Hi all, So I found another ancient coin and did some digging and think I have it identified: Constantine I with two soldiers on reverse. Obverse letters(that I can make out): max hy ? Reverse is a bit easier to read: he xerc ivts with the mintmark looking like: smkt? In any event my second coin to my ancient collection. Thanks for looking!
Nice coin! obverse: CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG reverse: GLORI-AEXERC ITVS The mintmark is SMKD(delta) which should be the fourth(?) officina of the Cyzicus mint. great coin, and decent condition to boot
Obverse means: Constantine the Greatest, Augustus (senior emperor) reverse means: Glory of the Army. interestingly, the two standards between the soldiers gradually became just one standard, as the size of the coins kept shrinking. I bet yours is around 18mm?
Lovely coin! .......Really nice that you had a go at ID'ing it, most don't!....Believe me it gets easier.
This looks close: Cyzicus RIC VII 95. https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/constantine/_cyzicus_RIC_VII_095.txt https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/constantine/_cyzicus_RIC_VII_095.jpg
After spending a lot of time splashing a random coin and expecting people to do all the work for me, I've tried to get better and ID as much as I can, to show that I actually made some effort. I really commend OP on their tremendous effort, it's extremely difficult to get started from zero, so really nice.
@Arcane76 , you will find certain lettering conventions that seem odd to our modern eyes. As you indicated in your OP, the A's often come out looking like H's, and V's can certainly look like Y's. Also, where there are several N's and V's next to each other, they sort of blend together. A tough situation for sure, but after a couple dozen coins you start to get used to it. I also recommend browsing this site:https://tesorillo.com/aes/home.htm to help you get a decent grip on identifying reverses and busts by style and motif; lots of ancient coins have less-than-legible legends but if you can recognize the reverse style, then you're well on your way to getting all the way there.
The change in size wasn't gradual, it was the result of a coin reform. The A.D. 330- 335 period set 132 coins per pound. In A.D. 336, this changed to 196 coins to the pound, so smaller coins meant only room for one standard.
@hotwheelsearl : Thank you for the translation! Also thank you for letting me know it’s a nice coin. I started out collecting, as many in the United States do I suppose, US coins. Because of that I’m trying to transition out of the the “mint state” mindset and learn to appreciate that a 1700ish year old coin like this one can look good with some green and wear etc. I too am trying to do as much “legwork” as I can before I post. If I feel I’m in the ballpark then I’ll post. You are right: It is hard starting from zero! Thank you for the site reference on styles. Very helpful! @Victor_Clark : Thank you for the clarification! Interesting information on how and why the coins changed. @Spaniard : Thank you! It took a bit but I got better identifying world coins, so I’m eager to get better at ancients too! @ominus1 : It was! Thank you!
