I need some help with these coins. They are not mine. I was asked by a third party about them. The one in the red folder is obviously a tremissis of Justinian. One of the gold coins is, I think, a ducat of Hungary (St Stephen). I have no weights on them. The small copper is a lepton or prutah. I know nothing about them except that it is perhaps an example of a widow's mite. The one that most intrigues me is the large gold with Zeus on the obverse with the letter alpha at nine o'clock. On the reverse is a scrawny eagle reminiscent of something Ptolemaic or maybe Phoenician (Tyre?) The Greek letters are alpha, pi, epsilon, iota,? o the left and to the right are rho, omega, tau, alpha, nu. My friend tells me it weighs in at a bot more than 10 grams which does not fit the usual Greel stater weight. The reverse also shows what seems to be corrosion, something not normally seen on a gold coin. I have some doubts about the authenticity of this last coin. Ant information on this last coin, and the others you can add, appreciated. Thanks
The bronze coin is a prutah of the Judaean king Herod Agrippa I, 37-44 AD. One of the more common issues from 1st century Judaea, but still popular because he is mentioned extensively as a nemesis of early Christians throughout the Book of Acts. It should be inexpensive in this condition, I'd say no more than $25
Thanks for that. By the way the gold ducat I just discovered for my self is not Hungarian but French from the City of Metz, about 1600 and it is of the ducat/florin weight scale. it is really the Greek gold that has me stumped.
It looks Seleucid--APEI[?]RUTAN? Makes no sense to me, but I don't know Seleucid coins very well. Also, it looks plated rather than solid gold. Is that corrosion under a thin layer of gold on the top of the reverse?
Here's one (Epirus) that looks similar for Zeus gold (5.28 g) https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=142228 Epirote Republic Halfstater 238/168 BC. Obv. Head of Zeus of Dodonaeus with oak-wreath to r., monogram, behind. Rev. AΠΕΙ − ΡΩΤΑΝ Eagle to r. in oak-wreath
Next question: how confident are we of the prutah's legitimacy? Again, I don't know these coins well, but the few I've seen tend to have edges that are more jagged.
With no judgement on the coin above - here's another example: Judaea, Herodian Kingdom, Agrippa I, AD 37-44, AE prutah Jerusalem mint, struck AD 41-42 Obv: BACIΛEΩC AΓPIΠA, umbrella Rev: Three ears of barley, flanked by L-ς Ref: Hendin 1244
Considering that a noted online coin forum is selling prutahs in pretty nice consition, similar in appearance, in batches of 25 for $10-$12 I doubt that the gentleman's is a copy.
