Hello. Weighing 9.7 g. with an Emperor heading left on obverse, this ancient coin has a lot of large lettering on reverse. Could you please assist me to identify it. Thanks..
Thanks JA. According to the History of my country, the Romans had given the name Berytus to the present city of Beirut. And before them, the Greeks had previously named that city Beroea. Now how can we find the name of the king on the obverse ? Do you think he's Roman or Greek ? Charles
No, not exactly. Yes, Beirut was Berytus, but Beroea is modern-day Aleppo, Syria. Your coin is Roman. Pompey conquered the entire region and it became a Roman province in 64 BC - the Roman presence there lasted for a good three centuries. But I can't identify the bust on the obverse. There's a new reference book for Syrian coins, but unfortunately I don't own it yet - it's on the expensive side: $150. I'm afraid that's the best I can do.
Thanks a lot JA. Great information so far. It seems that on this very useful and helpful site, I'm learning not only Numismatics but also History including that of ancient cities. Beroea is a Roman name for Aleppo. I'm going to tell this to my colleagues in office on Monday. Charles
By the way, I would love to visit Lebanon some day. As a student of ancient history it would be fascinating to see Beirut and Tyre, for instance, and all the other ancient sites. Maybe someday - when I retire and I have money to spend on myself.
I meant by my question that could it be possible the Roman figure on obverse does not represent an Emperor but rather a general commander like Agrippa for example, or a relative to the Emperor or some political figure like Drusus etc... Charles
As far as I know, the coins of Beroea only had emperors on them, but like I said, I don't have the current and best reference for these coins.
There are many places I would love to visit, but as a Christian westerner........maybe I'll hold off for a while.
JA. Great.. I found for sure that the Emperor on the obverse is Antoninus Pius. AE 23 Beroea - BMC 15 - SNG Cop 41. I got this from WildWinds that led me there. It seems that it's a coin to be found in Museums. But most of all, the only and unique form of this type has the Emperor bust head-right whereas my coin has the Emperor's bust head - Left. I joyfully await your kind comment. Thanks.. Charles
Well, I've only seen a handful of coins from Beroea, and the heads were always right. But that doesn't mean much - perhaps AP's busts are evenly split between right and left, or perhaps you have a rare coin. I just don't know. Wildwinds is not a complete resource, and obviously not too many people have submitted coins of Beroea. I wish I could tell you more, but that's all I've got.
