Hi All I have inherited a bunch of ancient coins which I have been told are middle eastern in origin (Lebanon, Syria area). I have absolutely no idea about coins so Im not sure what I have in my possession. I thought it would be easier to take a picture of them as a group. However if you feel there is a coin worth looking at more in detail let me know ill be happy to take more pictures up close. Thank you. Shaz
Looks like a great set of coins to learn how to attribute a ruler/emperor and date. They all have a clue on the inscriptions as most would be of lower value third and fourth century I would look for similar coins on this site.....http://www.coinproject.com/ where you can match details on the coins to help attribute and of course you can post a coin that is a bit hard and someone on this forum should be able to help. Happy coining.....
Thanks Bob L for the feedback. Thats so interesting - it most certainly does pass as a fake. Now it makes me wonder how many more fakes are in my possession. Thanks Ancient Aussie Ill check out coinproject on the train ride home and see what I can find. Happy coining I like it.
It certainly looks like a tourist’s collection, mainly Romans with some more spectacular Greek silver being fakes, some islamic and Byzantine bronze. They weren’t sorted in any way?
upper left side , sadly also a fake: the 2 smaller silver roman denarius coins at the left, might be real. need better bigger pics, diameter and weight would be helpfull too.
I would guess that most of the Romans are probably legit. None leaps out as particularly rare or valuable, but an outstanding introduction to ancient coin collecting. Looks like you inherited the syllabus for HIST: Ancient Coins 101. If you decide to take the class, you won't be disappointed.
Welcome to the Ancients Forum, @Shazzam ! I'd set the large silver ones aside as novelty items. I'm not sure about the smaller silver coins either but if you post some quality enlargements of them, I'm sure an experienced collector (not me) will assist you with an opinion about authenticity. The remainder is a great starter set for a beginning ancient coin collector. If you try to sell them, you're not going to get much. They're far more valuable for their history and their "Wow" factor when showing them to folks who don't collect ancient coins. I hope you choose to keep the good ones and join us. There are many folks on this forum who will encourage and help you. It can be a lot of fun attributing the different coins. I had a bag of unattributed Roman coins but I took the easy way out and gave them all away. I have a bag of Ancient Judaean coins and many of them need to be attributed but again, it's easier just to give them away. Of course I keep the best ones for my collection. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/drs-judaean-coin-poster-6-12-18.318050/#post-3105098
Many of your bronze coins should be identifiable. There are literally dozens of websites that can help you learn about and ID your coins. Here's a good place to start for some background information: Identifying Common Late Roman Bronze Coins
You've got the beginnings of a nice collection there. The website wildwinds.com is also helpful for evaluating roman coins, and narrowing them down to ruler, type, and reverse type. I use it for attributing late roman bronzes. Of course, if you can make out the legend on the obverse of the coin this will help to identify the issuing ruler. The usual late bronze legend is DN (ruler's name) PF AVG. This stands for Dominus Noster (emperor's name) Pius Felix Avgustus. English translation would be: "Our Lord, (emperor's name) the Happy and Pious Augustus"
