A Game For My Son

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by furryfrog02, Aug 3, 2018.

  1. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Hello Everyone!

    A few days ago, a generous member approached me with an offer. Since my son (7) and I are really starting to get into ancients, they would send several coins for him to work on identifying. We received the coins on Wednesday, and after he finished doing his chores and eating dinner tonight he picked his first coin to identify.

    The coins are in envelopes with identifications written on them but are all mixed around. The goal of the game is for him to identify the coin and place it in the correct envelope. I had him pick one at random and then showed him how to navigate Tesorillo and also wildwinds. I showed him what I know (admittedly little) about mint marks, different reverses, and reading/deciphering the letters on the obverse and reverse.

    Luckily he picked a fairly easy one to ID first, though we did have a bit of trouble with nailing down the reverse. He was able to find the reverse image, mint mark, and match the letters with the examples online. It took him approximately 30 minutes to identify this coin, which isn't too bad for a 7 year old IMO. :)

    After he ID'd it, we read a bit about Romulus and Remus and the founding of Rome, along with the city of Cyzicus where the coin was minted. A good history lesson for summer break :)

    Without further ado, here is the coin and his identification:

    Coin 3.jpg

    City commemoratives
    Cyzicus
    AE follis
    VRBS ROMA, helmeted bust of Roma left, wearing plumed helmet, imperial mantle and ornamental necklace / She-wolf left, suckling the twins Romulus and Remus,Two stars above.
    Mintmark SMKS

    I think this was a good starter coin for him. It provided him a good base to learn what to look for and how to navigate the reference sites. The others, I imagine, will be tougher for him.

    If anyone is interested, I will continue to post in this thread until he has managed to ID the coins he received.

    Thanks everyone for looking, and of course, a BIG thank you to the generous CT member who provided the coins!

    EDIT: I forgot to mention that I took the pictures of the coins. I need to work on my picture taking/editing skills :)
     
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  3. rickmp

    rickmp Frequently flatulent.

    I'm not at all into ancients, but I'd love hearing about your son's progress.
    I hope he continues to do well.
     
    Paul M., ominus1 and furryfrog02 like this.
  4. Jay GT4

    Jay GT4 Well-Known Member

    What a great project to work on with your son. It's something you'll both remember for a long time. Yes please keep sharing the progress.

    30 minutes is quick! Maybe he can get a job at CNG
     
  5. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    He had the benefit of sitting with me and watching as I have struggled to ID the few ancients I have in my collection so far :) He does have a good eye though and once he gets focused on a task, won't stop until he is finished.
     
    Jay GT4 and Curtisimo like this.
  6. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    I am interested in the results here. You realize that your son at 7 may be setting a standard some adults will have trouble matching. Perhaps he can start advising us on how best to find answers online.
     
    Paul M., Ajax, Curtisimo and 3 others like this.
  7. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Great! A fantastic way to engage him in history, something he can hold in his hand that is 1700 years old. Plus, a lot better than X-box or the ever-present phone games that my 7-year old nephew is always playing.
     
    furryfrog02 likes this.
  8. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    He is pretty good with technology. It astounds me how kids use that stuff without a second thought. I know I'm not that old, but I remember getting our first computer when I was about 9, in 1992/93. An Apple IIe with the green screen. I managed to figure it out pretty quickly but my parents had a tough time.

    I'm hoping this will get him more interested in reading as well. He loves history but isn't a strong reader. Hopefully finding a topic he likes will get him to work harder at becoming better at reading.

    I hope he continues his interest and learns more too. It really is a great hobby to have.
     
  9. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Oh let's not get it wrong, he still loves Minecraft on my (his) X-box. I guess though that he could be playing worse games. Minecraft is actually pretty good. It's like digital Lego (which he also loves).
     
  10. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    My nephew plays minecraft and train simulators...
     
    furryfrog02 likes this.
  11. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

    very kool! :)
     
    furryfrog02 likes this.
  12. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

  13. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    Kids and technology these days, it's incredible. My 7 year old is an expert with a tablet, and also knows how to use my smart phone, my laptop, and can browse the apps on the smart TV to look for cooking shows (for some reason his latest phase is watching competition shows from the Food Channel). He's also already mastered my new telescope's control system.

