Best way to identify a dozen ancient specimens

jmm2562

I have a dozen unidentified ancients. What is the best way to identify them or at least narrow down the possibilities?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Happy to provide more closeups should anything look interesting.

Thanks!

jmm2562

Ooops... forgot to show the reverse for R2-C2...

harasha

Well, that quattrino certainly looks familiar.

Sapyx

@jmm2562 said:
I have a dozen unidentified ancients. What is the best way to identify them or at least narrow down the possibilities?

The "best way" is to do what you've done, and post some pics on an Internet forum where there are people knowledgable about ancients. THe only critique I would offer is having too many coins in one thread risks some coins not getting the attention they deserve. If I answer coins 1, 4, 5 and 7, and someone else answers about coins 2, 6, and 12, andthe next guy does 3, 6, 7, and 11, after half a dozen posts it can be difficult to figure out which coins haven;t been identified yet. It's made more difficult if everyone is using their own numbering system to tell which coin is which.

But I'll give this one my best shot. My numbering is 1 to 12, from top left to bottom right:

1: Roman Egypt, 200 to 300 AD or so. I'll need a closeup of the obverse to identify the emperor. Whoever it is, the gamma on the reverse indicates it's from the third year of that emperor.
2: Rome, early 300s, emperor Galerius I believe. I can;t make out the mintmark at the bottom of the reverse.
3: Another Roman Egypt, also can;t quite make out the emperor, but the year-letter is eta, so it's Year 8.
4: also Roman Egypt, can't make out much more on this one.
5: Rome, a sestertius or dupondius of Hadrian, I believe.
6: Rome, Contantine II as caesar (junior emperor), reverse BEAT TRANQLITAS, altar with VOTIS XX, mintmark PLON (London). The closeup of the reverse certainly helps.
7: Rome, later than Constantine (330-400), reverse Victory. EMperor and Mintmark unknown.
8: Rome, brass dupondius, looks like it might be Marcus Aurelius, too far gone to ID further.
9: Rome, the shape and portrait imply early 200s sestertius. Maybe Gordian III?
10: Not ancient; Harasha has IDed it as Papal States quattrino of pope Clement VIII, for the Jubilee year of 1600 (the date MDC is inside the doorframe).
11: Not ancient: it's a small late mediaeval or early modern silver coin. I've got "French provincial" in my head for some reason, though it might be Spanish or Italian.
12: Not ancient, even though it looks it. It's from Morocco, a cast copper 4 falus dated 1288 or maybe 1283; the numerals are Western but the calendar is the Islamic calendar, so that converts to around AD 1871.

jmm2562

Wow, @Sapyx, this is great. Thank you so much for taking the time to walk the list. Point well taken about posting so many in a single message. I can use the clues you have provided to do more research. For the ones that I end up being stumped, perhaps I will post a dedicated message to get further help. For sure, I'm getting an education in ancient roman coins! Thanks again.