New to the forum and have a couple questions

Hey guys, Ive started collecting ancient roman coins and was wondering what are some of the "Go To" sources for ID? Ive been searching around on the net, and there is a lot, but I was wondering if there was a big name I missed.
Anywho, glad to be here. and here are a couple Im working on

Im pretty sure this is a type on Constantius but the "B" on the reverse left field is kind of throwing me off as to Gallus or II.


This one... No clue, Just started looking at it

 

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I'm with you on the 1st coin. I think it's Constantius II with a fh reverse.
Could we see the reverse of coin 2?
And welcome to the party pal!

 

This forum has been one of the best resources I have ever found. Lots of knowledgeable people who are happy to help.

Welcome to the forum!

 

Welcome to the forum. There are a lot of knowledgeable people here that will be able to answer your questions. Our resident expert of fallen horseman is @randygeki and he will be able to give you an ID if anyone can.

For online sources I would recomend WildWinds http://www.wildwinds.com/ for all of your Greek, Roman, and Byzantine coins. It is a great website and fairly user friendly. You can also try Forum Ancient Coin's Roman Attribution page: http://www.romancoin.info/#Identifying Common Late Roman Bronze Coins

 

Cool thanx guys. Ive been searching around here and it certainly does seem like a good bit of knowledge is here.
BTW here is the rev of coin 2

 

Hi and Welcome to the Forum. I joined on April 28, 2017 and have found this site to be a great resource of information, a great way to share information about your coins and view what others are collecting, and also a way to make the hobby a social one rather than a solitary experience...

 

Welcome, @Flemgunner

As you've noticed, there isn't any one reference. TheRed's suggestions are good. If you have a bunch of "uncleaned" Roman coins or other small low grade Roman coins, they're likely late Roman bronzes ("LRBs") and another good online resource for identification help is the Tesorillo website. On the linked page, I find the "Types of Reverses" section most helpful.

As for your coin #2 (cropped, joined, and posted in full rather than a thumbnail, so that others can more easily view it), it is a follis of Galerius with Genius reverse.

 

..welcome to the forum.. this is where you'll find the best of the flock.. answers, opinions, jokes and good peeps!

 

A rule to remember: Constantius Gallus was the junior assistant or 'Caesar' of Constantius II 'Augustus'. They issued the same type coins but portraits of Constantius II always had a head with diadem or other decoration while Gallus never (read that NEVER) did. If you have narrowed the coin down to one or the other and there is not one letter of legend remaining, you can ID the coin by the headgear or lack thereof. If you have a falling horseman coin with a bare headed obverse portrait, it can ONLY be Constantius Gallus or Julian II who succeeded him as Caesar also under Constantius II. To tell them apart you need a letter or two from the name part of the legend CONST or IVLI unless the coin is larger than a US cent which would make it Gallus since Julian came along later after the coin size had been reduced.

There are a thousand little rule/clues like this that make ID easier if you learn them. We here on CT Ancients are happy to help in that process. Our jog would be a lot easier if you would take the time to learn to make reasonable images of your coins. Don't wait for TIF to crop and polish your images for you.

 

There does seem to be a remnant of headgear. so that would make it a Constantius II correct? Im still not sure what the B represents. Also what would be the mint on this? Any way of knowing

 

Actually with the help of yall and the tesorillo site I think Ive got it figured out. Thanx much yall

 

This is why we need a better image. I might be imagining things here but the mintmark may read SMTS which is Thessalonika. IF and only if that is correct, the B means second workshop. Thessalonika was the only mint that placed the workshop number in the field. Other mints used that space for a series letter that would identify the weight standard.

My second shop SMTS is not as clear as I would prefer:


However, if the mintmark shows this to be any other series than this one with SMTS, the B would indicate a weight standards like the one below. This is also from Thessalonika but here uses TS followed by the gamma for third workshop. They dropped the SM (sacra moneta) for this series.

Consistency was not as important with the Romans as collectors would prefer. This one SMTS Thessalonika is the only one of all the falling horsemen varieties that put the workshop letter in this position. This answer would have been a lot easier if I did not have to cover the possibility that your coin was the exception rather than the rule.

I have a page on falling horsemen for those interested:
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/fh.html

 

Ahh got it. I think mine may be the exception then. It’s pretty easy to see the B on the revers and the twin things coming out the back of the head really look like the ends of a headdress. Also there is a gain impression of on the head of it as well.
I’ve tryed to make the pictures better

 

Im late to the party, been at work for 12 hrs But yeah Thessalonika, @dougsmit nailed it.



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Sweet!

 

It is amazing what a decent photo can do. I suppose we could point out that a decent condition example of that common coin would not be expensive and much easier to photograph. Another way of identifying new coins is to buy identified coins from good dealers who do not mind helping beginners. We have several good ones that post here and many non dealer members who probably have better coins they would sell for next to nothing that would still be of interest to many new collectors. This may not work if you will only collect mint state rarities but I suspect several of us could provide some beginner coins if we knew where they would be appreciated.

 

Good info. I must admit I like to clean up the unknown ones. Something about the thrill of the hunt