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Replies: 12 / Views: 2,692 |
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New Member
United States
18 Posts |
This coin in my collection I've been trying to identify for a while. I am wondering if it is one of the kings of Macedon coins, since they usually depict a horse and rider on one side. I noticed while randomly browsing on ebay I found a Philip II of Macedon coin that sort of resembled the unknown coin in my collection. I'm wondering if this one is specifically of Philip II. This coin is very worn, as you can tell. It's sort of hard to see the contrast. If you take a step away from your computer screen you will see the horse and rider on one side, and the head on another. Perhaps it's impossible to identify...perhaps I'm very wrong that this could be a Philip II or other king of Macedon coin. There is no writing that I can see. Any takers for helping me identify this coin? I looked up other Philip II coins online and obviously, there appears to be variations in the coins. Perhaps this is one of them?  
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
Well, you need an awful lot of imagination for this one, are you sure it won't clean up any more? http://wildwinds.com/coins/greece/m...ANS_0939.jpgSNG ANS 939 Philipp II of Macedonia, AE19, 6.37 gr, 17.20 mm. Uncertain mint in Macedonia. 359-336 BC. Head of Apollo right, wearing taenia / FILIPPOU, Naked youth on horse prancing left on groundline, N below. SNG ANS 939; Mionnet I, 744.
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New Member
 United States
18 Posts |
I suppose I could try to clean it. To me it already looks like it's so worn it couldn't possibly need any cleaning? I know it is hard to see. Those were the best photos I could take.
Do you think it could be Philip II of Macedon?
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
I reckon you're right, at least macedonian. I'm not sure if this type was issued by any other kings.
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
It does appear to be Philip II. Pish your link to Wildwinds isn't working.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
The link works for me, I think wildwinds is still a little fragile at the moment. 
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1006 Posts |
Pishpash is correct on the reference. It is definetely Philip II of Macedonia. I specilise in Macedonian coinage so have looked at all the different types from all the kings. No other king produced a coin exactly like this one however if you look at Kassanders units he produced some with the horse walking right tho these are differentiated by the title King Kassander and the obverse of Hercules/King Alexander The Great portrait. The coin you have is one of the rarer ones firstly because primarily the units had the horse walking and that the horse was facing right while yours has the horse prancing to the left.From a quick look at wildwinds I could find only a few coins similar to your coin those having either an N (Pishpash's reference) or a P in the exergue. The coin you have is a lifetime issue and was not struck later under Philip III, Alexander IV, Antipater or Kassander.
On the mint it is referenced as uncertain mint in Macedonia however Pella the Capital appears to be the more likely as Amphipolis didn't produce a lot at this time. An outside possibility is Aegae the old Capital prior to 399bc however authors are reluctant to attribute coins to this city for an unknown reason.
Overall it is a nice, rare coin look after this beauty.
Edited by oh my florin 07/11/2014 11:21 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Sear 6696 to 6699. (vol. 2) This is a large issue, with many minor variations, which enable sequencing.
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New Member
 United States
18 Posts |
Here is a stupid but genuine question: how much would a variation like this be worth? I don't know too much about grading but this coin appears to be "worn." Thanks for the information. I'm glad my hunch is actually correct this time.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
The value has much more to do with the condition of ancient coins, not their rarity by minor variation.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3446 Posts |
The coin is not actually badly "worn". But it is corroded quite a bit ! Wear is generally unavoidable for most small bronzes as they were made for everyday use. Corrosion on the other hand is always a negative. An evenly worn coin can still retain a certain amount of 'eye appeal' and has the mystique of having been handled by literally thousands of people thousands of years ago ! If you take probabilities into account some of the handlers may well be your own ancestors. After all if you go back far enough we are all related to each other ! Corrosion relates to the conditions which the coin was buried for all the intervening years. Some pieces while almost uncirculated can be corroded into unidentifiable disks. This coin while still identifiable is quite corroded and would probably end up in a dealers 'junk box'. Whether the price is $10 or 2 for $5 depends very much on the dealer. Photographing ancients is never an easy task either. But using a darker background ( esp with bronze ) will help when using a simple camera. Your camera is adjusting itself by the brightness it sees coming from the countertop. Try using dark cloth ..... Even a pair of blue jeans or a black T shirt will give you better results.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
A useful tip. I used the snipping tool to take your photo into microsoft office picture manager. Cropped the image and used the automatic correction, with brightens it. Enlarged the coin 150 per cent and used the automatic correction again. Brightened a little more. This is not a substitute for good photography, but it will let you see a little more detail on your coin that you might otherwise miss.   Handy if you don't have any editing software.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1006 Posts |
Not a stupid question at all accipeter personally I can't comment on value (haven't spent enough time to comment definitively) tho the corrosion does severely impact on the value (quite a lot of the bronzes suffer from corrosion unfortunately across all the ancients.) To find a good bronze coin of a particular type can take a while of scouring any number of auction houses and will generally go for a sizeable amount.
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Replies: 12 / Views: 2,692 |
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