I found a coin. It's 1'2" in diameter, and 1/16" thick. It's Gold (heavy). To look at the coi under normal circumstances it just looks like a (front) horse, standing on it's back legs and pawing out in front with it's front legs. The back looks like a stand of Wheat. I scanned it in my Brother, opened it with Microsoft photo editor...........Well, at 125% what I see is not even close to what I had first thought I saw. Let me know what you see please (at high magnification).
Howdy Fred - Welcome to the Forum !! It is a design I have seen many times, but I don't collect ancients and know next to nothing about them. We have few folks here who do though, one of them will stop by soon enough and hopefully be able to offer some help.
Hi, I too am a new member - I have numerous Roman coins. The horse image seems to match an early Roman type design - B.C., but I am not familiar with wheat on the coins. Are you sure it is gold? A cleaned Roman bronze coin will shine like gold. There are also lots of Roman conterfeits out there. Any lettering on the coin? Perhaps you could post a better photo? Dennis
Retiredfed,the coin that you have got there is an ancient British coin,which means that it was issued by one of the Celtic tribal kingdoms in England in the period 10-50 AD.It is listed in the 2005 Spink's catalogue.Send a private message to Sylvester.He can tell you the catalogue number & its price in Pounds Sterling.
Thanks all for your speedy/timely replies. I have been looking for a hobby since I retired two years ago...........Maybe, through coincidence, I just found one. Again, my thanks! Ken PS: Will try to post a better picture later. Only reason why I think it's gold is the color (looking at it here at my desk in the sunlight, and the weight for such a small coin
Dennis, I found what I was looking for thanks to Aidan. See attached .jpg. I believe I'm going to like it here! Ken PS, should have added this along with the .jpg "Found earlier this year in Buckinghamshire, this is an attractive example of one of the rarer types of Cunobelin's gold. It's the quarter stater of the classic series, usually believed to have been struck towards the end of Cunobelin's reign, perhaps between 30 and 40 AD. The type is listed as VA 2038 in Van Arsdell's 'Celtic Coinage of Britain'."
It is most definitely a gold coin.Ancient British coins are of interest to those who collect English & British Isles coins such as myself.
Aidan - I must ask, what makes you think the coin is definitely gold ? Granted, the original coin was struck in gold - but that doesn't mean Fred's coin is. Fred - now that you know what the coin is supposed to be you still need to determine if it is real. First of all try to measure the coin, then weigh it. Then I would suggest that you try to find a dealer someplace close to you that is knowedgeable about ancient coins and ask their opinion. With coins like this the counterfeits outnumber the real coins by a 100 to 1. I'm not trying to dash your hopes Fred - I'm just trying to let you know what reality may turn out to be.
Fred & GDJMSP,there is a guy in England who can help you.His name is Chris Rudd.He is a specialist in the ancient British coin series.He has a website on the Internet.
