Need Help with these 2 Parthian Coins

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by RoyBryan, Jan 2, 2015.

  1. RoyBryan

    RoyBryan New Member

    I have 2 Parthian coins I cannot attribute can you guys give me a hand. One is bronze and the other is silver. Any information would be greatly appreciated
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. Gil-galad

    Gil-galad I AM SPARTACUS

    You need to do some editing with those photos. They are a bit blurry for one, perhaps macro can get a better focus. And they need to be rotated. I think Ancientnoob has knowledge of those coins more than I.
     
  4. medoraman

    medoraman Supporter! Supporter

    Neither look Parthian. First looks like Elymais. I cannot tell the second, but its not a Parthian style bust.
     
  5. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    *welcome* RoyBryan ... coins rock!!

    => curious? ... where did you get these two interesting coins?

    Slightly better photos and any other "additional" info will help the awesome coiners identify your cool coins (weight, diameter, magnetic, etc)

    ... good luck, my new coin friend
     
  6. RoyBryan

    RoyBryan New Member

    I got them in Afghanistan a couple days ago. I have been collecting ancients from over here for a few months now. The last time I came home I got a couple authenticated by a dealer in Atlanta. I have bought a couple fake Alexanders but for the most part I have been lucky in finding the real McCoys
     
    stevex6 likes this.
  7. Gil-galad

    Gil-galad I AM SPARTACUS

    Yeah, it's a bad idea to purchase coins from those countries because most of them it is illegal to own, deport/export ancient coins from there as I understand it. They also sell a lot of tourist fakes and replicas to dupe those visiting the country.
     
  8. RoyBryan

    RoyBryan New Member

    thanks for the info it is indeed a Elymais. the weight is 11.19g
     
  9. THCoins

    THCoins Well-Known Member

  10. RoyBryan

    RoyBryan New Member

    yeah I will man up and say I have a couple fakes but I have taken the time to research most of my coins before purchasing and I stick with vendors that I have gotten a repoir with before buying the first coin. Most vendors here have a used car salesman mentality where if you go into their stores
    yeah I did my research beforehand. I have gotten a couple fake Alexanders and when I discovered they were fake while I was home in June I took them back and the guy Gullum a nice man gave me a 100% money back apologized and I never saw those coins in his store again. I had 3 Eukratides (2 heroic busts 1 helmeted Tet. aunthenticated by a dealer in Atlanta. As for the legalities it is illegal for an Afghani to sell the coins out of the country but since I buy them on military bases in the country there is no laws being broken. I checked with the customs office prior to shipping them home. I like them but I don't like them enough to go to jail over
     
    stevex6 likes this.
  11. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    Hopefully they turn-out to 100% awesome ... better photos and a bit of other coin-info will definitely help the gang here (cheers, in 2015)

    ... you sound like a good coin-dude (all the best in 2015)
     
  12. medoraman

    medoraman Supporter! Supporter

    The elamite coin, if authentic, is a very rare/expensive coin. It definitely would be worth getting checked out by a dealer sir. The problem as I see it is these coins were Elamite, and didn't usually travel broadly. Most have been found in or near Elymais, which is hundreds and hundreds, if not a 1000, miles away from Afghanistan. Coins circulated, no doubt, but finding rare Elamite coins in Afghanistan would be very curious at best.
     
  13. RoyBryan

    RoyBryan New Member

    thanks all the best to you and yours in 2015. I really do not have access to a lot of tools to assist. I can tell you the weight on the Elymais is 11.19g and when conducting the "ting test" and gently dropping it, it acts and sounds like ancient silver. Since I was lead to the ID of it I found out the weight was right on with other examples. Also I was offered $500 from another Afghani who collects these things 15 minutes after buying it from the other side of the base. Had I parted with it I would have made $150. The same guy condemned 2 Alexanders before I went home in June to have an American tell me the same thing.
     
    stevex6 likes this.
  14. RoyBryan

    RoyBryan New Member

    Thanks for the advice. A funny thing happened when I bought it. I am on a base with an Italian side a Spaniard side and a American side. I bought it from a market on the Italian side and showed a merchant on the Spaniard side who collects these coins. He offered me $500 without even thinking about it had I have sold it I would have made $150 in the span of 15 minutes
     
  15. medoraman

    medoraman Supporter! Supporter

    Best to you and yours too sir. It must be exciting to be able to buy coins locally. I actually specialize in coins from ancient Afghanistan and north. I wish I would have been able to find ancient coin dealers when I was in the gulf war. All they had there were fake gold coins for sale.
     
  16. RoyBryan

    RoyBryan New Member

    yes however, the Elymite were often intermingled within the Parthians and I am sitting in the middle of what was the Parthian dynasty
     
  17. RoyBryan

    RoyBryan New Member

    just did a little Wikipedia search I purchased the coin from a base apx. 50 miles from the Iran boarder the Elymite were in what is present day Iran
     
  18. RoyBryan

    RoyBryan New Member

    here is a few more pics let me know what you all think
     

    Attached Files:

  19. Bob L.

    Bob L. Well-Known Member

    The coin purports to be - and hopefully is - a Kamnaskires V tetradrachm, Van't Haaff type 9.1. Better pics would be needed to help authenticate. Here are mine for comparison.
     

    Attached Files:

  20. Valentinian

    Valentinian Well-Known Member

    As others have said, we need sharper photos to give good opinions about authenticity. In the blurry photos it almost looks cast (which would make it a fake) and above the diadem it almost looks like a couple of casting pits.

    I do not think there is any expectation that a Afghan seller who has sold a good coin or refunded on a bad one will not try to find your weakness and sell you a bad one next time. They regard it as your responsibility to know what is good and certainly not their responsibility to tell you what they know.
     
  21. RoyBryan

    RoyBryan New Member

    the coin is 11.19g die axis 12 and it passes the standard field test of ringing it and dropping it. It does not ring and when drops it dies without any recoil. There is no seems or evidence that it was soldered together. This is the first one I have seen in any shop on any of the 5 bases I have been on. Also another shopkeeper offered to buy it and that has never happened with me. I have showed other shopkeepers my coins but they never have made an offer for any of them. If it was a fake why would another dealer/collector 15 minutes away from where I bought it want to offer to buy it.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page