I am new to the world of Ancient Coins, but I am absolutely excited to learn. I recently picked up these coins from a LCS, but they knew very little about them. I got them each for $10 a piece. Can anyone please give some input on what each are? Also, any references or resources where I could learn to ID myself would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.
The 1st three are late Roman bronze coins. The 1st and 3rd have identifiable legends on the obverse/reverse — Complete enough to make an ID for what rulers they are — fairly easy. Try http://numismatics.org/ocre/identify and plug in what parts of the legend one can make out. I’ll give you a few hints to hopefully help you out. I can make out LICI on the left side of coin #1, and I can make out TIVS AVG on the right side of #3. What do the right side of #1 and the left side of #3 read? I can make them out, can you? On #2 I can make out FEL & ????RATIO, and what appears to be a figure standing over another that has ‘fallen’. The 4th coin looks to be Medieval. Not my forte; perhaps others could chime in. The 5th coin is a commonly known Jewish/Judaea Prutah w/ what appears to be three ears of barley on one side and an umbrella on the other. A quick ‘google search’ will tell one who the ruler is.
Welcome to CoinTalk! Your first three coins are late Roman bronzes issued by Licinius and Constantius II. To identify them, you can use online resources like, for example, Wildwinds or OCRE. Also, our forum member @Valentinian maintains a website with many in-depth articles on ancient numismatics, and @dougsmit has a fabulous educational site with lots of information for both beginners as well as advanced collectors. You will be able to read up on late Roman coins on these pages. To help you with identifying your coins properly, I'm posting some coins with similar reverses and reverse legends along with descriptive identifications. Please keep in mind that these types were issued by different Roman emperors, at different mints, and with different control marks. Your coins thus are not "the same" as mine – but comparing them to mine should bring you a step forward: Constantine the Great, Roman Empire, AE2, 313 AD, Siscia mint. Obv: IMP CONSTANTINVS P F AVG; head of Constantine I, laureate, r. Rev: IOVI CONSERVATORI; Jupiter standing front, holding thunderbolt in r. hand and leaning on sceptre with l. hand; to l. by feet, eagle; in field r., A; in exergue, SIS. 23mm, 2.81 g. Ref: RIC VI Siscia 229b. Constantius II, Roman Empire, AE3, 351–355 AD, Sirmium mint. Obv: D N CONSTANTIVS P F AVG; bust of Constantius II, pearl-diademed, draped, cuirassed, r. Rev: FEL TEMP REPARATIO; helmeted soldier to l., shield on l.arm, spearing falling horseman; shield on ground at r.; horseman is bareheaded, turns to face soldier, and extends l. arm; in exergue, [?]SIRM. 18.5mm, 2.95g. RIC VIII Sirmium 48. Constantine the Great, Roman Empire, AE 3, 335–336 AD, Siscia mint. Obv: CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG, bust of Constantine I, diademed, draped and cuirassed, r. Rev: GLORIA EXERCITUS; two soldiers standing facing each other, standard between them. 15mm, 1.45g. Ref: RIC VII Siscia 261. Your fourth coin is a modern forgery imitating a medieval silver gros from the crusader state of Tripolis. If it were real, it would be a very valuable piece – but it isn't. Your fifth coin is from ancient Judea – @Herodotus has already given you good clues on what to search for above.
I was about to comment on the Judean coin with the ruler and timeframe. I'll leave it to you Here is mine of the exact same ruler welcome to cointalk and excited to see more. Nice thaler restrike, also!
Sadly, fakes of those, and more or less contemporary gros tournois of Philippe IV, have a long, sordid history, and are all over the place. --Points Not awarded for competence, which makes most of them easy to spot.
