My first coin with a portrait of the god Men wearing a Phrygian cap. This one has been a challenge because the lettering is not the best. I've given this a shot and came somewhat close. I passed it to a good friend of mine (hard to believe I have one!) and he was able to narrow it down to LUDIOC = LYDIOS = Lydia Now before someone just blurts out the attribution I would like help with the lettering! Most of the fun is in the research! So please, help with the lettering if you can. Many thanks. FYI I am leaning towards Silandos or Sardes. I did do a visual inspection of all the Lydia cities on Wildwinds.com. That was a lot of scrolling but to no avail. Ready, set, go!
Haven't tried to identify it but I'll give you a bit of help, the reverse spells out the city name TΡAΠEZ-OΠOΛITΩN.
Another hint: Not all coins have legends that start and end in the usual orientation and not all have the top of the letters facing the edge of the coin. Keep an open mind until you decide whether this is 'usual'. Is it just me or did one pi get cut upside down?
Roman Provincial, Tripolis, Lydia. AE 3.0g 17mm, Boule facing r. LUDIOC ?BOYAH? Men facing r. TΡAΠEZ OΠOΛITΩN (upside down) OK..OK..."UNCLE!" I can't make heads or tails of mush on the obverse right side I'm using wildwinds so I am only seeing a sampling...I am attempting to match up the knotted hair (possibly) at the back of the neck...but the bust could be Senate (but not enough letters) or Boule or possibly Demos
If the coins were meant to communicate a message of some kinda...boy, these engravers sure made it hard to interpret!
WTG, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix! In all my years as a member, I'd never used the "best answer" function until now!
OK. So, apparently I didn't take the obvious hint with the city name..still stuck on my Lydia translation..way off target..so much to learn.. Thanks to everyone for humoring me and helping out. Mistakes are made. That's how we learn- from mistakes. I'd like to give you all "Best Answer" status. Best Answer goes to @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix . Best teacher award goes to @dougsmit