Drusus

An acquaintance described him as "a stomach with a head".

that is a task best left to those who know what they are doing.

Or you could learn how to do it, thus you will know what you are doing. I would say when it comes to cleaning...in most cases the less you do the better but there are those times when you have an outstanding coin but its filthy...I have had some come to me in GREAT shape save for crusted layers of years of filth (one had been sitting in an ash tray for about 20 years)....a little TLC and you would never know it but that was after A LOT of due diligence. While some minor things you can do on all coins (a nice soak in distilled water)...when it comes to anything stronger, it matters the metal.

me too.... cleaning cents in vinnegar, boy, do they get clean...

They get clean and PINK.

indeed..

I have seen several of these on ebay but if I remember correctly they were being sold as reproductions...they are very obvious fakes.

Luckily the portrait is recognizable even when this worn and I am partial to German and Austrian coinage.

Its a very worn Eine (1) Kreutzer of Maria Theresa from Austria minted in 1760 it looks like.Wien mint I think.

I am no help here but it does seem extremely thin like the above mentioned imitation coins used for decoration. I just can make out any detail that is recognizable to me.

Thanks. The copper is a problem I am still working through as it is harder to get an impression on. I can get only a ghost image when its NOT annealed, once annealed I get a bit better image but the copper is spotty (not just scaling) and not even in tone after annealing. Its trial and error because I get so many different views on the best way to do it, a lot of it conflicting. The problem is either in the quenching or the heating but I just can't be sure at the moment.

What I am doing with the ones I have minted (save the few I am keeping and gave to people I know) is leaving them around town to be found on counters, in my kids school, at the YMCA, in restaurants and stores, etc...I dropped a handful of errors (not just a bit off center) in a field close to where I live. These coins are worth a lot if I were to price them in regards to the money I have spent through the years trying to get to the point where I am minting decent coins. I am going to try another run of coppers in a few weeks using a 20 ton press, see if I cant get a better impression. THEN I will be dropping copper coins that I far tougher than pewter and look a lot like a penny...leave it on a counter and someone might pick it up...On the counter because few people will bend over to pick up a penny these days.

Its very patrician, tiberius came from a very old patrican family, the Claudians, with its roots in the early republic.

I assume the guy looks like this:

He's a real character.

http://www.tribalsoup.com/egypt2.htm

Your third coin is an Antoninianus of the Emperor Philip II.

IMP PHILIPPVS AVG, radiate draped bust right / VIRTVS AVGG, Mars advancing right with spear & trophy.

It looks like it is Trajan with a Pax holding a cornucopiae and branch (98 to 117). A better photo might make a more exact ID easier as I can barely see any detail...

Okay, I got a couple in copper. Its a bit harder process as copper is harder to work with, harder to cut blanks, harder to impress and needs to be annealed. I think I annealed these too hot which caused the metal to be a bit spotty and it scaled alot. Oh, and aligning the dies is hard, might get it right 1 out of 10 but I am fine with that to be honest. As long as I get the detail on the blank.

Pewter Hard Times 1/2 cent tokens

Kudos to you for erring on the side of caution, wish more people did the same. I have some hammered coins where the detail is rather sharp so I don't know if I would go by that.

This one in particular is with little doubt authentic:

It was one of a group of coins handed down to me by my great grandmother...although I dont know its history or how it came to be in her possession.

I believe it is a coin (PAX types silver penny) of William I (the conquerer). I cant read it but the moneyers name should be on the reverse which would say where it was minted.

I cant say to much on the authenticity.

I love Conder Tokens and this is certainly a jem of the type. BTW, I started the wikipedia page for Conder Tokens, I couldn't believe there wasn't already a page for it at the time.

I like the top one but that might just be the toning or photography, it seems to give a bit more depth.

One has fruit on the ground, the other doesnt.

The baskets have different design.

One has 6 rows of apples in the basket, the other 7?

Different borders

Period after A in one and not the other?

Both very nice tokens.

I haven't posted this coin yet on my website because I have a lot more to say about it and the person on the coin but I thought I would show it here since I have an image of it now. It is another example of me having waited until I could fine what I feel is a superior example of a coin type I wanted. Anyone who knows me knows I look for fine example of portraits on my Roman coins and IMO, this one is exceptional:

Tiberius 14-37 A.D.

AR Denarius 16 A.D. Lugdunum

Laureate head right / Livia seated right on chair with ornate legs, single line floor, holding long scepter and Olive branch

weight 3.58 g

reference RIC 30 BMC 48 RCV 1763

TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS (Tiberius Caesar Divi Augusti Filius Augustus) - Tiberius Caesar Son of the Divine Augustus Augustus. This is the name of the Emperor Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus commonly referred to as just Tiberius.

PONTIF MAXIM (Pontifex Maximus) - Greatest Pontiff. referring to his position as the head of the college of priest of the roman religion.

The obverse of the coin depicts Tiberius (Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero), the second Emperor of Rome. The obverse inscription is his name as it was after the death of his adopted father Augustus and shows his connection to the the Julian line. With Augustus he is connected to his adopted father, the first emperor of Rome and with the name Caesar his connection to Julius Caesar through his adopted fathers adopted father .With Divi Augustus Filius the fact that he is the son of a God.

Depicted on the reverse is Livia Drusilla (Julia Augusta) wife of Augustus and mother to Tiberius by her first husband, Tiberius Claudius Nero. Livia is the link between the Julian and Claudian families that gave their names to the founding imperial Julio-Claudian dynasty. Livia was Augustus's third wife and he was her second husband. She was from an old and distinguished family who exercised great influence over Augustus and even more so Tiberius.

Minted early in his reign, this coin is often identified (whether correctly or incorrectly) as the so called Tribute Penny mentioned in in the bible.

Mark 12:14 "...Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?"

Mark 12:15 "...bring me a penny, that I may see it"

Mark 12:16 "...And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's."

Mark 12:17 "...Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

The coin mentioned in the bible may certainly have been a denarius of Tiberius, it also could have been Augustus. The coin could have been a denarius but it could very have been another type of coin, or another type of denarius. The simple fact is there is just no way of knowing what exact coin type he held or who exactly was on it. There is, however, no doubt that if any of the commonly estimated years given for the birth and death of Jesus are correct, Tiberius was certainly in power at this time. Tiberius would have been nearing the end of a long 22 year rule that began when Jesus was most likely in his teens.

There is a 1/10 decem on ebay right now being sold as play money. Not very good shape though, real spotty which is common for brass.

What a lovely token design...that aint no chucky cheese token.

DeOrc is DeMan

The coin is not authentic and that is apparent right away by the patina and style, it is a modern tourist fantasy peice:

Very large modern cast "tourist fake" Graeco fantasy. 60mm in diam, 5 mm in thickness, 120g. Slightly magnetic AE alloy with fake "desert" patina applied

obv: laureate bearded head, presumably a deity, r., with legend resembing EDSO

rev: winged male figure (Boread?), crouching, l., but with head turned r.; legends illeg.

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?album=27&pos=88

And also it can help assure that the coin is old and authentic.

Unless someone simply does the toning themselves which is very easy to do.