Posted 05/29/2013 8:40 pm
hello and welcome. 
I agree the portrait looks Byzantine, kind of... but the rest of the coin does not. One thing you haven't told us is the size; it's a little hard to guess from those pics.
I have to add, I'm a little wary of the report on how it was found. Ancient coins usually aren't simply lying around in ruins, waiting to be picked up - they're buried underground. And a copper coin after more than 50 years sitting out in the open air would look definitely greenish; an ancient coin sitting exposed for a thousand years or more will resemble a green rock. They've found ancient Roman bronze coins that fell through the cracks of the Forum in Rome; exposed to the weather for 2000 years, there's nothing left of them but a green stain stuck to the rocks. I'm assuming you haven't cleaned your coin at all?
It is, however, common practice in that part of the world for people to "seed" ruins with replica coins for the tourists to find. Your coin may have been left behind under such circumstances, a modern replica the previous batch of tourists didn't find.
I agree the portrait looks Byzantine, kind of... but the rest of the coin does not. One thing you haven't told us is the size; it's a little hard to guess from those pics.
I have to add, I'm a little wary of the report on how it was found. Ancient coins usually aren't simply lying around in ruins, waiting to be picked up - they're buried underground. And a copper coin after more than 50 years sitting out in the open air would look definitely greenish; an ancient coin sitting exposed for a thousand years or more will resemble a green rock. They've found ancient Roman bronze coins that fell through the cracks of the Forum in Rome; exposed to the weather for 2000 years, there's nothing left of them but a green stain stuck to the rocks. I'm assuming you haven't cleaned your coin at all?
It is, however, common practice in that part of the world for people to "seed" ruins with replica coins for the tourists to find. Your coin may have been left behind under such circumstances, a modern replica the previous batch of tourists didn't find.
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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