Inherited my grandfather's coin collection, and one coin seems the most unique. Paper envelope says Roman coin, but two dates are listed, so maybe the envelope was re-used for a different coin. 200 BC versus 602-610 AD. 40 Nummia also written in same ink as 602-610 AD lettering. Pictures of coin faces and envelope attached. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!
this coin appears to be from 300 AD reason I say this is the 3 X's on the reverse of the coin. In roman numerals X=10
Its an Eastern Roman (Byzantine) coin of emperor Phocas, who ruled from 602 to 610 as it says on the flip. The XXX do not indicate the years AD (this was not in use in 600 AD much less 300 AD; people went by regnal years during this time), but rather the denomination, in this case 3o nummi. It was struck in Constantinople as indicated by the mintmark CONϵ on the reverse. Judging from the reverse I'd say it was overstruck on a previous coin.
Its a more unusual type, since typically Byzantine coins had the denomination listed in Greek letters, like a M for forty, instead of using X's like Latins did. I am not saying this coin is rare, but its much more unusual because of the reverse than typical Byzantines.
Its just a learning curve. If you are interested in ancients, I would highly recommend visiting Doug Smith's webpage and read all of his good information there regarding them. All coins have a learning curve, ancients just might be a little more steep than others.
I cringed. Lol. Come hang around the World & Ancient section! We're a pretty laid back group and you'll learn a lot. You'll probably even catch the ancient bug.
While Focas issued the unusual 30 nummia denomination, I see the possibility that this is a forty XXXX with the first X lost to the multiple strike (most of these are overstruck or messy in some way. I believe I see year date II/II at reverse right so the coin would be 605 AD. Ignore the red lettering on the envelope. The black at the top was correct.
