Ancient Egyptian Bronze Coin?

BloodyBelle · Aug 22, 2010

Hi!

I have to start somewhere. I thought this might be interesting. Given to me by an elderly Egyptian man who said he bought it from some "nomads." And something about Zeus and Cleopatra. Thick. Heavy. Fits just inside a silver dollar. And that's everything I know. Appears to be in very good shape.

colorado14ers · Aug 22, 2010

do not base this on me but the coins ive seen from that time are a lot more crude. I have a coin from around a.d 200 and it is in that condition. it looks newer, maybe a.d 400 or 500. like I said, dont base the the coin o my responce and hey, what do I know? :laughing9:

BloodyBelle · Aug 22, 2010

colorado14ers said:
do not base this on me but the coins ive seen from that time are a lot more crude. I have a coin from around a.d 200 and it is in that condition. it looks newer, maybe a.d 400 or 500. like I said, dont base the the coin o my responce and hey, what do I know?

Not much more than me, apparently. ;-)

ted750 · Aug 29, 2010

What you have there is an Egyptian Ptolemaic bronze coin of the 3rd-1st century B.C. One side of the coin portrays the head of Zeus/Serapis (Serapis is a combination of Zeus and the Egyptian god Amun-Ra meant to please the multinational inhabitants of Hellenistic Alexandria.) and the other side of the coin portrays a standing eagle surrounded by a generic inscription in Greek. There should a monogram in the field to the left of the eagle that could possibly identify the ruler who minted this coin. The Ptolemaic dynasty lasted from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. when his general Ptolemy took power to the annexation of Egypt by Rome following the suicides of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony in 32 B.C. There are many, many obscure varieties of this coin, some with 2 eagles on the back, some with a slightly goofier beard on Serapis, and some with different Monograms in the field to the left of the eagle. The coin looks legit to me, although it's hard to tell without examining it in person. I wouldn't doubt the story you were told, bedouin tribesmen roamed the Western Desert well into the modern era and often carried ancient trinkets to sell to tourists - a lot of these coins came back with GIs after WWII. The artwork on the ptolemaic bronze coins is considered some of the finest to be found in the ancient world, and these coins are some of my personal favourites.

ted750 · Aug 29, 2010

To add on to my last post there, it appears the monograms on the coin in the image I provided are an exact match, meaning yours is most likely of Ptolemy III (246-222 B.C.) as well!

BloodyBelle · Aug 29, 2010

Ted, I'd like to thank you for your time. I need to do some history homework now. :-) Then I'll be back for a more considered discussion.

BloodyBelle · Sep 6, 2010

Re: Ancient Egyptian Bronze Coin, or, Let's Discuss Good Ol' Ptolemy III 246- BC

Dear Ted,

Apologies. I was sincere when I said I was going to learn more about the history of this coin for further discussion, but effectively I am a liar. :notworthy:

I don't have the time right now to learn an entirely new area of history. I was particularly interested in ancient minting methods and the relative finery of these particular coins. I am all eyes if you want to go there; pretty please? :notworthy:

I will humiliate myself with the question I hate to see on the board sometimes. (But I've been a good girl and I help others and stuff.) :notworthy:

Any idea of value?

Thank you again, again.

Woodland Detectors · Sep 25, 2010

BloodyBelle said:
Dear Ted,

Apologies. I was sincere when I said I was going to learn more about the history of this coin for further discussion, but effectively I am a liar. I don't have the time right now to learn an entirely new area of history. I was particularly interested in ancient minting methods and the relative finery of these particular coins. I am all eyes if you want to go there; pretty please?

I will humiliate myself with the question I hate to see on the board sometimes. (But I've been a good girl and I help others and stuff.) Any idea of value?

Thank you again, again.