Who are we? What are our policies and guarantees?
We were one of the first web only ancient coin dealers on the Internet and have been in business since 1996 offering value priced ancient coins and antiquities.
Originally, there were 2 principals, John Darling on the west coast and Kevin Barry on the east. Several years ago John left the business for time and family reasons, leaving Kevin to run the show alone. Since, by that time, the business was already established as 'Barry & Darling' it was decided to continue under that name rather than starting again under a new one.
Kevin purchased his first ancient coin in 1978 (an Alexandrian bronze of Probus which he still has) and has been quietly involved in the hobby ever since. His interests include ancient counterfeits (he is currently trying to put together an ancient counterfeit 12 Caesars collection...which is not as easy as it sounds), Egyptian scarabs and studying heiroglyphics.
In 1999 he founded the Moneta-L email list which has become one of the most successful discussion group on ancient coins on the Internet with over 2,000 members. He is also the co-owner of the ACM (Ancient Coin Marketplace) mailing list with over 1,800 members.
Kevin is also the co-author of a monthly column on ancient coins and the Internet that appears in The Celator magazine. His co-author is Zachary 'Beast' Beasley owner of Beast Coins, an excellent and very knowledgable ancient coin dealer. They were the recipients of the Numismatic Literary Guild best column for 2005.
Kevin Barry
Post Office Box 614
Pt. Pleasant, NJ 08742
ANA # 178187
ANS # 8970
Telephone: (732) 840-8451
Email:
Kevin at Bitsofhistory.com
All of our coins and artifacts are guaranteed authentic for life. We offer a minimum 14 day return policy from the time the item arrives at your location. (Some dealers start counting the days from the time an item is shipped, which we think is pretty silly.)
We are a founding member of the VCoins group of dealers and adhere to the VCoins Code of Ethics.
Ordering is easy. You can place an order through our VCoins Store or bid on our eBay auctions. In either case, if you have any questions about an item, please feel free to contact us at any time.
You could also join our mailing list and take part in the mailing list preview periods and specials. During the preview period, our mailing list members have the chance to buy sale items, with either a discount or free shipping. Either way they save money and get to browse for several days before the sale is opened up to the public. We don't have a regular schedule for our sales, but do try to have one at least once per quarter.
We love getting little cash filled envelopes. (Alas, that does not happen often enough.) Otherwise, your payment options include;
For customers located in the U.S. payment options include credit card via Paypal, money order or check.
For customers located outside of the U.S. payment can be made via Paypal, international money order or a check drawn on a US bank. The payment must be payable in US funds. Customs fees or other duties are the responsibility of the buyer.
See an item that you want, but don't have the entire amount? Ask us about putting together a layaway for you. We will work with you to see what you can afford for monthly payments or simply reserve an item until you can afford it.
Please note that layaway may not be available for all items (for example items on consignment may be difficult) but if we can, we will.