Hyroglifics......I think!

Hi all,

I am from the UK and while working in the garden, we found these items which look like coins, I am hoping someone could shed some light on what they might be and either put me out of my misery or tell me I am rich beyond my dreams ..... please!

Hope the image is clear enough

The coins are between 7-10mm diameter and 2-3 mill thick

 

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Hi Blanky and :welcome:

I am not a specialist - just an European newbie here from yesterday ! -
Thanks for posting these pics : these one look like ancient Indian coins ( they are not roman, greek or egyptian ( should be an extreme rarity then )
I seem to perceive some arabic or indian characters on them !
Hoping that can help
Have a nice day !

 

If youd like to get rich beyond your wildest dreams you should invest in a decent metal detector. Your finds could rewrite history.
Id assume they are ancient celtic coins. I know nothing about ancients though. Some of them look like they have a celtic,knot design to them. The one on the upper right looks like it may have some runes on it. Very cool finds indeed.

 

They look the most to me like indian coins. Celtic is a possibility because of where they were found, but I have never seen such celtic coins.

Just so everyone knows, the very last Pharoah before the Persians took over Egypt did issue a few coins, but they were gold and are exceedingly rare. Effectively, save far a few examples, there are no Pharoanic coins with hieroglyphs.

 

I agree, they look more Indian than Celtic. Not my area though

 

Bottom 2 probably Indian state of Nawanagar. Top left might be Gujarat sultanate.
Need pictures of the other side.

 

thanks all, yes they sem to be indian, based on your feedback i found rareindiancoins.com which definatley seems to match 2-3 of them

thanks again

 

In case anyone does a search using the correct spelling:

hieroglyphs

hieroglyphics

 

Good point Hobo !
I take advantage of the remark to tell the Group that i have recently found an AE coin from the Pharaoh !! I thought too that they were only struck in gold... i am just wondering where i have seen that. Will try to find it out and will post here, just for the sake to keep this thread alive and slightly hijacked
And i do not resist the temptation to put this funny image :


so i definetily need to find the Pharaoh AE coin

Cheers
Philippe

 

The funny image should be there :

 

This is the gold one :

 

Got it !
Here is the bronze coin :

 

and the description ( little bit pricey :smile)
Greek Coins Pharanoic Egypt, Nactanebo II 359 – 340 Bronze circa 359-340, 3.09 g. Ram springing l. and looking backwards. Rev. Scales; below, three pellets. Weiser p. 16, 1. Howgego pl. 9, 192. Green patina and extremely fine ( extract from a catalogue online )

 

The attribution is very much in contention btw. Many attribute this coin to an area around Syria. There are many ancients like this, the mint and issuing authority still being debated.

 

Btw, in case anyone is interested, look at the two reverses. At first glance they seem similar, but they are not. One is a hieroglyph with a heart on the bottom, the other is just a scale with a few dots that is not a hieroglyphic symbol. Couple this fact with the sign of sagitarius being very prevelant in Syria and much less so in ancient Egypt is the basis for why many believe this coin is Syrian. Also, documented finds of this coin in that area also lend belief to that theory.

There has always been LOTS of interest in ancient egyption coins, and as such I simply believe this scarce coin without a stated city where it was struck, coupled with a passing similarity to the one ancient egyptian coin we know about, led it to be classified similarly. I believe its a case of wanting it to be, rather than it is.

Also as a background, ancient egyptians had coins from other countries but treated them as bullion. Athenian tets found in egypt are typically cut up severely showing how egyptians had not got to the point where they truly understood the convenience of coinage. As such, a pharoah would have no luck issuing token bronze coinage, since it would be treated by the population as bullion and there would be no seignorage to be gained. Therefor, any coin issued by a pharoah would most likely be gold or maybe silver.

There are many reasons to doubt this bronze coin is ancient egyptian.

 

Hi Medoram

I am OK with your explainations ( and such was my opinion ) till i came across these infos you can see here :

http://www.acsearch.info/search.htm...n=1&de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ol=1&sort=&c=&a=&l=#0

Hoping not to become Pharanoid with this story
Not ready ( at least for the moment ) to put Thousands of Dollars on these guys...

All The Best !
Philotep :hail:

 

I'm no expert, but they don't look Indian to me. Perhaps Indonesian or Cambodian? That would be a completely wild guess just based on the script.

 

Hello again
I have to apologize for having mispelled Medoraman ( again i deserve :dead-horse:...)
I come back with an old post card from Egypt ( i am sure since there is an egyptian stamp :devil:



and also a pic from a nice animal living in the desert ( not an egyptian coin but a roman one :smile )



Enjoy both of them ( cool coin in my collection this one )

Cheers
Philippe

 

Thanks for the post Phillipe. I agree there is still disagreement on these issues. Some still believe they are pharoanic, I and other just disagree. Still cool coins.

Btw, nice stavraton in your avatar. Is it half or quarter? I am guessing John VIII?

 

Hi Medoraman
You are a Byzantine conoisseur : it is a half stavraton and you guessed well from the nearly last emperor of Constantinople, Jean VIII Paleologos
I don't have any coin of the last one Constantin XII unfortunately :yes: