A colleague has asked me to
help in trying to identify this coin. It is
from a
collection formed over the past 30 years or so, but until now
has remained 'unknown'.
(nb: I do not have this coin to examine) There are few clues, but the source is said to be middle-eastern, or
somewhere in the region of
Egypt to around
Judaea. We have considered
Caesarea Maritima, since that partly matches the visible
reverse legend,
but anything close seems to show Latin legends, not Greek. We are
still looking, not only at CM but anything at all from that whole
area around into
Egypt and beyond.
The
obverse appears to show a male
head racing right.
The
reverse show a deity facing,
head left, holding a spear/sceptre
and perhaps something inn
his right hand.
There is no
weight or
diameter, except to say that it is about 24mm.
There may be a date: LΔ (?) in the lower left
field. The only other
letters that can be made out clearly are ..IΣA.. between 2h and 3h.
Other letters are present, but not necessarily discernible without
additional confirmation (die link, matching
legend, etc.).
I have shown a couple of lighting angles, in the
hope that someone
may recognise something toward identifying this mystery coin. Let
me know what you think. Thanks, and best wishes,
- Walter
