This coin is 20mm at widest and 2.30grams in weight. Its not in best condition, but maybe identifiable
that one is going to be tough, i would guess also gallienus with a mars reverse "MARTI PACIFERO".., you can just see the "R O" to the right of mars....and his spear.
Thanks guys! I would like to continue posting requests for help on identifying coins here, because I have a bunch of them. Some I Can identify ( by the inscription), some I need help and I dont want to flood the board. In case it is unappropriate please let me know. Anyway, heres another one I am afraid of cleaning. This guy seems to be wearing the helmet of some kind:
I bet you'd be able to identify them, or come close, if you knew where to look. For late Roman bronzes ("LRBs") like the ones you've been posting, try these two sites: http://www.catbikes.ch/coinstuff/coins-ric.htm There are many helpful spreadsheets you can download from this site. Scroll down the page until you find something relevant to the coin(s) you're trying to identify. http://www.tesorillo.com/aes/home.htm A very useful site. Most often when trying to nail down the identification of a LRB, I use the Types of Reverses pages.
Post the ones that you can't identify. No 12 is Claudius II. Also look at Wildwinds.com. It is hard when you are just starting out, but the more legwork you do, the faster you will learn.
I got some books and catalogues recently, but I guess it will take time until I start reckognising rulers. Reverses I know some already, but the combos and meanings and little details are tough
The only way to learn to ID coins is to practice but rather than buying the worst coins, it might do you more good to practice on photos of better coins. The way your helpers here have been able to help is by comparing what remains on your coin. The last one posted (#12?) strikes me as two different coins rather than the two sides of one coin. The first is definitely Claudius II which is clearly spelled out on the coin for easy reading. The second looks like the remains of a Tetricus. Rather than taking the ID's offered in this thread, try to find online photos of other coins of the same rulers and types matching up those details to what you see on your coin. Doing this a few thousand times will prepare you to ID the next batch as easily as our kind helpers did with these. I was unable to ID the one with the 'helmet' which is odd since it has more legend and even a mint mark. There is no helmet, I suspect but the number of rulers using that reverse was limited.
It is long and ardent path that leads to knowledge. I am interested in history of Rome. Besides reading some anthropolgical and numismatic books, I am once again reading Roman Civil Wars, by Apian. Minting of coinage depended on many factors and Is luckily our most available link to that fascinating culture I am still practicing and learning. I dont know wether I shall ever be able to afford to be a collector of any niche of roman coins. In the meantime, learning and comunicating with you people is fun. Thank You for that
Under the double loupe mint mark reads SNKC, C being dubious but prominent. There seems to be more writing between the line above mint XXI and mint, but the coin has some dirt left on it. I found this interesting link regarding mint mark: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/55102
According to the Types of reverses link, This Should be a Constantine I coin VOT X X type, but there is nothing on what is written below
Hmm, I'm not sure what you mean by "...nothing on what is written below." From Tesorillo, here's a screen shot of the reverse type "legend within wreath": The coin in question, from post #8 above, matches the reverse on the third row, 4th from left. Clicking that icon leads to a page that details all possible issues of that reverse and it explains the meaning of the legend within the wreath. http://www.tesorillo.com/aes/066/066i.htm Note that the two examples to the right of the one indicated (with Constantinopolis and VRBS Roma underneath) are not your coin because those are commemoratives which do not have an emperor's portrait on the obverse). You didn't give the measurements of the coin in post #8, but according to Tesorillo it will be an AE4, meaning less than 17 mm. Is that correct? What is the diameter of your coin? From that same page, the possibilities for your coin (without looking at your coin's obverse) become Constantius II, Constans, Gratian, Theodosius I, Valentinian II, and Arcadius. On that same page, for each of those rulers you'll find the obverse legends and mints. The mint abbreviations on that page do not take into account all of the ways each mint is written on a coin. I haven't looked closely at your coin's obverse. Hopefully if enough of the obverse legend is readable you will be able to definitively identify the emperor on your coin. (Also, note that Victor Clark, who definitely knows his LRBs, already identified the coin in post #8 as Constantius II)