Help with Ancients

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by MKent, Sep 30, 2016.

  1. MKent

    MKent Well-Known Member

    I received 6 ancients from @Victor_Clark recently and they were not attributed which was great because I'm trying to learn. Well I'm not sure I know where to start so I'm going to post pictures of one of the six and ask for help with attribution from the ancient collectors. After this I am going to study the others and try and determine for myself what they are. Then I will post pictures of them as I figure them out or get stumped whichever comes first. [​IMG][​IMG]
    I apologize in advance for the pictures but I think you can see enough detail by enlarging them to work with.
     
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  3. Victor_Clark

    Victor_Clark all my best friends are dead Romans Dealer

    If you want to try on your own, Dane Kurth (Helvetica) has an excel sheet for the fallen horsemen types, along with many others, compiled mostly from RIC.

    Scroll down the page to the FEL TEMP REPARATIO file-
    Soldier spearing horseman type

    http://www.catbikes.ch/coinstuff/coins-ric.htm
     
    Jwt708 likes this.
  4. Gil-galad

    Gil-galad I AM SPARTACUS

    That ain't a bad coin to get started with. It may be a challenge at first because some of the letters are badly preserved.

    constantius-ii-horseman-reshoot.jpg
     
    zumbly and chrsmat71 like this.
  5. Pishpash

    Pishpash Well-Known Member

    What Victor said, these spreadsheets are excellent for identification.
     
  6. Jwt708

    Jwt708 Well-Known Member

    I think you've made a wise choice in learning how to attribute your own coins! First thing I always do is weight and measure it. Then beginning with the obverse I try to make out only letters I can, which way the portrait is facing, and any other details. Same for the reverse. I can't read many letters from the photo and I think if we do it for you it will take away the fun of discovering it yourself. Check wildwinds.com for examples and don't be afraid to use CTRL+F to find something!
     
    Smojo likes this.
  7. Ken Dorney

    Ken Dorney Yea, I'm Cool That Way...

    Let's not go too easy on him and give the answer right out as he is trying to learn. Trying to read legends can be hard and frustrating when new. In this case it is best to start with what you can easily read. On the right side of the portrait one can easily see "TIVS". With that and the reverse type you should be able to find it easily.
     
  8. Jwt708

    Jwt708 Well-Known Member

    Oh, you may need a magnifying glass to help. I bought mine from the BX for 89¢.
     
  9. MKent

    MKent Well-Known Member

    This is exactly what I was hoping for. Any more advice or direction will be appreciated but I'm off to research. Thanks and I will let you know what I come up with.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  10. Jwt708

    Jwt708 Well-Known Member

    Good luck and have fun! This is part of how we "play" with our coins.
     
  11. rrdenarius

    rrdenarius non omnibus dormio Supporter

    Part of the fun with ancients is the detective work to attribute a coin. Late Roman bronzes can be fun if you have a few books. I like the link on John Jencek's web site. Most of the links are inactive, but this one still works.
    http://www.jhecoins.com/obverselegends.htm

    PS - has anyone heard from JJ since his move?
     
  12. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    This is an interesting one for a starter. The ruler on the obverse can be identified without a single letter of legend because only four rulers issued the type and three can be ruled out by the size of the coin and the headgear on the portrait. Always start an ID quest in late Romans with the reverse. Only consider rulers who actually issued that reverse type.

    I rather like the reverse type. Victor mentioned Dane's spreadsheets but neglected to mention there are 2200 variations on these. I have relatively few here:
    http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/fh.html

    Dane also has a photo illustrated site here:
    http://www.catbikes.ch/helvetica/feltemps.htm
    She has a huge number of coins for your comparison but first you need to decide which mint made the coin in question.
     
    stevex6 likes this.
  13. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    Yeah, let's not make it too easy for the newbie...only took me a 20 second search on Google based on what i could see on the coin. If this is not good enough to clue you in to whose coin it is, I suggest you practice reading ancient scripture on more Roman coins until you get good at it.

    ancient_constantius_ii_fel_temp_reparatio.jpg
     
    Johndakerftw, Gil-galad and Bing like this.
  14. Jwt708

    Jwt708 Well-Known Member

    Come on @Sallent give 'em a chance.
     
  15. Ken Dorney

    Ken Dorney Yea, I'm Cool That Way...

    True, but even though I have been reading Roman coin inscriptions all my life I still have difficulties on occasion. D, R, and A often look identical, it one can only puzzle it out if there is enough of the other letters to point you to the right mint.
     
    Mikey Zee likes this.
  16. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    I thought attributing ancient coins would be fun, but I never realized how challenging it can be. I applaud the OP for his determination.
     
    TIF and Mikey Zee like this.
  17. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    This coin only has two letter that are important for the ID after you get the type and ruler which do not require letters in this case. Unfortunately those two letters are unclear at the bottom of the reverse ('in exergue' is the term for this space) If those two letters following the clear SM are TS. the full ID of the coin is simple. If they are something else, there may be a different and extra step to take for a full ID.

    If you post a coin for help, it is always a good idea to give diameter and weight. In some cases, this information will help eliminate a choice that may seem possible from a photo.
     
    Mikey Zee likes this.
  18. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    MKent => congrats on scoring those 6 new OP-additions

    It looks like the coin gang has given you lots of great tools for tracking-down the answers, eh?

    ... but just when you think you're gettin' good at the game, they'll throw something like this at you!!

    => the crazy barbaric spitball ...


    Barbarous Constantius II.jpg


    ... again, congrats on the new coin-additions (sounds like you're having fun figuring it out)

    emoticon cheers too.gif
     
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