sand

@Qcumbor I really like your orange coin.

I won't post my coins on Facebook, or talk about my coins on Facebook, because a person cannot be anonymous on Facebook.

5 hours ago, MrMonkeySwag96 said:

I participated in my first online auction last Saturday and I made a couple of impulse purchases. One of my impulse purchases was this L. Procilius denarius:

Sure, it has nice toning & the Juno reverse is engraved in decent style.  
 

However I’m quite picky about the grade of my Republic denarii. This L. Procilius denarius isn’t quite as “crisp” as the other denarii in my Juno Sospita type set:

Am I being OCD, what do you guys think?

 

It looks pretty good to me, even compared with your other coins.

Perhaps they have "horn silver". I don't know, if they have been cleaned.

34 minutes ago, TheTrachyEnjoyer said:

This is no longer mine but its a great coin so Ill share it anyways. Theodosius III tremissis from Ravenna

That's an amazing rarity. Did you sell it? Did you auction it? Did you trade it? Did you get a good price (or coin(s)) for it?

For me, I usually like toned silver coins. However, it depends on the toning. If the toning is spotty/uneven, as you mentioned, then sometimes I prefer the shiny coin. For me, it also depends on the quality of the photography. For your particular coin, I prefer the shiny coin. For your coin, the toned coin has spotty/uneven toning, especially near the portrait's nose on the obverse. Therefore, for your coin, for the photographs of the shiny coin and the toned coin, I prefer the shiny coin.

@quant.geek Interesting, rare Philippicus coins.

The Twenty Years Anarchy was an interesting time in the history of the Byzantine Empire. Here's a list of the Byzantine Emperors, during the Twenty Years Anarchy, from Wikipedia.

695 AD To 698 AD   Leontius
698 AD To 705 AD   Tiberius III
705 AD To 711 AD   Justinian II (2nd reign)
711 AD To 713 AD   Philippicus
713 AD To 715 AD   Anastasius II
715 AD To 717 AD   Theodosius III

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_Years'_Anarchy 

It's interesting, how many of the Byzantine Emperors during this time, had either a "II" or a "III" after their name. And, all 4 such Emperors (Tiberius III, Justinian II, Anastasius II, and Theodosius III), were the last Emperors with their names. There was no Tiberius IV, or Justinian III, or Anastasius III, or Theodosius IV. Also, after the Twenty Years Anarchy, all of the Byzantine Emperors had new names, except for the Leos (Leo III, Leo IV, Leo V, and Leo VI) and the Constantines (Constantine V, Constantine VI, Constantine VII, Constantine VIII, Constantine IX, Constantine X, and Constantine XI). Perhaps the Byzantines had forgotten some of their own history. Or, perhaps it was because of the changes of the Byzantine Empire over time. I don't know.

Also, there was no Leontius II, or Philippicus II. Therefore, none of the names, of any of the Byzantine Emperors from the Twenty Years Anarchy, were ever repeated. Perhaps, no future Byzantine Emperor wanted to have the same name as any of these short reign (unless you include Justinian II's 1st reign) Emperors, and then the names were eventually forgotten by the Byzantines. I don't know.

Here's my only coin from the Twenty Years Anarchy. A Tiberius III 40 nummi bronze coin. It has the typical, decadent Byzantine style, of this time period.

Tiberius III. AE 40 Nummi Follis. Minted 698 AD To 705 AD. Syracuse Mint. Sear 1395. DO 32. Maximum Diameter 22.2 mm. Weight 3.20 grams. Obverse : Tiberius III Bust Facing Front, Wearing A Crown Which Has A Cross On Top, Holding Spear In Front Of Body, Shield In Left Hand. Reverse : Large M, Monogram Above, "SCL" Mint Below. Overstrike.

25 minutes ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

Thank you!  I'll go look!  Maybe some lasting good will result from this thread.  * I just looked. Perhaps I'll buy that instead of a coin my next regular coin buy.

I've seen people on CT build shoebox lightboxes, using glass from a cheap photo holder for a reflector.  One even used a can of tomato soup as a cell phone stand.  I'll have to try the soup method sometime this weekend.

For me, it's been worth every penny. The price has gone up, from $149.95 to $169.95, in the past 2 years. Still worth it, for me.

By the way. When using the copy stand. If I want to get the camera even closer to the coin, I simply put books or boxes or something like that, underneath the coin, to raise the coin up higher, closer to the camera.

