I feel like I haven't been posting much on the forums lately, but I certainly haven't been out of the game! I will hopefully have some fun treasures to post in the coming weeks, but I had a little breakthrough today with a coin from an uncleaned lot I bought back in 2015 Byzantine Empire Alexius I Comnenus, r. 1081-1118 Thessalonica mint AE Tetarteron, 18.69 mm x 3.6 grams Obv.: [TW KOMHN]. Crowned facing bust of Alexius, wearing loros, holding cross-tipped sceptre and cross on globe Rev.: Jewelled cross with globe at each end, X in centre, on two steps, C Φ A Δ in the corners, clockwise from first quadrant I've had this coin for some time, and while the reverse stands out clearly, the obverse is nearly obliterated. While I initially thought it was Byzantine, I had trouble finding any byzantine coins which fit the description. As I was looking through coins of the Crusader States, I noticed a Follis of Baldwin II of Edessa which looked quite a bit like this coin, and became ecstatic when it seemed what little I could see on the obverse fit the description. The only problem was the reverse had clear letters in each of the quadrants formed by the cross, and none of the letters really fit with Baldwin II. This is what I thought I had... CNG 295, Lot: 96. CRUSADERS, Edessa. Baldwin II. Second reign, 1108-1118. Æ Follis (21mm, 3.58 g, 9h). Light series. Struck circa 1110-1118. Baldwin standing left, wearing conical helmet and chain-armor, holding globus cruciger and resting hand on hilt of sword / Cross fleuronnée. Metcalf, Crusades109-12 ; CCS 10. Since Baldwin's coins were often counterstruck on other coins, I thought I ought to check out the Byzantine coins of the same era one more time. Sure enough, here was Alexus Comnenus with the exact reverse, and the obverse of his Tetarteron fit much better with what I could see that Baldwin II. While it's a shame it's not Baldwin, it's still an interesting coin with a lot of history behind it (and not a bad buy for $0.15!). Anyway, just thought I would share since this has been on my mind most of the day. I'm glad to have finally identified it, even if it wasn't quite as exciting as I'd hoped... Feel free to pile on with whatever you'd like - Crusaders, Misattributions, 11th/12th century, what have you!
Did you say 15 cents? And here I was thinking I'm the most budget friendly poster on CT. I guess I have to give up the crown to you @FitzNigel.
Just dumb luck Bing. Most of the Coins I doubt I'll ever identify, but at $20 for 140 I figured it was worth the bet
Great price on that hoard, wow! I've got a coin with a similar cross on it that I got in an unidentified hoard of 300 coins, never have been able to identify it. I never considered that it could be a crusader coin, though! Thanks. You may have helped me solve a mystery. Mine cost about $1.25 based on the overall price of the hoard.
Post a picture @ancient coin hunter ! I've gone cross-eyed looking at these types the past two years, so I might be able to help
