Help Needed ID'ing (2) ancient gold coins ??

TRADECOIN · February 1, 2011 4:39AM

Hi , Anyone know what these gold coins are ? These coins were with some ID'ed ancient silver coins when i bought them.

First coin is about the size of a u.s. quarter . Thin Weight about 3 grams tested 18K or better ( i can only test up to about 18k with my tester .)

Second coin is quarter size . Thick Weight about 8 grams tested 10K+

Thanks for any help .
Ron tradecoin@verizon.net

lordmarcovan · February 1, 2011 4:24PM

The first is an Islamic gold dinar. Maybe circa 700s AD, I believe. Can't say much more than that, and I'm clueless on the second.

TRADECOIN · February 2, 2011 12:51AM

Thank You . Ron

Bjorn · February 2, 2011 4:22AM

The first looks Abbasid (mid 700s to perhaps late 800s) but I am not an expert in this particular series - it looks like it might have some damage, but still not a bad way to own gold. The second coin looks Indo-Scythian or Kushan - which would place it around 100 BC - AD 300 - but I only base that on the style - I know very little about these kingdoms or their history.

lordmarcovan · February 2, 2011 8:52AM

<< <i>The first looks Abbasid (mid 700s to perhaps late 800s) but I am not an expert in this particular series - it looks like it might have some damage, but still not a bad way to own gold. >>

Thanks, Bjorn- "Abbasid" was the adjective I was fumbling for. In the end I gave up and went with the more general "Islamic".

TRADECOIN · February 5, 2011 4:33AM

Thank You for all your help . Ron

TRADECOIN · February 5, 2011 4:40AM

Thanks again for your help . It's great being able to ID coins thru this message board . Are these coins just worth there gold value or did I hit the luck lotto and make a killing ? Ron

Bjorn · February 5, 2011 5:34AM

Heh... that will require a specialist who knows the various mints and reigns and can read them for these coins. The Abbasid coin will clearly be attributed to a particular caliph in most instances, and will usually have a date using the Hejira (AH) dating system, although it usually written out using words rather than numerals - which makes identification much more difficult, as Arabic and Persian numerals are pretty simple to decipher.

On that second coin, I have no clue - although the Sassanid-like appearance of the bust on the obv leads me to suspect it is post AD 250...

--Bjorn

Bjorn · February 5, 2011 5:52AM

Actually, now that I think about it, that first coin looks more like a Ghaznavid coin, rather than Abbasid; here is an example, where you can see the sylistic and motif similarities:

http://www.vcoins.com/ancient/artifactman/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=469

TRADECOIN · February 5, 2011 11:04AM

Hi Bjorn , You are very kind to spend your time with my questions .Thank You . I can not tell a thing from looking at the 2 coins . Way out of my area of coins. they do not weigh the same . Ron

TRADECOIN · February 10, 2011 9:08AM

ttt

Help Needed ID'ing (2) ancient gold coins ??

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