1 hour ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

Due to my lack of coin photography skills (which would probably be fixed if I could buy a pre-built stand for a cell phone)

I bought the following copy stand, in August 2022. I bought it from Amazon, using the following link. It has really helped me, to take much better photos of individual coins. I use it, with my digital camera, but it seems to also have an adapter for a cell phone. It's totally rigid, unlike a camera tripod. Maybe something like this, would be helpful to you.

Here's a trick. When I take a photo of an individual coin, using the copy stand, I use my digital camera's timer. I set the timer for 10 seconds, and then I walk away, and I stand still, away from the camera, and it takes the photo. That way, my unsteady hands aren't anywhere near the camera, when the photo is taken.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084DJ7VHL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

3 hours ago, theotokevoithi said:

It is still happening occasionally during the ceremony (little boys). Of course if i was an iconophilos then, i would mention this embarassing event every day as part of my rulers name. Of course there is the possibility of imagination, but why this event ? There are worst things to say for someone.

I've also read somewhere, that Constantine V's nickname "copronymus" was based on a rumor, which may not have been true, which may have been started by his enemies. Anyway, as you said, who cares if a baby had an accident during a baptism ceremony? It's perfectly natural. Oh well. It's just 1 of those silly things. I guess some people cared about such things, back then.

Here's a quote from the Wikipedia article on Constantine V.

"Iconodule writers applied to Constantine the derogatory epithet Kopronymos ("dung-named", from kopros, meaning "faeces" or "animal dung", and onoma, "name"). Using this obscene name, they spread the rumour that as an infant he had defiled his own baptism by defaecating in the font, or on the imperial purple cloth with which he was swaddled."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_V 

Hello @Szabi89. Welcome to Nvmis Forvms.

I don't know, what your coin may be.

In the 1st photo, the letters at the bottom are interesting, because there seems to be a vertical bar, between each letter. The 2 letters on the right look like maybe "K" and either "A" or the Greek letter delta, which is a triangle. Above the letters, it sort of looks like 4 people standing there. Or 4 legionary standards as @JeandAcre said. Or 4 trophies made out of armor. Or maybe something else.

In the 2nd photo, perhaps there is a side facing head. There may be some letters, on the lower right.

In your hand, does it look like a bronze coin? Or does it look like a silver coin? Perhaps it's bronze, because of the green patina on the fields, and because of the seeming bronze color of the devices. But because of the small size and thin flan, perhaps it's a Roman (either Republic or Empire) silver denarius. I don't know.

As @JeandAcre said, perhaps 1 or more Nvmis Forvms members, who have seen this coin type before, will look at this thread, and perhaps they will be able to identify your coin, and whether it is an ancient coin, or a medieval coin, or something else.

3 hours ago, ewomack said:

Interesting. So Tiberius III coins might not have the rarity one would think? From what you said, it sounds like they seemed rarer at one point, and then many examples came out onto the market in the recent past. So perhaps that created a new reality? I don't recall seeing loads of Tiberius III coins in my recent searches, but randomness may account for some of that.

If I search Vcoins for "Tiberius iii", I get 10 examples. 7 bronze, and 3 gold. The prices of most of them, are relatively high, especially for the gold examples. Of the 7 bronze examples, 2 were minted in Sicily/Syracuse, and 5 were minted in Constantinople. All of the gold examples were minted in Constantinople. 5 of the bronzes are 40 nummi, 1 of the bronzes is 20 nummi (Constantinople mint), and 1 of the bronzes is identified as 20 nummi but it seems to have both a large "M" and a large "K" which is interesting perhaps a 20 nummi overstruck on a 40 nummi (Constantinople mint).

Of course, this doesn't include other sites such as MA-Shops, and it doesn't include recent auctions. I just thought it was interesting. At least for Vcoins, the number of Tiberius III coins is relatively small. For comparison, if I search Vcoins for "Constans ii", I get 561 coins. If I search Vcoins for "Constantine IV", I get 145 coins, although some of those are from the reign of Constans II showing Constans II with his son Constantine IV. If I search Vcoins for "Justinian ii", I get 32 coins. If I search Vcoins for "Philippicus", 1 of those short reign rulers from this time period, I get only 1 coin, and its price is 5,890 euros.

So, perhaps what @quant.geek is saying, is that Tiberius III coins used to be "rare" or "very scarce", but perhaps they are now merely "scarce" or "uncommon". However, I'm not an expert in the subject.

Hello @don. Welcome to Nvmis Forvms.

I've seen many ancient coin types. I don't remember ever seeing that coin type.

As @ambr0zie said, a photo of the other side of the coin, and the weight of the coin, and the diameter of the coin, would be helpful to try to identify the coin.

If the coin is authentic, then probably someone on Nvmis Forvms will come along in the next few days, who has seen that type of coin, and can help to identify it.

