A friend gave me a large box of fun to go through. so far coins from all over the world his father gathered while in the service. As a coin enthusiast I am having the time of my life i enjoy the research. But alas I am at a stand still and need help to even possibly identify anything about this coin.For size I set it on a canadian dollar coin 1993.
Welcome to CoinTalk Ancients, @phillipaanderson From your title I gather you'd like to do some of the work yourself, so I'll just give a few hints to get you going. Your coin is a bronze from the late Roman empire (often referred to as an "LRB", for Late Roman Bronze). There are many, many different types of these. A good portion of the reverse legend on your coin is identifiable so that will help you. The reverse shows the emperor standing right, holding a banner with right hand, and holding a little statue of Victory in his left hand (you can't really see that on your coin). On the reverse, the letters underneath the ground line ("in exergue") will give details about the mint. I think you'll be able to read enough of the obverse legend to figure out the emperor. For identification purposes, perhaps the easiest place for you to begin with this particular coin is on this page by Tesorillo. Find the reverse type, click, and go from there. Once you've done that, here are some other helpful pages: Basics of late Roman mintmarks List of Roman mints and their marks This page by Warren Esty (CT member @Valentinian) -- don't click this link until you've figured out the emperor and reverse, unless you want to jump ahead to the ID (I hope I got it right! Maybe someone more versed in LRBs can double-check )
ok so lots of research i have that its arcadius and smn nicomedia mint but i cant find a pic thats of this one, lots of close ones but just not right. using the tessorillo page I also deduced its an AE4 is this correct?
It looks like I was wrong in my ID-- I started with the wrong reverse. As you probably noticed, the reverse shows the emperor standing holding a globe, not Nike. So, the final link in my first post is incorrect. So sorry about that ! Your reverse legend is going to be GLORIA ROMANORVM, although I can't quite discern the GLORIA part on your coin. AE4 is a modern term referring to size. We don't always know what these denominations were called in their time. AE1 = >25mm diameter; AE2 = 21-25mm; AE3 = 17-25mm; AE4 <17mm. What is the diameter of your coin? As for your other conclusions, Nicomedia is correct. I can't make out the exergual letters or figures after SMN on your coin but they would indicate the officina within that mint. With the reverse being the emperor standing right holding banner and globe, and the legend of GLORIA ROMANORVM, it is Tesorillo's reverse #43. The options for Emperor are Theodosius I, Arcadius, or Honorius. It's hard to make out the obverse legend in your photos but the legend does seem to be broken into two parts, so per that Tesorillo page that eliminates Arcadius. Looking closely at your coin and with some imagination I can make out [D]NTHEODO SIVSPFAVG. I can't make the Honorius legend fit. So, I think it is Theodosius I. Please, @Roman Collector, @Valentinian, or anyone who is more comfortable with LRBs... double-check my ID! Here's one currently for sale on Vcoins, and another, and a better example below is one from CNG's archives:
I'd say thumbs - up on thy ID... The one thing that was throwing me on first glance of the obverse legend was the 2nd O in THEODO-SIVS as it looks like it has corners appearing more like a D or something else ... But the rest of the legend looks spot on. And the reverse same, spot on. In exergue, I feel like I see an A or Delta at right. RIC IX Nicomedia 46A http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.9.nic.46A Edit: it looks like there is a subtype with a star in right field... Is there a raised star or something over here? More curious than anything cuz of that nick/discoloration there.
first thank you for guiding me in the right direction and Wow i am so jealous of your collection Awesome! Yea i believe that is an "A" in exerge and I don't believe there is anything in the reverse I believe just lighting possibly here is another pic. Now I do have another question, Do offset presses in these coins happen frequently I also loaded a pic ( only part) to show comparison and you will see things like the head sets on his shoulders more to the right and the lettering is also lower around the coin and again thank you this research has been quite enlightening.
WOW thank you its been quite an adventure in research yea that last page you sent me to threw me off but gained much needed knowledge thank you again.
I can't make out the letters for the mint in the exergue. but heres my Theodosius similar to yours, minted in Antioch Syria:
