Please help. Are these valuable?

ManInTheMountain

Hello,

I have 2 coins that I can't seem to identify. Can someone please give me information on them?



This is a 1976 SILVER PENNY. But, it's NOT a Libery Bell Silver Penny. Ex condition.





This appears to be an ancient Greek coin. I couldn't match it up with anything I saw on the internet, but it came close to a match sometimes. The story is, my mother-in-laws father, picked it up in South America during WWII.

Thanks for any help!

gene2393

the penny looks like it is "plated" with some sort of material, maybe dipped? i found a roosevelt dime that was gold dipped.

gene2393

the other coin looks acient roman- greece

Sapyx

Your ancient looks like an antoninianus (that's the denomination) of Roman emperor Postumus, circa 262 AD. It's supposed to be made of billon, or very low-grade silver. In the Sear millennium catalogue, it's listed as number 10972. According to the catalogue, the standing figure is the emperor in full military attire. CV $25 in VF, $55 in EF.

Postumus wasn't actually emperor of Rome itself. Instead, he basically seceded from the Empire in 260 AD and created his own private Empire comprising Britain, France and Spain. This "Gallic Empire" lasted until it was reconquered by Rome in 274 AD.

Edited to add: Whups, I meant to post a link to the Wildwinds database for Postumus.

dcamp78

Could you transcribe the lettering on the obverse.
I believe that I can read some of it, but without having it
in hand, I really can't see some of the letters.

ManInTheMountain

Thanks very much for the info!!

Sapyx, the first greek coin on that site, matched perfectly. Does this mean the ancient coin is worth $25 to $55?

Dcamp, I can't transcribe the lettering any better than you. It's in ancient greek, with odd alphabet letters.


But what about the silver penny? I can't see ANY sign of it being "dipped" or painted.... and all the detail is there. But, I'm no expert. I can say I've had the coin since 1976, I saved it from when I was a child. Is it worth looking into?

Do you mind if I post a couple other coins? My son is curious about a few others he's just inherited.

Thank you.
Martin

Sapyx

That would probably be a fair value. I paid AU$30 for my Postumus, which has had a nasty re-silvering job done on it.

The language on these coins is not Greek, it's Latin, which uses our "normal" letters - they're just very shoddily done: A's look like H's, M's look like IIII, that sort of thing. It's also highly abbreviated, which doesn't help.

Obverse looks like it says IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG, though the final A and G are sloppy. Reverse I think is supposed to say P M TR P COS III P P, though the M and T seem to have merged and I don't know what's happened to the final 'P's. The COS III dates it to 262 AD, when Postumus held his third consulship.

I love the portraiture on Gallic Imperial. They seem to have always paid much more attention to detail there than on the rest on the coin.

Feel free to post any other "ID Required" coins, but you may have better response if you post them directly in the Worrld and Ancients (Darkside) Forum.

grip

Weigh the penny,than weigh a copper one.
Al

WillieBoyd2

That sure is a nice Postumus coin.

ManInTheMountain

Thanks Sapyx!


<< <i>you may have better response if you post them directly in the World and Ancients (Darkside) Forum. >>


Oh crap!! I'm sorry, I started this thread in the wrong forum. OK, I'm retarded... I'll start again in the right place.



<< <i>Weigh the penny, then weigh a copper one. >>

Good idea. And what shall I be aware of?

Thanks everyone.

brockdabadger

the penny is missing the copper plating they are zinc copper plated