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Message:: [QUOTE="kevin McGonigal, post: 3925092, member: 72790"]I find that some coins are obscure for the simple reason that they closely resemble a totally different coin. Take a look at the two large bronzes below. At first glance they may both appear to be typical Ptolemaic bronzes, with Zeus on the obverse and  eagle on the reverse. The one on the right, however is not a Ptolemaic piece but a Seleucid bronze. Notice the name Antiochus, not Ptolemy. The middle silver drachma is even more deceptive. Almost everyone looking at it would say, "Parthian". They are pretty common and we all think we can recognize one at first glance. But is not an issue of Parthia but one of Persis, a semi independent state with its own ruler (in this case, Darius) and using not Greek as did Parthia but Aramaic and [ATTACH=full]1034628[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1034629[/ATTACH] in a different script. The fire altar is of somewhat different design as well. Some coins are actually obscure not because of their rarity but because they are hiding in plain sight. By the way, the reason for the Persis piece being on the piece of wood is that the two bronzes are so thick that to keep the drachma in the same focal plane as the bronzes required that the drachma be raised.[/QUOTE]