Hello to the much more learned collectors on this forum. I recently acquired a parcel of 10 ancients mainly because I thought the larger coin was a Phoenician shekel (Melqart and eagle). Was I wrong Can anyone help identify the coins? I will try to take better photos but my skills leave a lot to be desired... Some of them are so tiny I wonder what they would buy in those days!!!
Ephesos (Ephesus), Ionia, c. 5th century BC. Silver hemidrachm? Bee, E-F / Quadrapartite incuse square. Reference: http://www.ancientresource.com/lots/coins_greek1.html
Yes, they are all going to be identifiable. You'll get more help if you take better pictures (individual coins, obverse and reverse cropped and preferably joined), and post one per thread, with size and weight, and not all in one front-page-hogging day
The two on the top right are definitely from Sikyon. Based on the relative size and the lack of the wreath on the reverse I would guess they are Hemidrachms. The style leads me to guess that they are ca. 400-323 BC. I agree with @TIF above. If you post a thread per coin and include weight and diameter we should be able to help you narrow it down more. Great additions btw
Thanks guys. I will certainly try to take better photos and provide size and weight for each. Although the small ones might not even show up on my scale unless they weigh 1gm+
The large one is one of the later Ptolemies and not nearly the price of a Shekel of Tyre and not the best coin in the group IMO.
OK.....here are some more details and pictures.... Dia: 23mm; Weight:12.6 gms Dia: 20mm; Weight: 6.2 gms
For value you can search auction archives (CNG, and ACsearch if you're a subscriber) for comparable coins and what they realized and you can also check "retail" prices of currently offered similar coins on Vcoins. Here are some of the IDs. I'm just going to post a CNG-archived picture of similar coins with a link and you can go from there. It is difficult to assess for authenticity based on pictures, especially for some of your coins. I'm not going to render an opinion about authenticity on any of them (not that my opinion is the end-all ) Thasos trihemiobol Mylasa hemiobol (the stated weight of your coin appears to be off by a decimal place; a 7 mm coin is not going to weigh 6 gms) Ephesos obol Archaic version of an Ephesos fractional silver (not sure of the denomination- obol, perhaps- and again, your stated weight appears to be off by a decimal place). Your Ephesos is the oldest of your bunch and at least somewhat rare. Mesambria diobol. There have been bunches of fakes of these and I don't remember the diagnostics. Chersonesos hemidrachm, with amphora and dot ligate VE on reverse. Many fakes of these hemidrachms exist. Sikyon hemidrachm Gargara tetrabol or drachm? I'm not very familiar with these. If this attribution is correct, it appears to be rather rare. There is inconsistency of the denomination designation among the small number of these I see in CNG's archives. The incuse square of yours is more distinct than the archive coins and I don't know the significance of that, if any. This is probably the most valuable of the coins in your group (assuming my attribution is correct). ... Gotta get ready for a long day at work so someone else can help with the two remaining coins.
Thanks Tif. That's great info. Yes I'm out by a decimal on the two tiny coins. They are 0.6 grams each. And I got them from Roma so hopefully they are all authentic . At least I can now be happy I've got some OK ancients.
