Help Identifying 1 Byzantine And 1 Roman Coin

The second bronze coin is very interesting! Athena with an owl reverse is a common theme, but the portrait does look similar to the helmeted Athena on Athens coins from ~ 431-393 BC. To follow a hunch--what is the size and weight of this coin?

One more observation--the letters around the owl could be "AΘE", which would corroborate the origin as Athens.

It's in the style of an Athens Decadrachm, which is why I asked size/weight.
I have seen silver coins with a similar desert patina too.
I did not find a match among known copies, although authentic examples are rare and very valuable.

Roy777,
The red sand is called a desert patina and is desirable by many collectors.

IMHO you should leave it as it is and not disturb the surfaces.

Regards

for the second coin, it looks like there is an A in the top right by the owls head and a O and E at the bottom of the coin so that would stand for Athens so it must be greek.

That's the thing, it's not attracted to magnets so it can't be made out of iron or nickel, I've looked at quite a few copies online and none have similar characteristics, the coin doesn't really have any "tells"(evidence of castings, bubbles, the owl perfectly printed in the middle, etc.)

I would suspect it had I found it on ebay or another online website, but I got this from someone in a tiny village in Lebanon, I doubt they have excellent counterfeit technologies over here.

I am still new to the ancient Coin World and all my information has been from the internet, I have no hands on experience, it's why I've been looking at online pictures and tutorials to show me how I can tell if it's a counterfeit.

Hopefully someone will help shed some definite light on this and thank you all for your contributions.

I hate to break it to you, but a Middle-Eastern origin is a terrible provenance. Every single ancient coin the "villagers in Lebanon" - or Syria, or Turkey, or Egypt - sell to tourists or strangers is fake. All of them. They are more than capable of making cast copies like this.

Selling genuine ancient coins is illegal in Lebanon; they wouldn't risk it for the sort of money a tourist is likely to be prepared to pay. Any genuine ancient coins found by the villagers are either handed in to the government or (far more probably) smuggled out of the country illegally.

Alright guys, I've emailed Dr. Ilya Prokopov(author of countless papers on fake coins) about the coin, I figured he is able to distinguish whether or not it's a fake, his reply keeps me hopeful:

"Dear Roy,

Thank you for your kind letter and quality photos. I'll check my database. I've seen a few like your Athenian bronze coins.

I have to compare and think about the atypical and bizarre patina.

I'll write you next week.

Cordial Regards,


Dr. Ilya Prokopov
Chief Expert "Gold&Numismatics""

I will let you know what he says next week.

That's interesting...Dr. Prokopov is a very good person to ask
Despite the odds, I had hoped you came across a genuine Dekadrachm...before we knew the weight.
And, sometimes ancient silver coins with sand patina can take on a similar appearance.