Homer Scroll And Papyrus Fragments

Thought I'd share my Greek Smyrna coin with obv. Apollo, reverse Homer seated holding scroll 20mm, 2nd-1 cent. BC and my papyrus fragments. Some ancient coins depict scrolls, writing/reading scenes.

In 2006 I bought two papyrus fragments on ebay. A dealer, Bruce Ferrini sold the fragments to Micheal Farr who then sold the fragments on ebay 2005-2007. It's mostly undocumented where Bruce got the fragments, he had purchased from several sources. The Ferrini fragments are genuine. Many fragments sold online are replicas or fakes.

Genuine papyrus fragments are scarce and not often offered for sale. Most papyri were lost to the elements long ago. I think because there were so many Ferrini fragments and people may have thought they were fake, they went for low prices. I paid $40 each for mine. I wish I had bought more. Since then I've seen a few fragments sell in the $200-$400 range.

I sent pics of my fragments to Robert Kraft, professor emeritus UPenn who wrote an article about the Ferrini fragments and confirmed their authenticity. He said mine were Late Roman or Byzantine era with Greek and possible Coptic writing. One of my fragments has several layers and could be taken apart with professional conservation but I don't want to do that.

The fragments measure 50mm x 40mm, 57mm x 53mm.