I've posted over here a few times. I'm a complete newbie to ancients. Modern world (1600-1800's) is more my thing. The wife and I were walking through one of the local mega have everything stores. I always stop and take a look at the magazines although rarely ever buy one. When did magazines get to be $12.99 (not this one) a pop? Oh well, that is irrelevant to the post. I happened to catch the top half of the latest issue of Astronomy. The cool Mars picture caught my eye so I picked it up. I started to open it to check out the promised photo gallery and spotted "Ancient coins capture solar eclipses". Although it is a fascinating article, my thought is that some of these are stretching weather or not they are related to a solar eclipse. Being a newbie it makes me wonder how much truth is in the article or is it written by a journalist trying to create a story. Maybe some of you know the author and know that he is highly knowledgeable in the field. Certainly not trying to offend anyone. Just some comments from the uninformed and skeptical. By the way. 3 additional points. 1) The article mentioned at the bottom of the cover " Celestial treats in the NGC catalog", has nothing to do with coins. 2) Still haven't looked at the Mars photo gallery. 3) The article went on for 2 more pages with photos. I can post those also if anyone is interested.
I take issue with the author's claim that the Vespasian denarius pictured in the article shows a solar eclipse from 75 AD. The reverse copies a type from a Marc Antony denarius and was struck in either 77 or 78, a whole 2 or 3 years after the supposed event it depicts!
