My First Two Roman Coins: a Dupondius & a Sesturtius? (Need Input Please)

[Erik in NJ]

I'm not even sure they are Roman, but a friend in England who saw them first hand said they were most likely a Dupondius and a Sesturtius.

OK this was my second or third outing the the field in Devon where I previously unearthed the beautiful Carnelian Domed Silver Thimble. We were on holiday there recently visiting my in-laws and I obtained permission on some local fields adjacent to a 13th century church. On this day I had been starting to grid the field because of the nice things I had been finding. I had found one or two English coins--a Victorian penny ca. 1900 and a King George III half penny which I thought were kind of cool, but I knew that in England they look upon KG coppers sort of the way we do wheat cents, so I wasn't too excited. Then I found these two coins about 20 feet apart and separated by about an hour. I didn't know what they were, but I knew they were old. I didn't want to risk cleaning them in the field. They were both quite heavy and one was rather chunky. Unfortunately the Devon soil has not been very kind to most of the coppers I found especially these two. They have both had a few baths in boiling peroxide and scrubbed with dish soap and a toothbrush. I hesitate to clean them any further. Both have thick green flakey patinas. If anyone has any advice on trying to get some detail to arise please let me know.

The diameter of the smaller coin (what we believe is a Dupondius) is between 25 - 28 mm and it weighs 13.2g. The thickness is approximately 4 mm.

The diameter of the larger coin (what we believe is a Sesturtius) is approximately 30 mm and it weights 12.2g. The thickness is approximately 3 mm.

Now here's the odd thing, there was no real Roman activity in the Devon region as far as I know. So it's quite rare for these coins to have been found there in that field. Additionally, due to the age of the church, I should have found at least a few hammered coins, which I unfortunately did not. These two coins have obviously been in the ground for a long time--probably close to 1,775 years as my friend Chef estimates that they are ca. 250 AD--blowing the doors off of my oldest coin to date which had been ca. 1600!

Anyway, all input is welcome. I'm not sure if it's possible that they are Celtic in origin. I can provide higher res. scans to anyone that might be able to ID them for me. Their compositions are a bit different as they hit at different locations on the Ferrous scale, but are both quite high on the Conductive scale.

Regardless what they are I was over the moon to find these a day after finding that love token, silver thimble, and sweetheart pin (which I have not posted yet).

Thanks for looking!

 

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[CRUSADER]

I think you missed a 'point' in the weight, please check & say again. Over a 100g is crazy

(They are not Celtic but look Roman)

 

[Erik in NJ]

Yes, sorry, I'm not used to grams here in the US and the lights are dim, decimal point is small, and my eyes are getting older

I was off by a factor of 10...I have fixed the weights in the original post. Thanks.

 

[CRUSADER]

I'll get my Dad to check the books, but both are possible, depending on the date range. The colouration, some what rules out an AS.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Thanks Crusader, I can use all the help I can get in trying to get a better ID on these coins. Please let me know if you recommend any additional cleaning techniques or should I just leave them as is? I fear that if I remove the green crusty patina I will just be left with copper alloy or bronze discs.

 

[CRUSADER]

Thanks Crusader, I can use all the help I can get in trying to get a better ID on these coins. Please let me know if you recommend any additional cleaning techniques or should I just leave them as is? I fear that if I remove the green crusty patina I will just be left with copper alloy or bronze discs.

Sorry, they are what we call scrappies (the worst type), all detail has gone, no cleaning will help these, they are basically blank.

 

[Erik in NJ]

There may be a bit of salvageable detail on the "dupondius"...they do look worse in the scans than they do in person. They are pretty toasted, but I will be happy if I can confirm the denomination. For me I was just very happy to find a couple of Romans (my first two), especially in a field where the odds were against finding anything Roman at all. I know you guys find them fairly often, but I will proudly display them as I broke into the first millenium with these.

 

[CRUSADER]

When I speak matter of fact, I take nothing from the pleasure you had finding these. Before I found my first (& it took years!) I would have taken these at a blink.

Here are Dads thoughts:

'The smaller one is a Dupondius, normally 25 to 28mm, (which an AS could also be but its weight would be below 10 gm) and although the larger coin at 30mm is normally too big for a Dupondius it is rather light for a Sestertius. They normally weigh from 16 to 22 gms or more. So that one could be a very light Sestertius due to wear or a slightly larger than normal Dupondius (i.e. a early one). So one can take one’s choice on the second coin. I do not think any further cleaning will help as it will destroy the patina and likely to do the same to any impressions still showing. I reckon the coins are more likely to be in the region of AD 75 to AD 175.'

 

[JanThorCro]

Beautiful coins. I hate to say it but "I'm Green with Envy".

 

[Erik in NJ]

Crusader,

Please thank your Dad for taking the time to look at these coins and provide the sage input--I really appreciate it! I also appreciate the update on the possible timeframe.

No offense taken before, I was just trying to say that since they were my first Roman anything, it was quite exciting for me as for some reason I wasn't digging coins in that fields any older than KG III and then I came across these (the field hadn't been ploughed in donkey's years from what I found out--I think the good stuff is deeper). Detail would have been nice and certainly I thought there would have been some on cleaning, but the soil in this part of Devon is brutal to copper as you can see. Regardless they are my first two confirmed Roman finds and special to me--your and your father's input only adds to that "value." Thanks again!

When I speak matter of fact, I take nothing from the pleasure you had finding these. Before I found my first (& it took years!) I would have taken these at a blink.

Here are Dads thoughts:

'The smaller one is a Dupondius, normally 25 to 28mm, (which an AS could also be but its weight would be below 10 gm) and although the larger coin at 30mm is normally too big for a Dupondius it is rather light for a Sestertius. They normally weigh from 16 to 22 gms or more. So that one could be a very light Sestertius due to wear or a slightly larger than normal Dupondius (i.e. a early one). So one can take one’s choice on the second coin. I do not think any further cleaning will help as it will destroy the patina and likely to do the same to any impressions still showing. I reckon the coins are more likely to be in the region of AD 75 to AD 175.'

 

[Erik in NJ]

Thanks Jan!

Beautiful coins. I hate to say it but "I'm Green with Envy".

 

[oldsalty19]

 

[silverfreak]

I can't imagine finding something that old! SWEET