I'm in the process of trying to reorganize coins I bought years ago and fully attribute them. Previously I was happy to just have the ruler's name, years of his reign, and the. Some of the history behind him. But now that I can come out of my "Dark Ages" (to steal an AFOL term...) of coin collecting, I'm trying to record more information about my coins. So here is one that I had listed as Valens. Checking on Wildwins, everything matches up with a Sear #4117. But I'm struggling with the Mintmark. It's a bit corroded down there, but I see an 's' and an 'H' which could be an 'm.' It seems like there is another letter after the 'm,' but it's too corroded to tell. While an 'Sam' would likely indicate Rome, that third possible letter is making me wonder (that, and Wildwinds doesn't appear to have an example starting with 'sm' or 'sh.' Any thoughts or help guys? I appreciate it!
a quick look an i see listings on wildwinds with mintmarks starting with "sm". Aquileia, Heraclea, Nicomedia, to start...
Helvetica (Dane of Wildwinds) has a spreadsheet for Gloria Romanorvm issues (scroll down; click to download the spreadsheet). I didn't search thoroughly, but at a glance your coin was probably struck in Aquileia. The S is probably followed by M ("Sacra Moneta"), plus I see a dot at the end and ?beginning of the mintmark. Edited: in your close-up image what I thought were dots may not be. Good luck!
i bet it's SMAQS, with it being valens and having nothing i can see in the fields. i think i see the "S" on the end.
The kind of hard green that is hiding the letters can often be broken away by pushing the thick spot straight down with a push pin or a similarly sharp point held in a pin vise (push pin is easier). Push only hard enough to break the green and do not scrub back and forth. The idea is to crack through the green without poking a hole in the metal below. A couple well positioned breaks may reveal a letter underneath. I am not suggesting cleaning the whole coin this way but only trying to discover the letter in this one spot.
Great - thanks guys! I'll double check Wildwinds (I was only looking under the listing of Valens coins) and try your method too Doug. Mind helping me with another one? I just received another coin I inherited from my grandmother - it's one she had turned into a necklace, and certainly looks more authentic than the other Greek coins I received from her, but I am not sure where to start looking with Greek coins. Anyway, here is is:
I don't think it is an ancient coin, but it was intended to resemble something ancient and Greek. The obverse figure looks somewhat like Hera.
Of course, that does mean my grandmother was 0 for 3 in her ancient coin purchases... Kinda makes me sad for her. Now I'm a little afraid to post the Spanish gold she had turned into a ring!
