My Most Amazing Coin Find Ever: CLEOPATRA I AS ISIS 204-180 B.C.

[{Sentinel}]

Last week, in anticipation of my friend Rob a.k.a. RTDE 3 coming down to dig with me, I went out to reconnoiter some sites for us to hit during the weekend. I decided to check out a site that I have permission to hunt but that I hadn't been to since last summer. This was the site that produced alot of nice finds for me including the King Rama V Copper and the last time I had been there was probably last August when I took my friend and diggin' partner Jeff a.k.a. UMRGolf. I had permission to hit both the front and back yards but since the back was very grown up we never really were able to get back into it. Well when I arrived there I noticed that the back was cut enough to where I could swing a coil. The back yard isn't very big but I figured I'd swing on it for a few minutes to see if anything popped up. I turned my machine on and swung it a couple times and right away I got a quarter signal that turned out to be a 1934 Silver Washington Quarter. That was a nice way to start out, wasn't the Civil War or Colonial relics that I was looking for but it was Silver! After that I put it away and took a couple steps swinging away and then I got a very SOLID 78-80 signal on my T-2. Many times signals that hit in that range are pennies but this signal sounded much bigger than a penny and fairly deep so I proceeded to dig down and down and down to about 10-11 inches and then I scanned the loose dirt in the hole and it sounded like whatever it was had dislodged and was somewhere in the bottom of the hole. I took my Pro-pointer out (and about this time James Bibb calls me on the phone) and stuck it down in there and got a solid signal, reached down and popped out this thick (what I thought was) Copper disc. This object was VERY THICK eyeballing it, it looked about 4mm or 5mm thick! And I'm describing it to James who's on the phone with me at this time and I see a side profile Bust of what looks to be a Greco-Roman Lady?!? And I'm thinking "What the Heck IS THIS?" I flipped it over and what was weird was the reverse side's diameter was bigger than the front side. What I saw when I brushed some of the loose dirt away was an Archaic-looking Eagle perched with drooped wings and GREEK LETTERS flanking it!! I wasn't quite sure if it was a coin or what because of its thickness but I remembered that I dug that Rare King Rama Copper there last year so I quickly wrapped it up so that it wouldn't get damaged. I was describing it to James and he sounded pretty blown away about it as well.
When I got it home that night, I looked up Ancient Coins and I found a website called Tantalus where I got a perfect match as far as the way the coin looked, telling me that it was indeed an Ancient Greek coin. Well it took me a couple more hours before I I.D.ed the exact coin it was and when I did I really could NOT believe how old that object was that was sitting in my Hands, words just couldn't explain it...I had a 2100+ year old coin sitting there in the palm of my hand and it was really just a shock. You NEVER EVER expect to find something like this in the United States of America but we knew it was possible when Jeff dug a Constantine Roman coin the year before and we were blown away by that.
I believe the man who lived there in the 1800's must've been a collector of rare and ancient coins, I just find it too much of a coincidence that I found this coin and the rare King Rama V Copper in the same yard. One things for certain, this is and probably FOREVER more will be (unless I go to Europe someday to dig), my oldest find. It might not be the most valuable find I've ever made (worth $250-$350 in this condition per an ancient coins professional who looked at it) but its definitely a personal Banner and the find of a lifetime for me! Rob and James and Jeff have been after me to get it up but with the passing of my Grandfather, the past few days were hectic to say the least...but finally, here it is.




The coin is a Bronze Greek/Egyptian Coin minted under the reign of [u]Ptolemy V, Epiphanes - King of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt 204-180 B.C.


Ptolemy V, Epiphanes was Son of Ptolemy IV and Arsinoe III, Ptolemy V was only five years old when his father died. For many years the government was in the hands of unscrupulous and incompetent ministers, and much of the Egyptian overseas empire was lost at this time. The young king was crowned at Memphis in 197 B.C. The famous Rosetta Stone, which provided the key to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics, was inscribed at the time of this coronation. In 193 B.C. Ptolemy married Cleopatra I, daughter of Antiochus III of Syria, and thirteen years later he died at the age of twenty-nine. In 187 BC, Cleopatra I was appointed vizier and upon her husband's death in 180 BC, she ruled on behalf of her young son, Ptolemy VI. She was the first Ptolemaic queen to be a sole ruler of Egypt. This can be concluded from date formulas on the papyri written in the years from 179 BC to 176 BC, where Cleopatra I is called Thea Epiphanes and her name is written before that of her son. She also minted her own coins, which also bear her name before that of her son.