All I can say, is that it may be an ancient Greek coin, or it may be an ancient Roman coin, or it may be something else.

It almost looks like, it has some letters, near the edge of the coin, but I can't really tell. 

@ewomack That's a very interesting example. The portrait has many interesting details. The reverse also has some interesting details. The monogram above the large "M" is very clear. I agree, that Tiberius III coins seem to be scarce.

@ela126 That's an interesting example. It has an interesting provenance. I've occasionally looked at Waddell's coins, but they are almost always out of my league.

@Nerosmyfavorite68 That's an interesting solidus, with many interesting details. Gold Byzantine coins are interesting.

Coins of this era, the depths of the Dark Ages, are fascinating to me.

Here's my Tiberius III 40 nummi coin. It was sold in 2011 at the CNG Triton XIV auction. And, interestingly, it was sold in 2015 at the CNG Electronic Auction 355.

Tiberius III. AE 40 Nummi Follis. Minted 698 AD To 705 AD. Syracuse Mint. Sear 1395. DO 32. Maximum Diameter 22.2 mm. Weight 3.20 grams. Obverse : Tiberius III Bust Facing Front, Wearing A Crown Which Has A Cross On Top, Holding Spear In Front Of Body, Shield In Left Hand. Reverse : Large M, Monogram Above, "SCL" Mint Below. Overstrike.

I remember the Memorex advertisements. There was 1, in which they recorded a woman singing, and then they played the recording near a wine glass, and the wine glass shattered. I also remember cassette tapes. And music CDs. And, I had a boom box. Sometimes, none of that seems real. As if it was all just a dream.

Hello @Didier Attaix. I'm wary of opening an attached Word document, for security reasons.

10 hours ago, Amanda said:

I have so many similar coins I think that it’s going to take a while to identify them because they all look so similar to the untrained eye such as mine😂 is there any way of putting them all online in like an album or something? Like I said, new to this fascinating subject 🥰

@Amanda Here's an idea. Take a group photo, of 15 coins. Arrange the coins, in a 3x5 grid, with 3 horizontal rows, and 5 vertical columns. In other words, a grid that is wider, than it is tall. Put the coins close together, to minimize the dead space between the coins, but keep the rows and columns neat and orderly and well aligned. Try to have the "head" side of each coin facing up. Hold the camera as close to the grid of coins as possible, to minimize the dead space outside of the grid of coins. Then, flip the coins over, and take a 2nd group photo. In both group photos, try to rotate the coins, so that they are all pointing the correct way, for example the top of the head should be facing north (12 o'clock).

Then, create a thread, with a title such as "ID Help : My Father's Collection : Group Photo 1 : Any Gems?". If possible, try to put similar coins in the group photo. For example, if there are 15 coins which seem to be medieval coins, then you could add that to the thread title : "ID Help : My Father's Collection : Group Photo 1 : Medieval Coins (?) : Any Gems?". In the thread, post the 2 group photos.

You don't have to indicate the weight of each coin. However, it may be a good idea, to put a US dime or quarter, as 1 of the 15 coins, to give an indication of the size of the coins.

Some members may frown at this, but perhaps it would allow us to quickly look at a bunch of coins, and see if there are any "gems" (valuable coins). For example, for English silver pennies, the older the penny, the more valuable it often is. English silver pennies from Richard I The Lionheart or earlier, are often more valuable. It's pretty easy for me to tell, if an English silver penny is from Richard I The Lionheart or earlier.

If any "gems" are found, then maybe you could take separate photos of those individual coins, and create separate threads for them.

If anyone yells at you for doing this, then just tell them, that it was @sand's crazy idea.

11 minutes ago, JeandAcre said:

Much more anecdotally, @Amanda, and to @sand's point about the graffito, I have to really like the banker's marks (Delta /triangle, upside-down 'V') on yours.  Other people here will know much more than I do about the context, but broadly, they were marks individual bankers (or merchants?) would make on the coin to confirm its genuineness.

...Gotta say, no offense, but I for one sure hope you hang onto these.

 

Yes. I see 2 "banker's marks" on the coin. To be precise, on the obverse, on Roma's jaw, there is a triangle stamped there. On the reverse, on the rear of a horse, there is an upside down "V" stamped there. Do the banker's marks add value, for a collector? I don't know. It probably depends, on where the banker's marks are, whether the banker's marks detract from the appearance of the coin, and how interesting the banker's marks are. For me, banker's marks are interesting.

