Hi there. I missed you all. 've just found a new seller and purchased this coin of Valens. It's common, but I liked the live portrait . Wishing to read your opinions, as usual. The coin seems to be struck in Antioch and weighs 2.53 g. The officina appears like an H to me. Thanks for your comments.
Does the weak spot on the obverse line up with the weak spot on the reverse? Also, how do the edges look? Any pic? I don't see anything obviously fake, but I am curious about those two things. As for the sand patina, I don't know enough about telling real from fake, so I won't comment on that.
Cheers to all coin-friends, and thanks for your concern. The coin is of what we call " coin alignment". So the flat spot on the obverse lines up with the left side of the exergue which is not visible. Can I assume that the mint is Antioch? Is there a christogram on the standard? How much should I pay for this coin. The seller showed me hundreds of these but I had no time to check them. Maybe I'll see him in the next coming days or so.
I believe it is a nice coin overall. I can't tell for sure, but it could be a Chi Rho on the standard and I think it is from Antioch. Glad to have you back and you found a new seller. Many from the old seller were questionable as you know.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought many ancients did not really have "coin" alignment or "medal" alignment due to the manner in which they were made.
Sometimes they did have coin or medal alignment - sometimes they didn't. It isn't very useful to think of the alignment in those terms. A broken clock is right twice a day, right?
