Hello! I need help attributing some ancient coins! These (and more) have been sitting around for at least a few decades from when my grandfather ran a coin shop in cleveland ohio. Thanks so much for all the help!
#1 Ptolemaic coin #2 Marcus Agrippa #3 Trajan #4 Hadrian But as Bing said, easier if you post one coin at a time with the weight/diameters
Hello @Justin Cohen Welcome to the ancients forum. I don't mind, if someone posts multiple coins, in a single OP in a thread, if the person is a newbie, who just wants a general idea, of what some coins are. I'd rather see that, than multiple threads, especially if there would have been more than 2 threads in one day. I recommend posting each photo, as a "Full Image", rather than as a "Thumbnail". That would be one less step, for people who want to view the photos. After you upload a photo, you can click a button called "Full Image", which is next to the photo, under the text area. I'm not an expert on authenticating coins. Therefore, I'll just say "X coin looks like a Y", rather than "X coin is a Y", unless otherwise noted. Coin 3 looks like a Roman Trajan bronze coin, perhaps a bronze as, judging by the size compared to the US quarter. Coin 4 looks like a Roman Hadrian bronze coin, perhaps a bronze as, judging by the size compared to the US quarter. On the obverse, you can see "HADRIANVS" in the legend. Coin 5 looks like a Byzantine 40 nummi follis, from sometime between 969 AD and 1092 AD, a so-called "anonymous follis", because it has a portrait of Jesus Christ on the obverse, rather than the Emperor, and the ruling Emperor's name is not on the coin. Other experts will probably give a more precise attribution. Coin 6 looks like an ancient Greek coin. I've never seen one, where the portrait is wearing hat like that. But I'm not an expert on this type of coin. Coin 10 looks like a very valuable Roman Caesar coin, but I don't know enough, to know if it is authentic. Coin 11 looks like an ancient Greek coin. Coin 12 looks like an ancient Egyptian coin, under the Ptolemy dynasty. Coin 13 looks like a very valuable ancient Greek coin, but I don't know enough, to know if it is authentic. Coin 14 looks like a Byzantine Justinian I 40 nummi follis, from approximately 541 AD. On the obverse, you can see the "IVSTINIANUS" in the legend. Coin 16 looks like a Byzantine gold or electrum coin, from 1092 AD to 1400 AD. Other experts will probably give a more precise attribution. Coin 17 looks like a Sasanian or Tabaristan coin. Coins 18 and 19 look like Byzantine bronze "trachy" coins from1092 AD to 1400 AD. Other experts will probably give a more precise attribution. Coin 20 looks like a Roman sestertius, because of its size relative to the US quarter. Perhaps a Faustina I or Faustina II, or perhaps one of the other wives of Roman Emperors. Coin 21 looks like a Roman Probus antoninianus. On the obverse, you can see "PROBVS" in the legend. Coin 22 looks like a Roman antoninianus.
With an old version of Photoshop Elements. There are nice authentic coins in the lot, but also fakes. #23 is a fake fake, a metafake if you like. The original coin would be already a fake by Becker (a famous forger of ancient coins).
P.S. : For Coin 10, to be more specific, the coin looks like a very valuable Roman Julius Caesar coin. But I don't know enough, to know if the coin is authentic. For Coin 14, on the reverse, it shows the regnal year, which is year XV (year 15) of the reign of Justinian I. And, also on the reverse, the letter "M" means "40" in Greek, because it is a 40 nummi coin. "Nummus" was a typical denomination at that time, sort of like a US "cent".
P.P.S. : For Coin 13, to be more specific, the coin looks like a very valuable ancient Greek decadrachm/dekadrachm, but I don't know enough, to know if the coin is authentic.
Welcome @Justin Cohen . #7 is a Roman Republican denarius of L. Marcius Censorinus produced in 82 BC. Laureate head of Apollo r.; behind, palm. Rev. L·CENSOR Marsyas walking l. with r. arm raised and holding wine-skin over l. shoulder; behind, column bearing statue on top; in r. field, I. It looks ok to me, but I will not claim to tell real vs fake by your pics. You can find similar coins in the link below. I searched in that web site using only letters I could read on your coin: L.CENSOR https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=7015769 FYI - the story behind the satyr on the reverse is interesting: In Greek mythology, the satyr Marsyas is a central figure in two stories involving music: in one, he picked up the double oboe that had been abandoned by Athena and played it; in the other, he challenged Apollo to a contest of music and lost his hide and life. My copy of this coin is one of the few I bought in a slab. NGC graded it AU Strike 5/5 Surface 3/5. I grade it U for Ugly.
#11 looks like a Drachm of Rhodes with a facing head of Helios. The flower on the reverse and facing head point to Rhodes. I found this coin on acsearch using the terms Drachm rhodes facing. https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3284271 Did your grandfather have any descriptions of the coins or were they just in a cigar box?
Coin #17 is a drachm from the Sasanian Persian kingdom, Khusro II (590- 628 AD). Mintmark is WYHC (uncertain site in either Far or Central Iraq), I am less sure of the date but it might be Year 6. The coin appears genuine as far as I can tell from the photo.
#6 looks like a reproduction of a British Museum coin. Forum lists a few other reproductions. JC Coin CNG auction e502 Electrotypes & Reproductions ELECTROTYPES, THRACE. Ainos. Circa 400/399-398/7 BC. Electrotype 'Tetradrachm' (23mm, 12.69 g, 12h). British Museum electrotype (trace of [MB] on reverse). Hermes facing slightly left, wearing petasos with pelleted rim / Goat standing right; AINION above; to right, racing torch right; all within incuse square. Head, Guide Period III B, 4. As made. https://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?pid=497 https://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?pid=326