I wasn't sure which direction was "up" for the reverse, so I posted two pictures. Thanks for your help!
Boy, that's going to be tough. What's the size and weight? I suspect it is from Phoenicia, perhaps Arados. The obverse is Tyche-- common on coins of Phoenicia and the Levant. I think the reverse is going to be the prow of a galley. You can get a sense of the three-pronged ram at the left of the coin.
The weight is 2.4g and the size is 17mm I've been using coinproject.com to search, is there a better/easier way to find it? Thanks!
Yes, use acsearch.info. You have to have a paid membership to see prices realized (worth it!) but it's still a great way place to search for coins. Another option is CNG's archives, which shows prices, but acsearch also includes CNG's archives plus dozens and dozens of other auction houses. Edited/joined for ease of viewing:
I sold this one. Arados 240 to 237 BC Obvs: Head of Tyche r. wearing turreted head-dress. Revs: AP, Prow of galley with Athena fighting left and holding spear/shield. 17mm, 3.4g Ref: BMC 26.13.88 Not sure which flavor is yours but https://phoeniciancoins.wordpress.com/arados-hellenistic-bronze-by-series-era-date/ can help you.
Wow, thanks so much! I love these new resources, I'm going to have some fun with these, thanks Any tips on how to use ACsearch? Seems a bit intense lol
I think this is the closest one. It is very similar weight/diameter-wise. Although their version is 14mm and mine is 17mm. https://phoeniciancoins.wordpress.com/2016/10/20/__trashed-3/
It does take time to learn the best way to search all of these databases. Some search words will yield so many results that it isn't helpful. Some sites will take into consideration minor spelling variations of names and places (ACsearch is pretty good about this); others don't. There is an art to using just the right search words. It helps if the unknown coin you're trying to identify has some feature that is less common, or a combination of features you can be reasonably sure of. It is difficult if you aren't able to identify or guess at at least a couple of the features of a coin. For instance, with the coin you showed, hopefully you recognized the obverse as Tyche (her headdress is the giveaway). However, search terms of only "tyche ae" are going to yield a megaton of hits. You could try "tyche bust ae" (order of words isn't important) and that cuts out a thousand hits but still leaves you with two thousand. Sometimes something unrelated will sneak in and you can get rid of those hits by typing a dash before the word. For instance, if the search results included a bunch of tetradrachms, you could add "-tetradrachm" to the search terms. Of course, now you know that the reverse of your coin shows a prow so you can narrow it down considerably by adding "prow" to the search string... or even more because Ed and David and I pegged it as being from Phoenicia . I'm not sure you'll be able to do more than say "probably from Arados". There may be several types that could fit.
That's awesome, thanks. I found another similar one, also from Arados: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2087606