5 hours ago, Amanda said:

So not very good condition and not worth anything? Thanks anyway x

It's a silver coin. Therefore, it's at least worth a little bit of money, just for it's silver content. However, it seems like, it would be worth more than that, to a coin collector. Perhaps a dealer would pay you somewhere from $10 to $20. That's just an educated guess.

Hello @Amanda. It may be an English silver penny, from the reign of Henry III. If it's Henry III, then I'm going to guess, that a Vcoins dealer would sell it for approximately $100. The condition and appearance seem to be below average, for this coin type. A dealer may pay you $50 for the coin.

This is an educated guess. It's possible, that it is some other King Of England, or maybe from a different European country. Someone at Nvmis Forvms probably knows.

Here is a Vcoins search, for the following keywords :    "Henry iii" England

https://www.vcoins.com/en/Search.aspx?search=true&searchQuery="Henry+iii"+England&searchQueryExclude=&searchCategory=0&searchCategoryLevel=2&searchCategoryAncient=True&searchCategoryUs=True&searchCategoryWorld=True&searchCategoryMints=True&searchBetween=0&searchBetweenAnd=0&searchDate=&searchUseThesaurus=True&searchDisplayCurrency=&searchDisplay=1&searchIdStore=0&searchQueryAnyWords=&searchExactPhrase=&searchTitleAndDescription=True&searchDateType=0&searchMaxRecords=100&SearchOnSale=False&Unassigned=False

Here is an MA-Shops search, for the following keywords :    "Henry iii" England

https://www.ma-shops.com/shops/search.php?searchstr="Henry+iii"+England&catid=0&submitBtn=Search&days_new=   

Hello @Amanda. It looks like a medieval European silver coin, whose edges have been clipped. Often, in medieval times, people would clip the edges of silver coins, and they would keep the clippings, and melt the clippings, and sell the clippings for their silver content. This was usually considered a crime, and sometimes punished brutally, but some people did it anyway, because there were a lot of poor people in medieval times.

It may be an English silver penny, perhaps for Edward I The Longshanks. Or it could be another European country. Someone at Nvmis Forvms will probably know, what it is.

It looks like the obverse side, the side with the head on it, is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise in your photo.

The value is probably not very high, probably close to zero, because the condition and appearance are well below average, because the face is almost worn away completely.

Unless it's a rarity, but I don't know enough about the coin type, to know if it's a rarity.

Hello @Amanda. It looks like a late medieval European coin. Late medieval European coins were usually more elaborate than early medieval European coins. Late medieval European coins often showed the entire figure of a king, including the arms and legs, as your coin shows. On your coin, the king seems to be seated on a throne, which is also common for late medieval European coins. Italy? Armenia? Hungary? I don't know. Someone on Nvmis Forvms will know, probably.

Hello @Amanda. I sympathize with your efforts to identify the coins, in your deceased father's collection. I also sympathize with your efforts, to assess the value of his coins. Even though you haven't asked about the value of this particular coin, I've noticed that you have asked about the value of other coins, and there is nothing wrong with asking that.

In the future, for each new thread, I recommend creating a more descriptive title for the thread. For example, for this coin, I recommend a thread title such as "Coin With Head On 1 Side, Person Above Animals On Other Side". Or something like that. Anything, to try to help people, to tell the threads apart.

Regarding your coin, your coin is similar to 1 of my coins. Here are the seller photos of my coin. To give you an idea of the value, I paid $100 plus $7 shipping for my coin, in late 2020. The value of my coin, has probably increased a little bit since then, because of inflation, and because some ancient coins, especially the more valuable coins, have increased in value because of the pandemic and other factors. Also, I think I got a pretty good deal, when I bought my coin. I'm thinking, that my coin would probably sell for something like $150 nowadays. The value depends on various factors : supply, demand, historical importance, how interesting the coin is, the condition of the coin, and (very importantly) how nice the coin looks (style, strike, condition, and tone/patina). Your coin's condition and how nice it looks, seem to be lower, than my coin. Your coin is more worn than my coin. And, my coin has a nice tone on it. And, your coin has "graffito" to the right of the head, which means that someone deliberately scratched something on the coin. For your coin, the graffito looks like 3 lines, which form a shining star. Why did someone carve that? And when? Was it carved in ancient times? Or was it carved in modern times? I have no idea. Unfortunately, usually graffito, on ancient coins, decreases the value of the coin, because it usually lowers the coin's appearance, unless the graffito can be proven to be ancient and interesting. Because of the condition/wear, graffito, and overall appearance of your coin, I'm going to guess, that a dealer would sell your coin for approximately $100. However, if you were to sell your coin to a dealer, you would probably receive much less, perhaps $50, because a dealer must buy low and sell high to make a profit, and to cover the costs of advertising, and running his/her business. If you were to sell your coin on Ebay, or if you were to sell your coin here on Nvmis Forvms in "The Cabinet" area, then you may be able to get a bit more for the coin, perhaps even $100, but it may take awhile, perhaps months or years, before someone decides to buy it. Or, you could try to consign your coin to a low end auction house, such as Tiber Numismatics, in which case it may auction for $100, but it could auction for much less. That's the risk of auctioning a coin. A high end auction house, on the other hand, such as CNG, would probably not auction your coin, because it's value is relatively low, for an ancient coin. That's just my educated guess. I'm not an expert.

