ancient (c. 475-450 B.C.) coin of Gela, Sicily

[salty dog]

Where would my friend need to take this to see if it might accidentally be real. I know he will want to know this.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[size=14pt][size=10pt]This is how this was originally posted.[/size]
I'm posting this for a good friend.
He found this in some dirt the other day and we can't figure out what it is.
It has what looks like a horse on one side and I can make out what looks like the legs of a horse on the other side. I can't make out any thing else.
I'm not sure what it's made of. It registers between a penny and a dime on my ACE 250.
It is about the size of a quarter and a little thicker.
It was found in south Mississippi.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.[/size]

 

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[Mackaydon]

Re: Is it a coin, token or what?

Although I can imagine the images of a full horse above and the forefront of a horse below, it did momentarily remind me of this image:
http://www.bio.vu.nl/home/vwielink/WWW_MGC/Campania_map/Neapolis_map/descrBasel_046.html
bronze coin of Neapolis (Campania), 340-326 BC ca.

 

[UnEarthed72]

Re: Is it a coin, token or what?

maybe a copy of a roman coin

 

[Ocean Oso]

Re: Is it a coin, token or what?

Looks like one of the old coins you "wagered" with at a county fair during the horse/buggy races.

 

[PBK]

Re: Is it a coin, token or what?

I think this is probably a modern copy of an ancient (c. 475-450 B.C.) coin of Gela, Sicily, depicting a man-headed bull, the river god Gelas. There are many varieties. Here's an example:

​

 

[Oroblanco]

Re: Is it a coin, token or what?

PBK you have nailed it! What a great find! Congratulations to your friend! I am working on a book and would appreciate if you would keep me posted with anything else you learn about this? Thank you in advance,
Roy A. Decker ~ Oroblanco

email: [email protected]

 

[salty dog]

Re: Is it a coin, token or what?

Thanks everyone for the post. Thanks for the link Mackaydon. PBK that is right on the money!
I will let my friend read this and see if he's going to research it any more.
Even if it is a modern reproduction, I think it's a good find too.
Thanks everyone.

 

[salty dog]

How would my friend go about finding out if this coin might accidentally be real?
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Oroblanco]

I would suggest contacting David Sear, the author of several books on ancient Greek coins and widely acknowledged as expert in the field, he offers a service of certifying coins for a fee. The linkee is:
http://www.davidrsear.com/certification.html

I would NOT trust sending it to some of the other coin certification services, not naming names here but they are expert in US coins not ancient and have made some stupendous blunders in identifying and certifying ancient coins.

Oroblanco

 

[salty dog]

Thanks Oroblanco,
You have been very helpful. If he has the coin authenticated I will post the results.

Robert

 

[Oroblanco]

Thank you for posting it - certainly not your everday find! I would appreciate if you would give my name and/or email to your friend, like I mentioned this is the sort of thing that is a part of the book project I've been working on. A number of genuine ancient coins have been found in the USA over the years, so it is possible. How it got here is then the big question.
your friend,
Roy A. Decker

email [email protected]

 

[MonkeyBoy]

Nice find! Having collected ancient Greek and Romans for 15 or so years.. I remember reading years ago about a small cache of ancient Greek coins that were dredged up form the Mississippi river many years ago. Theories ranged from a lost Greek ship to a collector dropping his bag of coin off the side of a riverboat by mistake... who knows. but the ones found were thought to have been genuine!

Monkeyboy

 

[Oroblanco]

Monkeyboy - I would sure appreciate if you could point me where to find that article? I know of a similar case where a bridge was being built and a small cache of Roman coins were found on one bank, but I don't think it is the same case. I don't have an exact figure but a fair number of genuine ancient coins have been found in the USA - some fakes were found too so it pays to have them certified by an expert.

I have my own theory about how some of these ancient coins ended up in America, it is a part of the book I have been working on and involves accidental crossings of the Atlantic in ancient times. There are plenty of historians who take the opposite position and insist that any and all ancient coins found in America must have been dropped and lost in recent, modern times; the only study done by a professor (Dr. Epstein) that was published concluded that all were deposited in modern times, as if lots of people walk around carrying ancient coins in their pockets and also lose them - and in part I agree with this, especially where inexpensive bronze Roman coins are involved. I find a serious flaw in Epstein's study too, for he simply did not even address several ancient coins that were Punic, not Roman, and there is a pattern of finds of Punic coins in the US in at least 11 states - nearly all found along navigable rivers or close to the ocean or Gulf of Mexico.

In my opinion Greek coins are a little different story, and we have ancient Greek writers who clearly say that they knew about the existence of America. They were crossing open oceans as can be proven in several ancient texts for one example, describing how they crossed the Indian ocean directly rather than the long and more dangerous route following the coastline; the recent discoveries of ancient shipwrecks in deep waters far from any shore by Robert Ballard and others have (I believe) put that old theory that the ancients always followed shorelines to rest. It is funny (as in sheesh, not 'haha') but when ancient coins are found anywhere in the Old World, they are viewed by archaeologists as important evidence of contact in ancient times, helping to define trade routes etc but when any are found in America they are instantly dismissed as modern fakes or having been deposited in modern times.

Anyway I would sure appreciate it if you could tell me where to look for that news article. Thank you in advance,
your friend,
Roy ~ Oroblanco