Alexandria Egypt identify

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Harshad, Feb 3, 2018.

  1. Harshad

    Harshad Member

    Very nice item, but small as well.
    1.5gr 14mm someones head and deer on other side with alexandria mintmark.... thanks!
    1517714502365-1172866725.jpg 15177145997602131389489.jpg
     
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  3. Parthicus

    Parthicus Well-Known Member

    Portrait reminds me of Hadrian, and the reverse seems to be Year 3, but our Alexandrian specialists should be along shortly...
     
  4. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    I would say Hadrian from the portrait, but I'm not the "specialist" mentioned.
     
  5. Ken Dorney

    Ken Dorney Yea, I'm Cool That Way...

    It is Hadrian, an Obol, year 11 or 126 - 127 AD, Köln 966; Dattari (Savio) 7942; K&G 32.439.
     
  6. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    I have trouble knowing how much to allow for the damage but this seems small for an obol and I see no obverse legend in the image which leave open the more scarce/rare dichalkon Emmett 1203 rather than the larger and common obol Emmett 1169. I do not own the books quoted by Ken so I do not know if any of them listed the smaller coin. My obol weighs 4.3g making the OP coin light even considering the breakage.
    pa0240bb0475.jpg

    My Trajan dichalkon weighs 2.06g and is intact. I do not own a Hadrian of this denomination but would suggest first looking for even a trace of obverse legend since the Hadrian dichalkons had no obverse legends at all. One bit of a letter means it started as an obol as Ken quoted.
    pa0212bb3184.jpg
     
  7. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    Aside from concurring that the portrait indeed looks like Hadrian, I have nothing intelligent to add*, so I'll mention that I quite like your distinctive and colorful "rooster" avatar. :chicken:

    (*Even if i knew anything about these, I definitely wouldn't have had room to add anything intelligent behind posts made by @Ken Dorney and @dougsmit.)
     
  8. Brian Bucklan

    Brian Bucklan Well-Known Member

    I agree with you. I think Emmett calls these "Nomes" dichalkon issues. What gives it away is the reverse which includes not only the date but a Greek legend above, with each of the various issues having a different legend. The few I found in searches are almost identical in size/weight to your example, and are all quite scarce to rare. If legible the reverse legend will point you to the proper attribution (if it is even listed).
     
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  9. Harshad

    Harshad Member

    Since it seems to be rare item i will upload here high resolution picture for research.
    Thanks
     
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  10. Harshad

    Harshad Member

    Hello, coin diameter and weight states its HEMIOBOL
    will continue to search for emperor and date.
     
  11. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Very interesting coin. I am assuming because it is of the "nome" coinage that it was not struck in Alexandria but in one of the other significant towns - Memphis, Oxyrynchus, Coptos, Thebes, etc.
     
  12. Harshad

    Harshad Member

    Screenshot from 2019-05-07 18-03-16.png
    L is on the left from goat, right side has symbol Г. text above goat is unreadable
    Based on L i think its Alexandria mint year 3
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2019
  13. Harshad

    Harshad Member

    14mm and weight close to 2gr leads to dichalkon. Need to identify animal properly and emperror. Its not a goat to my mind..
     
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