First I have no photo as the coin is not mine as I did not buy it. At a local flea market I discovered a merchant selling, among other items, about 25 or so ancients. All were low grade Republican or early Imperial silver, late wretched bronzes and several misattributed and all way over priced. There was one coin I could not place, a fairly high grade, glossy black bronze about the size of a US quarter. It had a male helmeted bust facing right with a very clear and large LEON but in Greek letters (lamda, epsilon, omega, nu) below the bust. The reverse reminded me of a Macedonian tetra with figure seated on a throne, the inscription in Greek, somewhat difficult to make out, but one word I could determine was ROME (rho, omicron, mu eta). I have never seen anything like this, especially Rome spelled out in Greek letters. Any idea on what this might be? A fantasy coin, obvious fake, slick counterfeit or something genuine ancient. Thanks for any help.
With Greek legends I don't think it would be an Roman Imperial. Provincial, perhaps. @kevin McGonigal, the obverse reads ΛΕΩΝ below the bust, and the reverse reads ΡοΜΕ (not PoMA)? That seems very odd and even with the lack of pictures, I'm leaning towards fantasy. You mention that it is in good condition, so I assume those are all of the legend letters (no missing/worn/partially off flan letters).
Yes, I too was struck by the coin's inscription of Rome with the use of the "eta" rather than the "alpha". I know that in modern Greek, at least the demotiki version, the letter "eta" has lost its "ay" (as in day) sound and sounds similar to epsilon (a short e sound). In any event I did not even ask what the price was. Though I have been collecting Ancients for decades and was intrigued by the appearance and the oddity I learned a long time ago that oddity does not equal authenticity. Thanks for the assistance.
