How to identify a coin

Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service / Ben Paites, Portable Antiquities Scheme · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Museum source

Roman Empire — Trajan — Silver Denarius

AD 98–117

Silver denarius struck during the reign of Trajan, with a laureate imperial portrait and a wide range of reverse types. The obverse shows laureate bust of Trajan right, with imperial titulature in the legend. The reverse shows varies widely by issue — personifications, deities, military and architectural types.

Warning

Never attribute an ancient coin on visual similarity alone; legends, weight and style must all agree

Source note

Type description from the American Numismatic Society's Online Coins of the Roman Empire (OCRE); individual specimens differ in die, flan size, weight and wear, and legend breaks may vary.

Key diagnostics

Attribution depends on the full obverse legend and titulature, which changes across the reign and dates the issue

Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication) · Museum source

Drachm: Female Head (obverse); Eagle (Cleveland Museum of Art 1916.972)

337–308 BCE

Minted after a period of Athenian domination, this coin from Chalkis features two traditional symbols of its home island Euboia: a female head and an eagle battling a snake. What distinguishes this issue from earlier types, however, are the smooth, rounded face and deep-set eyes of the woman on the obverse, who may represent the goddess Euboia herself. Cleveland Museum of Art object 1916.972: Drachm: Female Head (obverse); Eagle (reverse), 337–308 BCE. Greek, minted at Chalkis (Euboia). Silver; diameter: 1.7 cm (11/16 in.). Inscribed: ΧΑΛ (CHAL, indicates that this coin is from Chalkis).

Source note

Details are those of this museum object; how far it represents a wider type has not been independently verified.

date recorded

337–308 BCE

culture period

Greek, minted at Chalkis (Euboia)

holding institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

museum object number

1916.972

museum classification

["Coins"]

Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication) · Museum source

Tetradrachm: Head of Antiochos VIII (obverse); Zeus Ouranios (Cleveland Museum of Art 1916.974)

112–110 BCE

Like his ancestors before him, Antiochos VIII emulates the style of Alexander III (the Great) on this coin, preferring wild, curly hair, a simple diadem, and clean-shaven face. On the reverse Zeus Ouranios gives his divine approval, standing with a scepter and bright star that shines above two mint marks in a very crowded field. Cleveland Museum of Art object 1916.974: Tetradrachm: Head of Antiochos VIII (obverse); Zeus Ouranios (reverse), 112–110 BCE. Greek, Seleukid, minted at Antioch (Syria), reign of Antiochos VIII. Silver; diameter: 2.9 cm (1 1/8 in.). Inscribed: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ | ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ | ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ (Of the king Antiochos the distinguished).

Source note

Details are those of this museum object; how far it represents a wider type has not been independently verified.

date recorded

112–110 BCE

culture period

Greek, Seleukid, minted at Antioch (Syria), reign of Antiochos VIII

holding institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

museum object number

1916.974

museum classification

["Coins"]

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam · Public Domain (Rijksmuseum) · Museum source

VOC, duit Gelderland, 1785

1785

This object is a coin catalogued under the title "VOC, duit Gelderland, 1785" and associated with the Dutch East India Company. The museum record classifies the piece as a coin and a duit related to Gelderland, though it includes no specific details regarding its visual design, motifs, or transcribed legends and inscriptions. Museum documentation notes that identification requires comparing the specimen's legends, date, mint mark, weight, diameter, and strike quality with standard catalogue entries to account for strike quality or restrikes. The piece is recorded as being made of copper metal. Technical processes, physical measurements, and specific places are not documented in the entry, and the maker is officially listed as null. Dated by the museum to 1785, the object is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, where it is registered under the museum object number KOG-MP-1-4662.

Source note

These details come from the holding museum's own record of this object; how far it represents a wider collectible type has not been independently verified.

original title

VOC, duit Gelderland,1785

How to identify

Compare the legends, date, mint mark, weight and diameter with a standard catalogue before accepting a match; strike quality and later restrikes can affect how a specimen should be classified.

museum object number

KOG-MP-1-4662

museum classification

["coin"]

Museums Victoria · CC BY 4.0 · Museum source

New Zealand crown, 1935

1935

The 1935 New Zealand crown, also known as the Waitangi crown, is a commemorative five-shilling silver coin struck by the British Royal Mint for the Dominion of New Zealand to mark the 1840 signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The coin was produced in 50 percent silver with a diameter of 1.525 inches, a weight of 28.27 grams, and a milled rim. Designed by Percy Metcalfe, the coin pairs a crowned bust of King George V on the obverse with a reverse scene depicting Māori chief Tāmati Wāka Nene shaking hands with British representative Captain William Hobson beneath a royal crown.

Recognition pointers (from background sources)

["Obverse displays a crowned bust portrait of King George V designed by Percy Metcalfe.","Reverse depicts Māori chief Wāka Nene in a knee-length piupiu holding a taiaha while shaking hands with William Hobson beneath a royal crown.","Struck in 0.500 fine silver with a milled rim, measuring 1.525 inches in diameter and weighing 28.27 grams."]