I posted last week a bunch of Hellenistic Egyptian coins for ID. The same chap has now turned up with a stack of Byzantine coins. I have succeeded in identifying 11 of them, and discarded 2 as too far gone, leaving me with these 5 - four Byzantine and one Roman that I have been unable to spot in the book so far. (I have only the Sear book 1987 edition.) One - Measures 21mm and weighs 7.8g: Two - Measures 21mm at the longest and weighs 3.3g: Three - Measures 25mm and weighs 9.2g: Four - Measures 34mm across and weighs 20.6g: Roman one - Measures 18mm and weighs 4.7g: (I can see it is early Roman but couldn't find a match for the SC in a wreath reverse.) Thanks for any help!
Roman coin is definitely a provincial from Antioch - I would guess Hadrian based on the shape of the head/jaw line.
The third, middle one is an anoymous follis, class 2, c. 976-1028, like these on Wildwinds.http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/byz/anonymous/t.html --And it's Not Bad! Having any of the obverse legend on these is a plus; you've got at least the last third, along with half of the "[IC...] XC" in the field.
1st: Constans II. 641-668. Æ 12 Nummi. Alexandria mint. Struck 642. Crowned and draped facing bust, holding globus cruciger / Large I B; cross above M between; AΛЄZ. DOC 7 (Heraclonas); MIB 188; SB 1026. 2nd Constans II follis 3rd = anonymous class 2 4th = fake coin
That is brilliant - thank you all. Pity about the fake - I feared it was too good to be true. I will pass all the info back to the present owner and hopefully he will let me buy them. (I bought all the Egyptian ones off him last week, so I am awash in ancients now!)
That fake one looks really off. I don’t think I’ve seen any genuine follis with that strange looking, skinny text. Not even sure what exactly they were trying to fake
I've seen this particular fake before. It's a loose interpretation of Michael II & Theophilus. Compare this genuine coin. https://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=325284
Here's an authentic example of Michael II The Amorian and Theophilus, 821-829 A.D. from my collection. Dark patina, actually it needs to be re-photographed.
Yup! It was the very last type of Roman coinage to be minted in the old Roman province before it was conquered. An end of an era. This is definitely on my to-get list.