Newbie Has A Dumb Question..

A very good question which a lot of folks seem to overlook. I agree with Bob it does depend on the series, for example on the Ptolemaic series the alignment is 12h.

While some ancient and medieval coins have expected die orientations, others are simply random. For an issue to have a set orientation, the coins must be struck from hinged dies like those illustrated below. In cases where one die is set in an anvil and the other is held independently by a mint worker, the outcome is variable.

For example, like the Parthian coins Bob L noted, Sasanian and Islamic coins tend to follow the 90 degree pattern. English hammered coins, on the other hand, are random.

The searchable archives at CNG list some 300,000 (mostly ancient) coins, virtually all of which include the diameter, weight and die orientation in the description. This can be a good resource for checking metrics. https://cNGCoins.com/Coins_sold.aspx

Awesome sauce! I must not bee (get it?) Looking in the right place for mint identification, I thought it looked like a bee, but wasn't sure. It's so worn... Thank you all for your input, wisdom, and responses..I really like the reference photos too the dies.