(not my coin)

Ptolemy V, Epiphanes - King of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt 204-180 B.C.
Bronze 26mm (18.15 grams) Struck circa 193-180 B.C.
Reference: Sear 7879; Svoronos 1233; B.M.C. 6.93,67-8
Head of Cleopatra I, as Isis right; hair in formal curls and wreathed with corn.
ΠTOΛEMAIOY BAΣIΛEΩΣ - Eagle standing left on thunderbolt, wings open.

Historical Context: This coin was minted by the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt around 190 BC. The obverse (front) of this coin is CLEOPATRA the First as Isis (Cleopatra's face). Isis was an Egyptian deity, the wife of Orisis, the GOD of the DEAD. Cleopatra I was the daughther of Antiochos III of Syria became the wife of Ptolemy V of Egypt. She bore two boys and a girl ( Ptolemy VI, Ptolemy VII, and Cleopatra II). The Ptolemaic empire was founded by Ptolemy I after the death of Alexander the Great. Ptolemy I was a boyhood friend of Alexander and his most trusted general. After Ptolemy successfully completed the Persian war, Alexander granted him the area of Egypt . He founded an empire that lasted almost 300 years. The empire ended with Cleopatra VII, the Queen of the Nile . (http://www.museumsurplus.com/EgyptianCoinsPAGE1.htm)

This was as I saw it when I first removed the dirt from the hole:

UNCLEANED:

Once I got it home, even through the heavy dirt patina, I could see the images fairly well:

At first I thought that it had been laying against something Iron, but as you research these coins you'll notice that many have a small hole on either side of the face (look at the image of the coin at top of post) and mine still has remnants of iron filling the hole which I believe may be responsible for the iron stain on the reverse.

CLEANED
Here are several different photos of the coin in different lighting after I've cleaned it very lightly:

FINISHED PHOTOS

Cleopatra I as Isis, with Ptolemy V. 204-180 BC. Bronze Coin
Head of Cleopatra I as Isis right / , Eagle standing left on thunderbolt.

Reverse Reads: (PTOLEMAIOU BASILEWS) which Translates to: King Ptolemy

Cleopatra the First as Isis 204-180 B.C.

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[Steve in PA]

That's what makes this hobby so much fun, the craziest things turn up in the strangest places. That is an amazing find Josh!

Sorry to hear about your grandfather...

[cntrydncr1]

such a cool coin Josh and amazing you found it where you did. I was told that the newer the Roman coins, the smaller they got and yours sure is big!! All the ones I found in England were very small. Congrats!!

[Palmetto]

Sorry to hear about your Grandfather Sentinel.

Goes to show you that "anything can be anywhere"

A show on the History channel or may be National Geographic was called, "Who Really Discovered America" and some of those theories may be reasons that coins like yours pop up from time to time.

Congrats on the find!

Palmetto

[jamesbibb]

Wow you siad it all right there a 2000 year old coin in impecable condition. That is a once in a lifetime here in the states for sure dude. Glad you were able to et it posted. What I am mmost happy about is that you take the time to properly clean and identify every artifact that you recover. Truly amazing, And this is a fantastic BANNER COIN!

[jamesbibb]

It like we discussed, the Ancient Greeks paddled to America first, they were just eaten by the natives.

[{Sentinel}]

Sorry to hear about your Grandfather Sentinel.

Goes to show you that "anything can be anywhere"

A show on the History channel or may be National Geographic was called, "Who Really Discovered America" and some of those theories may be reasons that coins like yours pop up from time to time.

Congrats on the find!

