I bought this coin uncleanwd recently for pretty cheap. I have not cleaned them yet, as I don’t really know how to but thet’s for another day. I see thst it has a counterstamp and using the limited resources on these on the internet I came across something I think it is. I believe it to be a Hadrians Head mark. From what Ive heard, these were made from 133-135 AD during the Second Jewish Revolt celebrating the attacks from Legion XII. Is this true for all of these or are some Hadrians Heads made for other reasons? I would also greatly appreciate any input on what coin this is, I have seen ?Domitians? name pop up a lot with these but have no clue— as you probably can tell I have no idea about anything ancient, though Iwould like too. Thank you everyone!
Identifying the countermark may be the best you can do with this coin. Cleaning is unlikely to reveal any further detail as most of the coin has already been stripped down to bare metal. If the mottled appearance bothers you, you could remove the rest of the green using electrolysis, giving you a more evenly-colored surface, but I'm not sure what the point would be. I am curious what that small circle is at around five o'clock on the reverse.
C.J. Howgego's Greek Imperial Countermarks: Studies in the Provincial Coinage of the Roman Empire is the go-to source for countermarks on provincial coins and your coin is probably provincial. Some of the listings give a size for the c/m, so measuring the c/m on your coin (in millimeters) might help narrow it down. Also, what is the diameter of the host coin? I bought the book a while back, thinking it would be handy, but in truth I have very few countermarked coins. It's fun to help others with their coins though, so I'll give it a try after you take those measurements unless someone else nails it down before then Some of the book's entries have abundant detail about the c/m but some merely list the c/m. Hopefully yours will have some interesting information.
You should definitely not try to clean it further. It will only get worse. The counter mark is good, and they usually appear on very worn coins. Identifying it should be fun. You can try looking for examples on VCoins and other sites as well. Otherwise the recommended book should be good.
Spitballing here completely but the shape and position of the circular object on the reverse noted by @gsimonel puts me in mind of the "Victory advancing carrying shield" type used by Nero and Trajan (and others?). On the coins of those emperors the shield only ever appeared at the bottom-left rather than the bottom-right (as in this case) though, to my knowledge. The obverse portrait still has some personality: there's what looks like a voluminous hairdo and either a strong jaw or a beard. A worn example of the "victory" types from my own collection:
Thanks very much. Ill get those measurements presently. I believe it is provincial because I bought it with a lot of coins from the Holy Land, and this is the first one I'm trying to identify.
It's about 23.8mm long way across (left to right) and 20.6mm short way across (top to bottom). About 3mm thick.
The length and width of the countermark may also be helpful. There are many of this type of countermark and some are distinguished in part by size.
Just got a rough one similar to the OP, so I thought I'd share, along with my attribution efforts, dimensions, etc. I think it is a Titus "Judea Capta" AE issue from Casesara Maritima (I am really staring hard at this to get there - my host coin is worn smooth) with Howgego 133 countermark ("Hadrian's Head). There are several examples of this countermark on Antioch SC and Flavian Caesara Maritima hosts on http://www.romancoins.info/CMK-legionary-East.htm FORVM's invaluable "Automan" collection of countermarks has a couple of examples, including this one, which looks a lot like mine. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=546&pos=175 It actually appears to be fairly common - I found quite a few examples online. Here is mine: Titus Æ 22 (c. 73 A.D. C/M c. 135 A.D.) Roman Provincial - Samaria, Caesarea Maritima for Judaea [AVTOKΡ TITOΣ KAIΣAΡ], laureate head right / [IOYΔIAΣ EAΛΩKYIAΣ], trophy of arms, Judaea sitting & shield at base. RPC 2313 (uncertain attribution) (10.45 grams / 22 x 21 mm) Countermark: Laureate head right, in rectangular punch, 5.5 x 6.5 mm. Howgego 133 (17 pcs). Note: The countermark may have been applied in Palestine. Referred to as "Hadrian's Head," this countermark is sometimes connected to Legio XII and the Bar Kokhba Revolt (c. 132-136 A.D.)
Wow that does look very similar! I will need to get those countermark measurements, (honestly I forgot about this thread, so thanks for bringing it back to my attention). I was going to try to use a digital caliper at my school for a more accurate measurement but I'll try to use a ruler given it's Fall Break. Based upon how you see the coin, would you say yours is coin or medal alignment?
The coin weighs 8.95g and the countermark is 5.8mm x 7.3mm. Maybe the weight compensation is just from being struck on a slightly smaller planchet, wear, or the combination of the two?
I think my host coin is medal alignment, but it is so very worn I am not sure I am interpreting the reverse correctly. I think I can see the bottom "skirt" and right shield of the reverse trophy, which is how I made my attribution. That this "Hadrian's Head" countermark is found frequently on Flavian "Judea Capta" issues from Caesarea Maritima also went into my attribution/guessing process. I may be wrong, but here is an "enhanced" photo of the reverse showing the visible parts of the devices. There may be a vertical post coming down from the middle of the "skirt" as well - the trophy's "base." The obverse features a male head right, which looked somewhat like Titus from these Caesarea Maritima issues. As for the weights, Roman Provincials seem to vary quite a bit within the same issue - there are many here at Coin Talk who know more than I do. In the examples I found when researching this online, these Judea Capta types from Caesarea Maritima ranged from 7.2 to 12.9 grams! My countermark was measured with a ruler and my eyeball. It's close, but not exact.
