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Replies: 6 / Views: 2,239 |
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Forum Mom
 United States
5877 Posts |
I'm trying to find a Sears or Svornos catalog number on this coin. It was sent to me as a Ptolemy II, but I am beginning to suspect that it is actually Ptolemy I. Please tell me what you think. Bronze 27mm 15g   
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Moderator
 Australia
16844 Posts |
You may be right, Susan. Ptolemy I and Ptolemy II are best matches by my estimation, and the HP (or pi-P) monogram on Sear 7763 can also be seen on yours. There really isn't enough inscription detail visible for me to be absolutely sure.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
Edited by Sap 01/31/2007 03:34 am
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Forum Mom
  United States
5877 Posts |
Thanks, Sap. Any idea what the actual denomination is?
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Moderator
 Australia
16844 Posts |
No, because we don't actually know what the various coin denominations were called. It's 27mm diameter, and made of bronze... so it's called an "AE27". This is true for virtually all ancient bronze coins in the "Greek series".
Coins about this size with the same design (Zeus/Eagle) occur regularly throughout the Ptolemaic series, but attempting to link them all together and tagging them with a name is speculation - we simply don't have anything in the way of contemporary records saying "the larger copper coins the king had struck were called whatzits, the smaller ones were half-whatzits".
It's possible they fit somewhere on the Greek drachm-obol-chalkon scale, known to be in use in a very few places which actually wrote out the denomination on the coins themselves, but assigning a name to Greek bronzes generally isn't done.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Forum Mom
  United States
5877 Posts |
Thanks, Sap! I saw a lot of ancients noted as AE and then a number and thought it might have to do with the size, but I wasn't sure. You've taught me all kinds of stuff with this coin.  One more question: I see this coin as Fine in condition with the amount of detail left in the eagle. With the inscriptions worn, though, how does that affect the grade? I know with more modern coins, all lettering should be present for a minimum G4 grade. I believe this is different for ancients and would value your opinion on its grade.
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Moderator
 Australia
16844 Posts |
Being a generalist, collecting both ancient and modern, I tend to be a bit harsh with grading ancients myself, preferring to apply the "one grading scale fits all coins" theory. If it were mine, I think "Good" would be the best I would assign it.
Realistically, ancients are normally graded on a more lenient scale. "Very Good" would probably be an appropriate grade for this coin; I think the near-lack of legend would preclude it from "Fine".
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Forum Mom
  United States
5877 Posts |
Thanks again, Sap. 
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Replies: 6 / Views: 2,239 |
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