I'm actually not sure if this is a real coin or not. Supposedly it was from my grandfather who must have gotten it prior to 1985. Is it real and what exactly is it? Thanks.
Yes, it is real! It's a potin tetradrachm minted in Alexandria. I think it's carinus, late 3rd century.
You are new here. We have several members who have a bucket full between them. Alexandrian tets are not popular among the big money crowd but they carry a lot of interest for their size.
Yes, it is Roman...a Roman provincial coin to be exact. Besides the official Roman mint (and other official mints which popped up over time throughout the Empire) many of the provinces minted their own coinage. To complicate things, some cities did the same, and then there are a bunch of unofficial little mints all over the place. So yeah, your coin is from the Roman Empire, just simply a provincial mint instead of an Imperial mint.
I'm a fan of the Alexandrian tets, here are a few I picked up in 2015 that are AE. Aurelian.. Diocletian.. Gordian iii...
As others have said-- yes it is real and it is very nice for the type! Your coin was issued in the first year of his reign when he was Caesar. His emperor father, Carus, died towards the end of that year and Carinus was elevated to Augustus. The same coin also exists with Augustus in the obverse legend, as below. EGYPT, Alexandria. Carinus struck CE 283 potin tetradrachm, 18 mm, 6.7 gm Obv: AKMAKAPINOCCEB; laureate cuirassed bust right Rev: Tyche standing left, holding rudder and cornucopia; LA in left field; star in right field Ref: Emmett 4012(1-A), R3. Milne 4688 Translation of legend abbreviations: A(VTOKPATΩP) K(AICAP) M(APKOC) A(VPHΛIOC) KAPINOC CEB(ACTOC) Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Carinus Augustus L A year 1 Your coin is Emmett 4012 (1-C). Its obverse legend is: A(VTOKPATΩP) K(AICAP) M(APKOC) A(VPHΛIOC) KAPINOC K(AICAP) Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Carinus Caesar
dangolf1890 => very sweet OP_coin (congrats) => here is my humble Carinus Tet example ... these coin-types are very cool, eh?
