General Greek Identification Question

[Chris K3]

Hi -
    I got 15 Greek coins of varying quality - about half of them are nice enough to see figures, birds, and horses on them.  I'd like to place them, but looking through Wildwinds and other sources is seems to me you almost need to know the mint city before you have a prayer of being able to somewhat positively identify the coin.  Is there a process that you can follow to narrow it down (like should I weigh/measure them first even though I'm sure they are lighter/smaller than when they are minted) or is there a page I can goto that has a decision tree that narrows it down?  Seems like you almost need a book to thumb through page after page or some other laborious method.  At least with the Roman coins you have a place to start by knowing either the back or the front - these Greek coins seem to be all over the place...
     Thanks - Chris

[Jay GT4]

Yeah Greek coins can be tough.  I use  acsearch and then enter as many of the devices I know.  This will usually give you coins that you can zero in on with a similar style.  From there you can continue refining your search terms.  I find I can usually get it sorted within a few minutes (usually) and I mostly collect Roman and Southern Italian not Greek.  The more you try to identify them yourself the more you start to recognize designs.

You can always post some here and ask for clues to get you in the right direction.

[Dino]

Jay's advice is sound.  Also look at the Greek letters, if any on the coins.  Many times they're the names of magistrates, which may not always be helpful in general identification, but sometimes they're the name, ethnic or abbreviation of the city they are from.

[Chris K3]

Great advice gentlemen!  Greatly appreciate it.  Since the coins came to somewhat inexpensively, there is no lettering that I can see yet, but I felt fortunate to have real figures that I coukd have a chance at deciphering (unlike the previous Greek coins that I got which are mostly just flat discs).  Looking forward to giv8ng these a go!

And I will post photos if I get stuck - although I onl6 have an iPhone and I can’t seem to get i5 to take good coin pictures...

Thanks - Chris

[curtislclay]

Richard Plant, Greek Coin Types and their Identification, provides line drawings of 2748 Greek coin types, obv. and rev., arranged by general categories, for example "Armed Warriors", a useful though of course far from complete compendium.

[Chris K3]

Yeah - I saw that book.  Thinking about getting it if I strike out on my own!

[djmacdo]

Just looking at a lot of coins will get you far--good catalogues of great collections and museums are available on CD for little, and looking at the plates will give you a basis for identification. 

[Meepzorp]

I only have an iPhone and I can’t seem to get i5 to take good coin pictures...

Hi CK,

That shouldn't be a problem. I don't have a digital camera either. All of my website photos were taken with an old iPhone 4. I'm still using it.

A digital camera is easier to use, but an old iPhone can take great photos too. It just takes some practice and fine tuning of skills. And, of course, you need a lot of lighting - preferably CFL bulbs that give off the equivalent of several hundred watts of white light.

Meepzorp

[Chris K3]

Cool - I'll keep working on it.  Probably need more light...

[Meepzorp]

Hi CK,

Here are more tips:

1 - Don't use incandescent bulbs.

2 - Use CFL bulbs or Halogen bulbs that give off white light (high lumens), not the ones that give off yellow light (low lumens).

3 - You should have the equivalent of about 200-300 watts of light. That's what I use.

4 - Turn off the iPhone's zoom feature. Use the macro setting, not the micro setting.

5 - Hold the iPhone about 3-4 inches from the coin.

6 - A grey background works best. I use a grey towel. I put a crease/ridge in it, which elevates the coin about 1 or 1 1/2 inches above the rest of the towel.

7 - Experiment with different coin angles and iPhone angles. If I hold my iPhone exactly parallel to the plane of the coin, the photos come out blurry. I usually tilt my iPhone about 5-10 degrees along both the X-axis and Y-axis (relative to the plane of the coin).

8 - Shoot about 10-20 photos of each side. Use the best one.

Meepzorp

[Chris K3]

These are exactly the tips I need!

I guess I didn’t know the zoom turned off - I’ll do more playing!

Appreciate it, Meepzorp!