the hobby is as much about education as it is about collecting.
Dean Kinzer is an ancient coin expert and founder of Kinzer Coins, known for helping collectors and history enthusiasts hold the past in their hands. Dean’s journey into ancient coins began after his father’s passing, when he received his father’s extensive collection. He realized there was a gap in the market for trusted ancient coin expertise. As a decorated Iraq War veteran with an MBA, Dean brings discipline, structure, and integrity to the 2,700 year old field of ancient coins, collecting, and education.
Special Audience Giveaway:
TITLE – The 5 Best Ancient Coins for New Collectors
Key topics
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Dean shares his origin story growing up in a collector household, surrounded by baseball cards, American coins, and a father whose collection grew into a massive organized archive
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We discuss how caring for his father’s collection after his illness led Dean to ancient coins, especially Biblical pieces like shekels of Tyre, tribute pennies, and widows mites
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The conversation explains the earliest coinage in western Turkey, including electrum, hand struck pieces, and the early fight against counterfeiting with striated designs and incuse punches
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Dean breaks down Croesus and the shift from stamped metal to formal state backed coinage across the Mediterranean
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We discuss how coin artistry evolved from utility to high relief portraits, signed dies, and city states using coins as civic identity
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Darren asks about money with no inherent value, and Dean uses Rome’s debasement of silver to show how inflation and collapse appear directly in coinage
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The Roman denarius is traced from high purity silver to zero silver over roughly 60 years, with Caracalla, Aurelian, and the late empire used as key examples
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The show explores how coins functioned as propaganda, carrying messages across an empire when direct communication was difficult
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Dean highlights unusual and collectible themes on ancient coins, including wrestlers, athletes, astronomy, animals, music, boxing, gladiators, and mythological founders
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The discussion turns to the Ides of March coin, Julius Caesar’s portrait on coinage, and why the Brutus Eid Mar coin is one of the most famous and valuable ancient coins
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Dean explains the modern collecting market, including slabbed coins, NGC grading, counterfeit prevention, and his own value guide and app for Roman imperial coins
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The episode closes with Dean talking about the diversity of the collecting community, the educational mission behind Kinzer Coins, and the idea of a surprise coin subscription concept sparked during the interview
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Timestamps
00:00 – Dean Kinzer introduces his background and the family collecting legacy
00:56 – Growing up around baseball cards, coins, and a huge household collection
01:55 – National conventions, coin shops, and the rise and fall of the family shop
03:21 – Organizing a massive inherited collection and returning to ancient coins
04:18 – Discovering 2,000 year old shekels of Tyre in his father’s collection
05:47 – Why Dean wants more people to learn ancient history through coins
06:58 – A 325 BC coin from Pisidia with wrestlers and a slinger
08:28 – How early coinage developed in western Turkey from electrum
09:25 – Counterfeiting, incuse punches, and the move toward state backed systems
10:24 – Croesus, denominations, and the spread of coinage across the Mediterranean
11:22 – Hand carved dies, signed artists, and ancient coins as works of art
12:37 – Can money have no inherent value, and what bronze and silver reveal
13:38 – Rome’s silver debasement and the collapse of the denarius
15:13 – Aurelian, the crisis of the third century, and cheap coins tied to big history
18:03 – The strange Roman coin tied to an emperor who may not have existed
20:48 – The Bronze Age collapse, the Sea Peoples, and historical mystery
23:27 – Vikings, Ragnar Lothbrok, and what coins can and cannot verify
24:24 – Why buried money survives and why treasure hunting still matters
25:33 – How different countries handle metal detecting, antiquities, and ownership
26:54 – Islamic currency, medieval coinage, and local rulers
27:42 – Collecting famous people, from Alexander the Great to Julius Caesar
28:36 – How ancient coin values have risen and why some names always stay desirable
29:39 – Dean’s selling model and the educational mission behind his store
31:03 – Coins as political messaging and propaganda across the Roman world
33:32 – What slabbed coins are and how grading reduces counterfeit risk
34:57 – Why Dean built a Roman coin value guide and app
38:38 – City state coin designs, the Sylphium plant, and local identity
40:04 – Mythological founders, gods, and astrology on ancient coinage
41:40 – Animals, music, sports, gladiators, and collecting by theme
43:22 – The Brutus Eid Mar coin and the story of Caesar’s assassination
46:41 – Caesar on coins, the breakdown of Roman norms, and the new imperial template
49:49 – Why the Ides of March coin is so valuable and historically loaded
51:35 – Provincial coins, architecture, and lost buildings preserved only on metal
53:03 – Transitional Byzantine and Islamic coins during conquest
54:11 – Where Dean draws the line between ancient and world coins
55:06 – Antiquities, relics, and the wider historical collecting world
56:53 – Dean’s loyalty idea, surprise coin subscriptions, and collector retention
58:44 – Where to find Dean and Kinzer Coins online
