You have a very nice "instant collection" of ancient and Byzantine coins there. Unfortunately, some of them (but not all) seem to be cast fakes or reproductions of the kind often sold to tourists. Do you have any records of where these coins came from? Do you know if your grandfather actively collected ancient coins, or if he ever visited Greece or Turkey?
Anyway, here's my observations on your coins. Your pics are excellent for someone not experienced in taking pics of coins, may I add.
#1: a tetradrachm of Alexander the Great, who reigned 336 to 323 BC. While coins in his name continued to be struck long after his death, this one appears to be a "life-time issue". The cockerel mintmark is attributed to the Amphipolis mint, 325-323 BC.
See this Wildwinds page and scroll down to "Price# 79". I'm a bit worried about this one because there seems to be a seam around the edge; it may just be an optical illusion from the angle and lighting, but a couple of better pics of the edge of this one would confirm or dismiss this possibility.
#2: It appears to be a silver didrachm of Ptolemy V of Egypt, dated Ptolemaic Era 117 (195 BC) - see
this example on acsearch.info. However, I'm really not liking that coppery, greenish colour - silver's not supposed to go like that. There were no bronze/copper coins with this design.
#3: Roman republic, bronze
as. The right side pic should be rotated 9 degrees left; it's a picture of the prow of a ship, with I above and ROMA below. it's the "beak of prow above prow" type, like
this one on Wildwinds.
#4: appears to be a tetradrachm of the city of Pergamon in what is now western Turkey, apparently from the early Roman period (133-57 BC). There's a snake crawling into a basket on the reverse (left pic) while the obverse (which should be rotated 90 degrees right)has two snakes entwined around a bow-case; a third snake is around the Staff of Asklepios, to the right of the main snakes. the "TTE" symbol is actually a monogram for the city, made from the Greek letters PER. The "snake in a basket" is a "cista mystica", associated with the initiation into the cult of Dionysus; another name for these coins is a "cistophoric tetradrachm" or "cistophorus"; in later Roman times they were given a denomination of three denarii.
#5: Appears to be similar to #3; can't tell the variety.
#6: a bronze from Roman Egypt; the portrait looks second century AD (Hadrian or similar) though with all the legends worn away it's hard for me to date it more accurately.
#7: Greek, post-Alexander period (circa 300-100 BC), afraid I can't see much more.
#8: a base-metal tetradrachm of Roman Egypt, emperor Maximianus, year 2 of his reign (287/8 AD).
Example on acsearch.
#9 and 10 are Roman; bobbyhelmet IDed them above.
#11: Greek, from the city of Seleukeia in Cilicia in what is now southern Turkey, circa 150 BC;
Example on Wildwinds.
#12: Roman Republic. the three dots at the side of the head tell us it's a quadrans, or 3/12ths of an
as, dating from sometime between 200 and 100 AD; there's a name or monogram above the prow on the reverse which would provide a more precise date, but the coin isn't well-centred enough to read it.
#13 and 14 are Byzantine; they were IDed by t0rress above.
#15: also Byzantine, emperor Leo VI (886-912 AD). Listed in the Sear cataogue as number 1729, with a note that "this appears to have been issued in greater quantities than almost any other" Byzantine coin type.
#16: Byzantine, but too corroded for me to ID the emperor.
#17: what Bobby said.
#18: what t0rress said. "NIKO" is Nicomedia mint. Year is "ANNO XXX", or 556/7 AD.
#19: Also Byzantine, emperor Justinian I, follis, Constantinople mint.
#20: what t0rress said. Constantinople mint, officina epsilon. Year isn't clear in the pic, but could be XXII (548/9 AD).
#21: As #20, but officina beta, Year XXI (547/8 AD).
#22: As #20 also, but officina gamma, Year XGII (544/5 AD).
#23: what t0rress said. Rome, emperor Antoninus Pius, brass sestertius. Can't find the type listed.
#24: Rome, Antoninus Pius, copper
as, 147/8 AD, reverse type the emperor standing in priestly robes offering a sacrifice on a tripod-altar.
Example on Wildwinds.
#25: Rome, Emperor Tiberius but dating from before he became emperor, 10/11 AD, bronze
as.
8 Examples on Wildwinds.
#26: Nero indeed, a sestertius, but unfortunately the coarseness and doubling on the reverse make me think this is a cast copy.
#27: Rome, emperor Domitian but before he became emperor, brass sestertius, 73 AD, reverse Spes (Hope) holding flower.
Two examples on Wildwinds.
#28: a corroded version of #29.
#29: Agrippa, friend and heir-designate of Augustus, a copper
as struck under Caligula circa 40 AD, but unfortunately I think this one is a cast copy. It just doesn't look right to me; the details are too "mushy" and the rim too pronounced.
#30: Rome, emperor Vespasian, brass sestertius, 71 AD, reverse Pax (Peace) standing.
Similar example on Wildwinds.
#31: similar to #12, but with the corrosion I can't pick the type on this one either.
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
Posted 01/12/2011 4:02 pm
