I Have Entered Into the World of Ancients - My 1st 2 Coins

Hello all,
As you know my past threads have all been mostly about Error Coins, World Coins and any interesting news articles concerning coin related items. I do like to read and sometimes respond and help in whatever I can find in the Ancient Coins section even though I'm no expert in that field.

Well this weekend as I was visiting my local flea market searching for World Coins one of the sellers offered me some Ancients at a good price. He said they were both authentic and wanted me to see them. I liked what I saw and picked both of them up!

So today all I ask for information from the Ancient Coin experts. What are they? Are they authentic and did I start of with good coins?

First coin was labeled Euphonius, Greek or Byzantine

Second Coin was labeled Persia Moghul - Silver


I got them for $10.00 each.. Any comments, help and information would be greatly appreciated!

 

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First coin is an Roman Imperial of the Emperor Probus (A.D. 276-282), minted in Siscia.

Full details are:-

Obv:– IMP C M AVR PROBVS P F AVG, Radiate bust left in imperial mantle, holding sceptre surmounted by eagle
Rev:– PAX AVG, Pax standing left, holding olive-branch and sceptre
Minted in Siscia (_ | T / XXI) Emission 7, Officina 3. A.D. 280
Reference(s) – RIC 704 Bust type H. Alföldi type 41, n° 77

Here is mine for comparison.



Regards,
Martin

 

Great.. Thanks!

 

good start into Ancients. In particular, the Probus is a nice example. I know nothing about the second coin. Congratulations for joining the rest of us looneies.

 

The Probus one seems alright to me. Don't know much about Arabic/Islamic coins though, but there are some here who do.

I hope you didn't pay a lot for Probus though. His coins are relatively common enough. Oh, and no worries, ancients are not addicting. I also bought one on a whim less than 3 months ago, and it was not an addicting experience at all (only 16 ancient coin purchases since then.)

 

$10.00 per coin

 

Second coin, not Persia, not Moghul.
But Sultans of Delhi, Turks, or Slave dynasty.
Ghiyath al-din Balban 1266-87AD
Billon 2-Gani.
Not rare, but very nice coin.

 

Thanks Bing. All the Ancient threads are surly interesting.

 

Not bad at all. You did extremely well (at least on the Probus). If the second one is also genuine, I'm sure you also did extremely well.

Someone light the Batman signal for the Arabic/Islamic coin experts, whatever that signal is.

 

Welcome here, in the Wide Wide World of Ancient Coins! You will find many cheap and expensive coins, beautiful ones and uglies. And error coins, double strikes, overstrikes and mules.

You could go for the oldest one (mine is from about 600 BC), or a fine portrait, or an attractive gold coin. Anything goes!

You started with a Roman and an Indian coin. I would say, try finding a Greek, an African, a Celtic, a Chinese, an early medieval European and a Persian coin for starters. They need not be too expensive. Then expand.

 

Wow, it is amazing how many modern collectors are deciding to dabble in ancient coins lately (it is fantastic => the more, the merrier)

Oh, and if you're anything like the rest of us => then I feel fricken sorry for you, because once you've been bitten by the dark-bug, it is very difficult to find your way back ... "just relax and look into the light"



Oh, and I like your first two coins ... very diverse (and very cool)

=> at $10 each, it's a no brainer (it gets even sweeter once you discover your collecting-avenue)

 

Welcome to the club, paddyman!

You've got a good start.

Check out Vcoins.com. Everything on there is legit and there are tons of coins and artifacts to chose from.

Erin

 

Oh dear. They got Paddyman........

 

In my opinion the Probus is the lesser of the two because it is the kind of coin that you could have found nicer for very little more. The Balban is a nice looking coin with good looking metal. Compare it to my brassy billon below.


Mine has a little better centering on one side but patchy surfaces. Tye (Jitals - the reference for these) says these are 9% silver suggesting to me that they must have been silver washed explaining your great surfaces and my peeling patches. I paid $9 for mine; yours is worth the extra at the very least.

Martin's matching Probus would have been a (very, very) lot more than $10! What you did wrong here was to buy from a dealer who knew no more about the coins than you did. Both were incorrectly identified. A dealer not being able to identify the Probus would not be in a position to be able to say if it were genuine. The Balban would be harder for most people because fewer collect that time and place. I no longer feel good saying a coin is genuine or not just from a photo. That is why we suggest beginners (at least) buy from a trusted and knowledgeable seller.

 

Probus might benefit from a little soaking in distilled water. It looks to me like it could still have some deposits that could be removed.

Sure, a nicer one could have been had for little more, but it is still a nice coin, and given a little soaking things might improve. And no matter what, it is still a coin worth saving.

 

And caring for your coins enhances your attention.

 

Thanks for the information.. Looks like I uploaded my coin correctly. I didn't know which way was up or down. And yes the (flea market) dealer was incorrect in his descriptions. Amazing.. I have much to learn!

 

Welcome @paddyman98 !!!!

A nice start to a totally addictive hobby.....'Ancients' just grab any coin collector in a way that 'moderns' simply can't. Once I had mint sets , currency etc etc until the ancient bug just took over .... LOL

I'm looking forward to seeing your newest purchases.