Box o' Mystery

Met Dad for dinner the other night. He plunked this box down on the table in the restaurant. It belongs to a distant relative. It is not yet clear what she wants done with it; whether she wants an appraisal or to sell the contents, or what.

As of this post I have not yet examined the contents of the box at all, beyond a very quick, cursory glimpse (< 3 minutes). I haven't even pulled the smaller boxes out.

 

Here's what I know so far:

• I was told the box contains "Roman and Chinese coins". The cursory glimpse I've taken seems to bear this out.
• This is plainly an old-timey collection and not a totally random assemblage. I'm seeing old square-window 2x2s and other clues indicative of a 45-50+ year-old collection from the 1960s or early '70s at the latest.
• There is said to be some Chinese knife money in here. In fact, I have seen some pieces but have some doubt about their authenticity. (But I'm totally in the dark about that particular stuff in any event, and will need to lean on @Ken Dorney and others for any clue on Chinese material.)
• The few Roman coins I've peeked at do look real. I've seen an EID MAR denarius some fairly typical looking LRBs, attributed, in old 2x2s, a small piece that looks like darkly toned silver which might have a portrait of Augustus, a bracelet made out of LRBs, and a couple provincial Æs with a hexastyle temple reverse.
• I did not have a loupe handy and was wearing only my weak reading glasses, so even the little I've seen is a bit of a blur as yet.
• Several items are wrapped in paper with handwritten notes. Dad mentioned something that indicated some of the coins might've once been owned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. That could be interesting indeed, if true. Particularly if there's anything to back up the provenance. Could be a stretch, but still... very intriguing. I have not yet encountered this particular portion of the collection since I haven't really taken anything out of the box yet.

 

This just in, via text message from the owner:

 

Sound advice. Thank you. I have provided the owner of the coins a link to this thread so that she may read along in real time. Have already warned her that the process may be "slow and tedious".

 

I've been AWOL from the hobby lately in any event, while dealing with other things. (And may continue to have periodic absences.)