Nearly blank needs some help

I have this large, nearly blank coin I would like some direction on. It is 29 mm X 2.8 mm and weighs 13.24 grams. I need an idea of where to start and if I should attempt to get it cleaned. And, thanks to @thomas mozzillo for pushing me in the right direction. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

We have some really great experts on Ancient coins here at Coin Talk. Ask @lordmarcovan; @Bing; @furryfrog02; @johnmilton; @Roman Collector; @Collect89; et al.
My apologies to those I didn't mention as there's so many of you.

 

I hope you don't mind serving as a reference.

 

If you don't mind I'll add you to the list the next time I reference Ancient coin experts.
The OP's photo looks familiar but I don't collect Ancients and I know you guys are really knowledgeable and can identify a coin from the tiniest details.

 

At first glance it looked like the sphinx issues from Castulo but the second picture doesn't really look like a bust. A soak in distilled water and brushing with a toothbrush wouldn't hurt but I dunno how much more detail you're going to get out of it.

 

I'm no expert, just a guy who has been collecting for a few years. But thanks @thomas mozzillo for the compliment. That looks like a horse prancing or advancing right, but I can't make out the other side. It may be too far gone to make a positive ID.

 

At that size and weight, it could be a bronze drachm from 1st-2nd century A.D. Alexandria. It think it's too worn to discern anything else about it, though. There just isn't enough detail left, and cleaning is unlikely to uncover much, although it this point it can't hurt it.

 

I, like the others, appreciate the vote of confidence but I certainly am no expert. I see what @Bing sees - possibly a horse on one side. No idea what the other side is.

 

It weighs 13.24 and is 29 mm X 2.8 mm. I will dig it out and send an edge on. Thanks to all for assistance.

 

Post a picture of the edge.

Alexandrian and other coins have distinctive edge shapes.

 

Here are a couple photos of the edge.

 

Quite right!

And looking at that edge, it doesn't look like an Alexandrian drachm.

I agree that the hindquarters look like a horse in stride, but the head doesn't look equine. Maybe lion?

And in the other side, if you rotate so that 9 o'clock is at 12 o'clock, it too looks like a horse middle/rear.

 

I agree. Not a drachm.

 

Yeah, I've been looking at that coin off and on all day. I know what I see, but am thinking it's just the "inkblot". I see a horse advancing right on the one side and a youth/woman next to a bull on the other. I've turned the coin several times, but always come back to that inkblot I see. Frustrating is not the word I've used all day long.

 

Any idea where I should go from here? Does anyone think it is an actual ancient? Should I try cleaning it? Should I drop it in a coin star and let someone else think about it? And, thanks for all the help.

 

I got it many years ago in a lot of uncleaned ancient. All the other coins in the lot were, unmistakably, ancient. But, the merchant could have dropped it in to make the weight if they were sold by weight. It seems like it could be OK to clean them.

 

I was wanting it to be Carthage, with a Horse on reverse. But, the obverse does not look like remnants of Tanit...

CARTHAGE TriShekels

Carthage AE Trishekel Tanit Horse 220-215 BCE 2nd Punic War 30mm 17.6g Lot 35


Carthage AE Trishekel Tanit Horse 220-215 BCE 2nd Punic War 30mm 19.7g Lot 36