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<p>[QUOTE="Parthicus, post: 2589372, member: 81887"]Good question. On some varieties, there are actually several letters in Punic. On the example that [USER=4298]@Cucumbor[/USER] posted, look under the horse's belly: there are two faint letters there that (reading right to left) seem to be M K, which indicates Micipsa. But a lot of these (including my specimen) don't have any inscription at all. My impression for how to distinguish the two kings is that Masinissa has a wider, "fatter' head, while Micipsa is thinner and more elongated. This is a highly subjective distinction, and one that I arrived at empirically after looking at photos of coins ID'd as Masinissa or Micipsa, especially the photos in Sear. [USER=51347]@Alegandron[/USER]'s coin is one that I would count as a wide head and thus probably Masinissa. Ultimately, I guess we have to embrace a certain amount of uncertainty about ancients. Otherwise, we might as well just collect Lincoln cents by date and mintmark.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Parthicus, post: 2589372, member: 81887"]Good question. On some varieties, there are actually several letters in Punic. On the example that [USER=4298]@Cucumbor[/USER] posted, look under the horse's belly: there are two faint letters there that (reading right to left) seem to be M K, which indicates Micipsa. But a lot of these (including my specimen) don't have any inscription at all. My impression for how to distinguish the two kings is that Masinissa has a wider, "fatter' head, while Micipsa is thinner and more elongated. This is a highly subjective distinction, and one that I arrived at empirically after looking at photos of coins ID'd as Masinissa or Micipsa, especially the photos in Sear. [USER=51347]@Alegandron[/USER]'s coin is one that I would count as a wide head and thus probably Masinissa. Ultimately, I guess we have to embrace a certain amount of uncertainty about ancients. Otherwise, we might as well just collect Lincoln cents by date and mintmark.[/QUOTE]
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