Palmetto

Thanks Palmetto, yes he will be missed for sure. That's funny you said that because my Friend James Bibb was joking and said "Well looks like they're going to have to rewrite the history books about who settled America first." LOL

[Felinepeachy]

FANTASTIC FIND!!!!!

[{Sentinel}]

Wow you siad it all right there a 2000 year old coin in impecable condition. That is a once in a lifetime here in the states for sure dude. Glad you were able to et it posted. What I am mmost happy about is that you take the time to properly clean and identify every artifact that you recover. Truly amazing, And this is a fantastic BANNER COIN!

Thanks James for your vote of confidence, you were RIGHT there with me (on the phone) as I was digging it! I still have to look at it every couple hours to make sure its still there and not an illusion!

[search and recovery]

WOW! That is a banner find in my opinion. . A day that will forever be etched in your memory. Congrats!...Sorry about your loss.

[flip flop]

BANNER !!!!!!!!!!
Sorry for your loss.

[bookfisher]

Amazing Find - and what's more amazing, is that it's in better condition than most of the Colonial Coppers and Large Cents we find! Banner!

[Metal Magnet]

Banner - no brainer on that. congratulations on an incredible find. I loved reading it and reliving the moment with you, so to speak. Any idea on value?

[tuatara]

Sorry about your loss.

I can imagine that the coin was an utter surprise (pleasant) for you. The person who lived there might be in numismatics, however, they usually keep their coins in albums.
The coin might also have an origin as a tourist souvenir. Many Americans streamed into Egypt in the early 20c inspired by remarkable ancient discoveries. It might be brought home from there. There was a network of forgerers who filled in a demand in rare coins for Western collectors. Anyway it's Banner But it's worth checking it out with experts.

[{Sentinel}]

WOW! That is a banner find in my opinion. . A day that will forever be etched in your memory. Congrats!...Sorry about your loss.

Thanks Search and Recovery

BANNER !!!!!!!!!!
Sorry for your loss.

Thanks Flip Flop

Sorry about your loss.

I can imagine that the coin was an utter surprise (pleasant) for you. The person who lived there might be in numismatics, however, they usually keep their coins in albums.
The coin might also have an origin as a tourist souvenir. Many Americans streamed into Egypt in the early 20c inspired by remarkable ancient discoveries. It might be brought home from there. There was a network of forgerers who filled in a demand in rare coins for Western collectors. Anyway it's Banner But it's worth checking it out with experts.

Thanks for the kind words Tuatara about my Grandfather. That's actually one of the first things I did was have an Ancient coins collector I know look at it and he said it looked 100% Authentic. As I stated above in the body of the post, I also found another exotic coin at this property last year that was rare and worth a good amount of money. I believe that the person who lived there in the late 1800's was a Ancient, rare, and exotic coins collector. My digging partner also found an authentic Roman Constantine Bronze Coin at another site in this area last year.

[birdman]

That is one crazy find! Love it ,I have read a few post of people finding ancient coins in the states. Mind blowing dig ,congrats!

[tuatara]

That's actually one of the first things I did was have an Ancient coins collector I know look at it and he said it looked 100% Authentic. As I stated above in the body of the post, I also found another exotic coin at this property last year that was rare and worth a good amount of money. I believe that the person who lived there in the late 1800's was a Ancient, rare, and exotic coins collector. My digging partner also found an authentic Roman Constantine Bronze Coin at another site in this area last year.

That's great Though it makes me think what had happened to that rare and valuble coin collector. Usually collections like that one that contained some 'wow' coins were listed in different numismatics publications because as a rule collectors once belonged to clubs. You might be dealing with some mystery but that only makes you find more interesting.

[gemee]

You should have this authenticated, because it may be some sort of 1920's souvenir piece, instead of the real deal.

[Blind Squirrel]

Banner find!!! Congrats

[dfx willy]

ah! hold on here. i thought i was looking at one of hispans posts or crues. by god man its sentinel! what have you found your self now? thats incredible man. ill go with your old collector theroy. whacha gonna dig next a viking sword! willy