L. Flaminius Cilo AR Denarius. 109 BC To 108 BC. Rome Mint. Sear 179. Crawford 302/1. 20 mm. 3.51 grams. Obverse Roma. Reverse Victory Driving Biga With "L FLAMINI" Below.

1 way, to get an idea of value, is to search Vcoins. Vcoins is a marketplace for ancient coins, medieval coins, and modern coins. In many ways, Vcoins is way better than Ebay, for buying ancient coins and medieval coins. Especially for new collectors. Because Vcoins monitors the coins, to minimize the number of fake coins sold. Ebay, on the other hand, doesn't care at all, about people selling fake coins, therefore there are many fakes sold on Ebay. However, there are some reputable dealers on Ebay. If I search Vcoins for the keywords "Flaminius Cilo" (without the quotation marks), I get the following search results.

Here is a link to Vcoins :   https://www.vcoins.com/en/Default.aspx 

And here is the search for "Flaminius Cilo" :

https://www.vcoins.com/en/Search.aspx?search=true&searchQuery=Flaminius+Cilo&searchQueryExclude=&searchCategory=0&searchCategoryLevel=2&searchCategoryAncient=True&searchCategoryUs=True&searchCategoryWorld=True&searchCategoryMints=True&searchBetween=0&searchBetweenAnd=0&searchDate=&searchUseThesaurus=True&searchDisplayCurrency=&searchDisplay=1&searchIdStore=0&searchQueryAnyWords=&searchExactPhrase=&searchTitleAndDescription=True&searchDateType=0&searchMaxRecords=100&SearchOnSale=False&Unassigned=False

You can see, that there is a wide variation, in the prices of these coins, from 75 euros ($80) to 390 euros ($417).  Note that the cheapest coin, the 75 euros ($80) coin, is "reserved", meaning that someone has promised to buy the coin, but has not yet paid for it. Why the wide variation in prices? Partly, it's because some of the coins look better, than the other coins. And partly because, some of the coins are better deals. The 75 euros ($80) coin actually looks pretty good, therefore I don't know why it's so cheap. The 129 euros ($138) coin in the upper left, doesn't look as nice as the other coins, therefore it makes sense that it would have a lower price.

Another good place, to search for coins, to get an idea of value, is MA-Shops.

Here is a link to MA-Shops :    https://www.ma-shops.com/ 

If I search MA-Shops for "Flaminius Cilo" (without the quotation marks), I get the following results :

Again, we see a wide range of prices. Some coins look nicer. And, some of the coins are simply a better deal.

Oh well. I hope, that this is helpful to you, in your quest.

Now that I think about it some more, there are some scenarios, in which I would thank a dealer. None of the following scenarios has ever happened for me, but if 1 of these scenarios happened, then I would thank a dealer.

Scenario 1 : If I screwed up, and accidentally ordered a coin. If I told the dealer right away, and if the dealer was nice about it, and canceled the order, then I would thank the dealer.

Scenario 2 : If I ever wanted to return a coin, within the seller's allowed return window. If I did that, and if the dealer was nice about it, then I would thank the dealer.

There may be other such scenarios.

The idea of thanking a dealer, had never occurred to me, until I read this thread. Now that the idea has occurred to me, will I thank dealers in the future? Probably not. For me, when I buy a coin, it's an equal transaction, in which money is exchanged for a coin. The dealer hasn't done me a favor, and the dealer hasn't given me anything, and I haven't done the dealer a favor, and I haven't given the dealer anything. Therefore, for me, there is no need to thank a dealer, or for a dealer to thank me.

However, I'm glad that coin dealers exist. And, if a coin dealer provides fast shipping, and is friendly when handling problems, and is knowledgeable enough to avoid selling fake coins or tooled coins (although even the best dealers may occasionally make a mistake), and has interesting coins in my price range, then I tend to buy more coins from that dealer. And, I tend to say good things, about coin dealers in general, on coin forums.