I'm new to
FORVM and new to
Byzantine coins (I've been collecting Greek and
Roman for ~10 years). I learned about the
Anonymous Folles about 9 months ago and have become fascinated with them! I started
buying them and have enjoyed researching them as well. The
Numiswiki Class A Follis Class A Folles' target='_blank'>Ornaments table is wonderful, so I recently started identifying my coins by
type. Of course, this has resulted in me having a
ton of questions - and also wondering about a few of my coins.
I apologize in advance for the length of this post - I think I've pondered these things for too long
QUESTIONS PART 1 - Class A Folles' target='_blank'>Class A2 vs. Class A Folles' target='_blank'>Class A3 vs. the 7 Categories in Metcalf-- I love how
Metcalf breaks up the
Class A2/A3 into 7 Categories. However, I only see some references mapping
his 7 categories to the more commonly used A2 and A3. Here is how I've mapped them (can someone please tell me if I got these right?):
==> Metcalf's "Metropolitan" category is all
Class A Folles' target='_blank'>CLASS A2
==> Metcalf's "Central Greek" category is all
Class A Folles' target='_blank'>CLASS A2
==> Metcalf's "Blundered
Inscription" category (
types 25-28) are all
Class A Folles' target='_blank'>CLASS A2
==> Metcalf's #34 is
Class A Folles' target='_blank'>CLASS A2
==> Metcalf's "Secret Marks" category has 2
types - #31 is
Class A Folles' target='_blank'>CLASS A2, #32 is
Class A Folles' target='_blank'>CLASS A3
==> Metcalf's next category (
types 29 and 41-47) are all
Class A Folles' target='_blank'>CLASS A3
==> Metcalf's next category (
types 24, 33, 39, 40) are mostly
Class A Folles' target='_blank'>CLASS A3, with some 39 & 40 coins that are
Class A Folles' target='_blank'>CLASS A2 (based on
weight)
==> Matcalf mentions
type #51, but I don't know if this is A2 or A3. My assumption is that
his reference to #34 means it is
Class A Folles' target='_blank'>CLASS A2?
-- I don't see
type #35 mentioned anywhere by
Metcalf. Is this a separate category or should be
part of one of the others? Anyone know about the typical
weight of those?
-- I think it would it be very helpful to add a
column to Pep's table associating each
type with
Class A Folles' target='_blank'>Class A2 or A3 (where this is known)
QUESTIONS PART 2 - Class A1 vs. Types 2, 3, 4, and 20-- I'm a purist, so when the rules say "no decoration" on the
reverse is the rule to calling it
Class A1, that's the rule. However, I have seen a few coins that seem to have the
weight, size, and styling of a
class A1, but with a single dot on the top and/or bottom. Those dots tell me it should be an A2 (large and heavy), but what if everything else screams A1? Am I being too must of a purist here? After all,
Type 2 has all the markings of an A1 (no decoration on the
reverse), but is listed with the "Central Greek" coins, which are large and heavy.
-- The photos I've attached are of an example of this from my
collection. This coin weighs 6.24 grams and is 23 mm across - it looks just like a couple of my A1's, but has that dot on the top of the
reverse, which aligns with
type 4 or F20a (both "Central Greek" - or A2). Can someone please explain?
** My next questions are about some specific coins I think might be new
types. I'll put those in a different post.
Kevin