Identification Of Gold Old Coins (Roman) + Value

Hi Sel, and thanks for the welcome :)

Many thanks also for your kind reply. It is everything I needed to know, and VCoins shows, as you stated, high value for similar coins. an XRF test is certainly required.

Thanks again:)
CHolder

Thanks echizento for the welcome.

You are right, but this what I needed to know as for now. Over the weekend, I am going to try capturing finer images, and measure them in terms of weight and diameter for better identification.

Thanks - Many Thanks :)
CHolder

Tenacious, great question.

Any bullion dealer worth his salt should have the right equipment for XRF testing. Essential equipment for them, to test for fake metal bars and coins.

XRF testing only examines the elemental composition on the surface of the coin. X-rays are beamed and scattered off the surface of a metal, and the diffraction patterns are examined. Thr reflected rays are altered by what metal happens to be interfering with those reflections.

Ultrasound is used for examining heavily gold plated fake tungsten cored bars and coins, for such items that have already passed XRF testing for surface metals. Tungsten has the same density as gold.

I cheat. I have a friend who has a pHd in materials science, and is the chief forensic scientist in a State Government investigation unit. He has his own instrument!

Hi,
Thanks to everyone for the input. Kindly note that I am familiar with auctions but not with coins.

Paul: I tried acsearch.info, and it was possible to identify the second one in the middle: http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1914085

But it also depends on the general condition of the alloy and the figures on it; for instance here is the same but with a better condition and higher value: http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=560088

Since those were sold at auctions, the prices indicated are a little tricky because they get affected by numerous factors such as the economic condition, tastes & preferences and so on. Moreover, different auction houses might lead to different outcomes while taking into consideration that they charge different commission rates.

My friend has many of these coins, different emperors, ages, and materials. When he will offer them for sale, he would prefer to sell them as a lot or at least sell each 3 or 5 in one lot. In a hypothetical scenario, where I can locate more than one identical sale for a particular coin and the hammer prices for all sales are equal at $5,000. In this particular case, how much do you think I can get for this coin (net income)? And what would you advise on the best way to conduct such sales? I prefer not to go through auctions unless they buy them for their own account even that I know that they will pay less than what I would get at auction.

Thanks for all,
CHolder

Hi Pish,

How can I know if I couldn't identify the three listed above? Apparently, those were easy to identify. I know forsure that he has more recent coins (probably cheaper) than the ones posted above like this (certainly he needs a better camera):





Any idea about this? Anyways, he doesn't have like hundreds but still an okay quantity of just golden ones. I thought he just has 5, as those were the ones he always had on the wall of his house. I will meet him over the weekend, and try to get more information.

Best of Regards,
CHolder

That is Byzantine Justinian. I am not up on Byzantine, others will come along and give you more information.

When you see your friend, try and get photographs of all of the coins (non gold as well). You want large pics like the one above, but both sides of the coin. Once you have the photos, put each coin as a new thread, it is easier for us, and will ensure that each coin gets comments and doesn't get missed. You might ask your friend where and when he got these coins. Provenance will add value to the value.

Edit: We need the measurements in mm and weight in grams if you can manage it.

He doesn't have to publish the provenance here, but the auctioneers will want to know. If he lives near to an auction house that specialises in coins it might be worth a visit after he has a bit more information. It is in the auctioneers best interest to get the highest price, so they may have advice about selling single coins or lots. But first information.