Need help identifying an ancient coin and additional info

Hey Guys,

I was reading some information on an ancient underwater city that was found recently (within 10 years, but info really surfacing about it now) called Heracleion. Supposedly it was in the vicinity of Alexandria and was located in the Nile delta basin. Anyway, I was watching a small video while reading the article and seen a coin that I would like to find out some more info on.

They made reference to the Pharoh's Lighthouse which was a structure at Heracleion, and this was depicted on the coin itself. So heres a picture below and I was hoping you all could tell me some more information about this coin. General diagnostics like metal content, better pictures perhaps, value, rarity, etc., or heck, if its even a real coin that exists.



At any rate the story is quite interesting about the recovery of this city and more information can be found at this link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/en...-city-of-Heracleion-gives-up-its-secrets.html

and here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleion

also heres the video depicting the coin at about 1:15 in:


Oh and for anyone interested in an ongoing discussion, and more pictures and information, you can try the thread at this forum found at this link:
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread986525/pg1

Please pardon the source for the discussion thread, as it is being discussed on a conspiracy driven web-site, but I have found that many members over there are quite knowledgeable and always offer up some valuable information, once you get past all of the aliens and government conspiracy stuff. Its actually quite a good site for interesting information that doesnt always cross the mainstream media ticker, in fact just yesterday I read a thread concerning the new stealth drone that is being released by Northrop Grumman for the US AirForce. That was a good read as well, but anyway back to coins.

Anyone have any information regarding the coin in question? I would very much like to add an example to my collection if I can find one reasonably priced and available.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Interesting!

Not sure about the coin in question, but here's a bronze hemidrachm of Hadrian (Alexandria) with a similar design:

http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=395117

 

You beat me to it TIF. Same coin I was thinking of.

 

Very cool!

I am hoping that there is an outside chance coins were minted at Heracleion and that they could have been made out of silver. Although I have the suspicion that they wouldbe been made most likely at the nearby Alexandria.

Thanks for tracking that coin down for me though!

 

Whoa that bronze was valued at $742? I may be outta my league here

 

All Roman Egyptian coins were struck at Alexandria, with the exception of some extremely rare lead tokens. Alexandrian coinage is a great area to collect, with just the right mix of variety and stability to draw in all types of collectors. Unfortunately, this means that the prices for rarer or more interesting types, such as the Pharos, can get quite high. Still, I'd encourage you to do some more reading on the topic and maybe even pick up a few coins - late 3rd century tetradrachms can be had for less than $30 in passable condition.

 

I did not know that about all of the coins being made in Alexandria. Quite interesting.

I am only very specifically after these coins depicting the lighthouse on the back as that was very apparently modeled after Heracleion (which also goes by the name Thonis). I am a huge collector of sea related coins and mostly stick to ships, but after seeing the form of that lighthouse on this coin I feel i must locate a nice example. I am not much into coins pictured like the one above's condition, so i am somewhat picky in that area, although I will pay up if the coin is right. Silver is my preference, but it looks like they are recovering quite a bit of gold coins from this site. Thats not to say they all depict the lighthouse, but there should be some examples out there that do have that design as i found the original picture and the one the other user posted in bronze.

I guess what I am truly after are identifiable or accepted names of silver or gold coins that are from this period/location and have that lighthouse on it. Which is also a question of if this specific coin even exists that i am after.

Thanks for the continued help guys!

 

I'm not sure what it means but the red background coin rendition (drawing , not a photo) seems to have been taken from a Greek stamp design that copied the coin type TIF provided above. Notice that the broken right edge of the coin on the stamp is reproduced on the red background coin but material was added to give it a proper rim.
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/images/Pharos.jpg
Many coins of Alexandria were circulated a lot and survive today in pretty terrible condition. Many types were a bit ordinary. If you combine a type showing one of the wonders of the ancient world with a high grade specimen, you will be talking a lot of money.

Most Pharos coins seem to be bronzes but the British museum has a silver with the ship and lighthouse design. They are not selling and I'm not sure how many more of these exist. A tetradrachm of Commodus from Alexandria is not particularly expensive with an ordinary god reverse but I've not seen a silver Pharos for sale so they must be a bit rare.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explor...ects/cm/b/billon_tetradrachm_of_the_city.aspx

 

I just discovered that there is for sale on VCoins what I consider to be a correctly identified Hadrian hemidrachm with the lighthouse only design (the one drawn on the OP image and stamp in my post above). Further it is my opinion that the price of $95 is somewhat fair considering the coin falls a bit short of that lofty grade. The fact that I did not buy it when I saw it should tell you something. It is, however, what it is.