What the heck is this?
AwlKindsOStuff
Posts: 43
Got this a few years ago in one of those grab ancient coin bags at the bay.. can't find anything like it anywhere. I would not just buy those grab bags (uncleaned lots) looking for gold or silver BTW, this one was not a mistake that just happened to be there. Bought a group of 100, and all was just plain junk, except this, But before I cleaned the stuff off of it, it had a scratch on the edge, was checked and seller knew it was there, salted the group. Not to say all are bad, but there's those few, sellers..
Anyways I decided shortly after I was not going to become a ancient coin collector, to complicated. But anybody got an idea of what this is, value, etc. I think it's Byzantine but what, who, when? And it is gold I am sure of that but the color is light, like a gold/silver mix, never heard of that either.
The face is very poor, there's a glob of a head but can't identify it, no way, I can shoot a photo if you need. Although a photo of it is even way harder to make out the face.
Is it rare or face so bad it's melt?
Anyways I decided shortly after I was not going to become a ancient coin collector, to complicated. But anybody got an idea of what this is, value, etc. I think it's Byzantine but what, who, when? And it is gold I am sure of that but the color is light, like a gold/silver mix, never heard of that either.
The face is very poor, there's a glob of a head but can't identify it, no way, I can shoot a photo if you need. Although a photo of it is even way harder to make out the face.
Is it rare or face so bad it's melt?
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Comments
Sorry, but it's not gold. It's a brass Roman Provincial, also known as "Greek Imperial", from the city of Nicaea-in-Bithynia, just across the water from Constantinople. The reverse design is three Roman military standards, with the name of the city (in Greek). Coins of much the same design are listed for emperors Elagabalus and Severus Alexander - unfortunately, you'd need to read the obverse legend to tell them apart.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded one DPOTD.
<< <i>gold/silver mix, never heard of that either. >>
Electrum. Some of the very first coins ever struck were electrum.
Good job on the ID, Sapyx.
And lordmarcovan, yup that's it too, Electrum, gold/silver with bits of copper, that explains why it's got holes in it, the copper croaked off.. Dang, I cleaned it too harsh too, did not realize there was copper or bronze and used a chemical that once I cleaned it, likely took out some of the detail.. Ignorance aint always bliss.. I'd also figured that because it was seller salt it would be low class whatever, anyway it went.. Likly worth melt.
But looking up Electrum, it says it was used untill 350 BC, whereas,
Severus Alexander
and Elagabalus where almost 500 years later. Can you tell me why the contrast? Special military pay? ha, ha,.
There is a bit of lettering on the Obv. Difficult to make out, just three of four letters, but maybe enough to identify provideing I can find letters simular with the same set. .. From looking at Wildwinds:, There’s no pieces in Electrum, for Sev. Alex. and Elag. does this make it a extra rarity. I mean, If I was to sell it, attributed or not, is it worth much, Could I have inadvertently lucked out on a salted coin group?
This Electrum, I been looking for another coin at E-bay from time to time, trying to get an idea of what it was, to no avail, guess it's pretty hard to come by?
As you noted, debased gold (or "electrum") went out of fashion way back in the Greek era, even before Alexander the Great. By the mid-Roman period, when this coin dates from, Imperial gold coins were of consistently high purity.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded one DPOTD.
But to verify or confirm my suspicions, the simplest home test, the chemical i used to clean this coin, is my favorite for cleaning glass. Toilet bowl cleaner, which is a from of hydrocloric acid. This metal does not dissipate in this, although brass, copper, silver (turns black) and Bronze will dissolve in most any form of hydrochloric acid. I've dipped this coin (scrubed it with freash acid twice, and soked it about two hours,) (as I mentioned, thinking it was no more value then melt) in hydrochloric acid three times. At the point it has been washed, it has no reaction to it, in fact the exact color and shine you see in this photo, which was the exact color I found it in, whereas brass will lighten and have an etched surface, eventually rather quickly dull, to a darker color, and lighten again if washed. . It has not tarnished and retains it's washed shine, which is it’s original, as well.
'The works' will eat the porcelain and brass out of your bath tub, and sink, etch them severally, but not harm the toilet because toilets are 'like' triple glazed. It will eat an ancient bronze coin, completely dissolve it too.
The only thing that dissolved when it was dipped was some of the black crust which originally covered 90% of this coin. Before i washed this coin it had the hard black on it and looked like a blank slug. If it is brass like you say, it is one heck of a unusual formula, because this acid wont eat, or etch it.