I picked these up for a $1.25 each. I collect US Walkers and Morgans so I know nothing about this area of coinage. They just looked cool and were inexpensive. Counterfeit? Or so common that they're dirt cheap? I did some research and the smaller one seemed to be from Constantine the II AD337-340 but I'm not sure which type. The second, larger coin, just said Byzantium Christ on the plastic flip it came in. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Very cool - thanks for the tip. Yeah, I'm worried. Because I really need that extra coin collecting addiction. Ugh.....
I don't collect Byzantine, only Roman and Greek. But stick around the forum, you will get all kinds of help and advice. Ancients is a different ball game than modern stuff. Yes you can pick up stuff really cheap, it can get very expensive also. This is a fun place to be
The first is indeed a coin of Constantine II, soldiers/standard type. The second is an anonymous Class B follis of the Byzantine Empire, struck during the 11th-century. They are both authentic - they're just cheap because they're extremely common.
It's hard to tell if it's going to be readable at all in real life (the picture's a bit too blurry), but if you want to know the mint of the Constantius II coin, the mintmark is a series of letters below the line the soldiers are standing on.