    At his age all I knew was how to play with regular toys and play baseball. Too bad I didn't grow up in this era of tech everywhere. Computers are now second nature to kids born in the 2000's.
     
    furryfrog02 likes this.
  14. Multatuli

    Multatuli Homo numismaticus

    This is a great idea!
    This inspired me to how start my son in Numismatics in the future. An excellent way to get interested in the subject and by history and, of course, so that one day, who knows, keep my collection, avoiding dispersing sadly when I'm gone. Although he is only 4 years old now, already presents notions about my interest in the subject and already shows little curiosity.
     
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  15. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Great! My son started showing interest about that age. My daughter is two and she really enjoyed just sitting on my lap and unwrapping half dollar rolls when I searched them. They see something you enjoy doing and want to spend time with you so it gets them interested early.
     
  16. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Hello All!

    I originally intended for this game with my son to be a one-a-day type thing until he was able to ID all the coins...but unfortunately life got in the way and we were only able to make it to the 2nd coin this evening.

    He randomly picked a coin from the pile and we started searching. The first thing he noticed was that the reverse had an outline of the obverse along with the design. I explained to him what a "clashed die" was and how they occurred. I showed him pictures of a few examples of clashed Lincoln cents that I have found roll searching. He thought it was really cool that a coin from so long ago could have the same type of error as a modern day coin.

    We then got into trying to ID the coin. This one turned out to be much harder for both of us. I let him guide me with what to search. First we checked tesorillo but couldn't find a match. He found a few that were close though, showing scales, which led us to google search for "Aequitas clashed roman coin". He looked through the image search and found a Claudius II GOTHICUS on vcoins that actually looked really close, albeit a different clash. We then went back to wildwinds, which he has been looking at all week, pulled up Claudius II and started searching from there.

    Finally he landed on this as an ID. As far as I can tell, he is correct. I think he did pretty good with the resources that he and I have. What say you?

    Claudius II AE Antoninianus
    IMP CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right
    AEQVITAS AVG, Aequitas standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae
    Coin 1.jpg

    My son asked, but I'm not sure how to tell where it was minted. Am I missing something?
     
    Paul M., chrsmat71, TIF and 6 others like this.
  17. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    Nice coin, and nice job identifying it. For Claudius II, the style, fabric, mint and control marks can all help with attribution. In the case of your coin, the portrait style strongly suggests Siscia as the mint. The best online place for looking up coins of CII is this one:
    http://www.ric.mom.fr/en/info/present
     
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  18. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Thanks for that link!
     
  19. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    http://www.ric.mom.fr/en/search/advanced
    Try the search on this page from the site zumbly gave. Leave blank fields you can not be sure of since a small error might hide the correct answer.

    There are more clashes of Claudius II than most emperors. I believe this just shows how busy the mint was and they did not have time to replace dies that were only slightly damaged. We have had several threads on CT discussing clashed dies.

    Your son's question about mint ID is a good one. Modern collectors assume a mint mark will be a city initial but most Roman mints started with something else like workshop numbers and assumed you could figure out the city or that it was not important. A good lesson is that we can never assume that some ancient people would make the same assumptions we do. Claudius did not see marking mints as necessary but we can separate them by the style of the engravers that worked in each city. How do we know which city was which? That question will take a lot more research but when you are seven, you have time.
     
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  20. Clavdivs

    Clavdivs Well-Known Member

    This really neat - great idea!
    I have two teenage daughters and let's just say they haven't seen the light...

    My 15 year old's favorite line is:

    "Let me get this straight.. you spend money on money you can't spend?"

    cracks me up every time..
     
    Cucumbor, Paul M., TIF and 3 others like this.
  21. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Managed to squeeze another coin in today between getting the lawn mowed, working on clearing out the basement, and my son playing his new Lego game on Xbox.

    He was pretty good with this one with minimal help form me. I showed him the lettering on the reverse and after asking him what "Marti" sounded like, he was on a roll. This kid is really getting it I think and I know he is having a blast with it. We got to read up a little bit on Mars as well as Ticinum where the coin was minted. Good history lesson for a Sunday :)

    Constantine I AE Follis. Ticinum mint, AD 312-313.
    CONSTANTINVS PF AVG, laureate, cuirassed bust right
    MARTI CON-SERVATORI, Mars standing right, helmeted and in military dress, cloak spread over upper chest, holding upright spear, point downwards, left hand on shield.
    Mintmark TT
    Constantine I AE Follis. Ticinum mint, AD 312-313..jpg
     
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