Coin store in my area of Olympia, wa sold me this coin for $1. He had it labeled as the roman empire 27 bc - 498 ad. He had other roman coins and this one the markings were definitely not the same. Took some time but I tracked down that it is an ancient Indian jital 1296AD-1316AD. It is really cool and interesting and gave me a challenge to track down what it really was. Found it to be worth more then his "$1 roman empire coin" which definitely is a nice find in my book. Not that I would ever sell it though just get added to the collection that one day will belong to my son.
Labeling that "Roman" is like calling a banana a watermelon. I mean, I could certainly understand someone not knowing what it is, but pulling something else out of thin air to call it is just silly.
I am an amateur coin collector and I spotted it right away. You would think someone who works at a store would pick up on that. they were also selling error coins... you know some with bubbles in them or a nickel that has a dime imprint on it saying how rare it is... I straight up told the guy bubbles happen when a coin it heated up and an imprint comes from when you put 2 coins in a vise that they are not error coins. I was told "errors could be forged but those were real"
That is a perfect example when we tell new members who think they have a mint Error when they state.. "I took it to the coinshop and the person told me it is an error".. when it is not! Not all coinshop dealers know about true mint errors Thanks for sharing your find with us.
It's funny that just two weeks ago I went in to see my guy. He is the most knowledgeable US coin dealer I have ever known. He had a stack of 5-6 ancient's that came in with a collection he purchased. He had no clue what they were. I was able to identify two very worn Byzantine Folles. The other three were Roman. In his mind, they were taking up space in his display case. Whole point being, I wouldn't judge a dealer too awfully much. Probably just wasn't his area of interest and he was happy you spent the dollar to get it out of his way. Win-win in my book.
Indeed! The old "buying World [or Ancient] Coins from a US coin dealer" can be a profitable endeavor sometimes. To illustrate that, here is an old and rather longwinded story of mine, about turning my profits from World Coin cherrypicking into some rare key date US coins. I call it... How I Got Two Genuine 1877 Indian Head Cents for Eight Dollars .