I'm cataloging an estate with a slew of Roman, Constantine, & Crusader coins, which are a bit outside of my usual focus. I recognized a few As (Asses?), & Follis, & Denarius, but a gold coin jumped out at me. What should I know to identify & evaluate this piece?
After browsing some emperors profiles, I'm guessing this could be Arcadius? If so, would this be a tresmissis? Or what other denominations of gold did he mint? https://coins.ha.com/itm/roman-impe.../271848-36273.s?ic4=ListView-Thumbnail-071515
Obverse says Theodosius (I'm not sure if that's I or II, someone who knows the series will doubtless be along soon). I'd try to determine denomination based on the weight of the coin.
Not an expert either but with the younger bust and legend with Theodosius, I would pick the younger. Not sure of this either but looks to be a fractional of solidus.
Roman Gold - where to start? In the Ancient coins forum maybe : https://www.cointalk.com/forums/ancients/ Q
Yes. I’ve moved the thread. It should get more detailed replies here in the Ancients forum now. @GeorgeM - be prepared for people to ask you the weight and diameter. Technically I suppose this would be considered more Byzantine than Roman. A tremissis, I’m guessing? Sounds like a nice estate lot.
I suggest you send it to an expert on authenticity like David Sear (google it: his name and " authenticity" ) or NGC in Sarasota Florida. The coin must be seen in-hand!!! Pictures are not enough to get accurate information on authenticity and condition....and value. Neither will tell you the value....if authentic. You will have to search the web for sales of similar coins AND SIMILAR condition. One such good place to go is CNG coins. Click on the "Research" button, type in the identification you have been given, and scroll through the listings of sold coins for a coin of very similar condition. Sixbid.com is another search engine. For some coins, one change in grade can have a BIG impact on market value. Good luck.
FWIW, given my limited but not nonexistent experience, this coin looks OK to me on the authenticity front. Naturally I will defer to the more experienced respondents on that and on the exact attribution, of course.
I'm not an expert , this is the most similar type I found : RIC X Theodosius II (East) 249 http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.10.theo_ii_e.249 and a price estimation : https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/vi...eastern_empire_inv_12862/1335868/Default.aspx
A tremissis of Theodosius II. Weight would help, but it looks fine to me. Theoretically should weigh 1.50g, but in this condition 1.4x is almost certain, or even 1.3x. 1.2x would be alarming to me. Not rare, and little battered. Considering that it's a gold coin, not worth very much unfortunately.
Though perhaps common in terms of ancient gold coins, that’s all relative. It’s still an ancient gold coin, after all!
Thanks for the move. I forgot we even had an Ancients forum, as little as I have reason to peruse it. My scale isn't accurate enough to get fractions of a gram. Will see if any of the digital pocket scales I have in storage are more accurate. It seems that the Solidus, Semissis, and Tremissis are about the same diameter and are primarily differentiated by thickness/weight - is that right? There's a whole extra learning curve on Roman/Byzantine denominations, I'm finding, so I'm trying to work with the previous owner's labels as a starting point and then searching recent auctions for appraisal purposes. On a related note, some of the coins in this (almost illegibly labeled) lot have what appear to be Seaby numbers? As in "Seaby #2260" on a Maximus I coin that might be a Sesterce (reverse Rx Providentia). (picture to follow - my phone is charging and I'm working from my laptop right now) Is this a reference catalog that anyone is familiar with? Or is it a reference number Sears uses?
No. The diameters are different. But the weight is an important statistic to know. The semissis was a half-solidus and the tremissis was a third-solidus. So there’s a not-huge but still noticeable size difference between those two fractional units, and a big difference between the fractions and a full solidus, which, judging from my memory of the last one I owned, is about the diameter of a US nickel.
Late Roman and Byzantine are a lower price entry point. I don’t focus on gold but do own some Byzantine gold... I’m hoping to get a Nero Aureus someday. They can be had at a ‘reasonable’ cost if you don’t mind a little wear
The solidus, semissis and tremissis are usually of the same thickness. It's their diameters which vary. A solidus is about 21 to 22mm wide. A tremissis 13 to 15mm. I believe it was theorised that the coins were deliberately made thin to make counterfeiting more difficult.
Just got home from work. Its definately Theodosius II 402-50AD Constantinople Mint I have over 70 different Tremissis/ Semissis/ Solidi/ weight is as follows AV Solidi 4.46-4.56g AV Semissis 2.21- 2.28 AV Tremissis 1.45-1.62 Here are all 3 denominations / diff. Emperors/Empresses
I think panzerman's post is an excellent example of how tightly late Roman gold conforms to the theoretical weight. Which is why knowing the weight is important.
