Bust of Cleopatra VII The mailman brought an interesting tetradrachm that highlights the detailed inspection that can be required to differentiate between ancient coins. Looking at this coin there are a few possibilities for exactly who issued this coin. One possibility: a coin of the last Pharaoh of Egypt the 17-year old Ptolemy Caesar or Ptolemy XV. Ptolemaic Kings of Egypt, joint rule of Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XV (aka Caesarion), 37-30 BC, AR Tetradrachm, Alexandria min

Rome by another name The Seljuks of Rum ruled central and eastern Anatolia from the late eleventh century to the early fourteenth. Their capital was Konya, the old Greek Ikonion, and their name gives away whose land they held. "Rum" comes from Rhomaioi, the Greek word by which the Byzantines called themselves, so a Turkish dynasty took its title from the Roman name of the territory it had taken from Byzantium. For a collector whose main interest is the Roman Republic, that et

This year I have explored the coins of Asia Minor or the Anatolian peninsula. Anatolia from Greek Ἀνατολή , meaning "The East" is the region east of Greece and Asia Minor roughly synonymous. I use both terms loosely and as synonyms. For me the experience has been both rewarding and also reminded me often of the comment of Francesco Gnecchi from a book published by Spink 1903, referring to those new to ancient coins: "Among a hundred individuals who begin to collect one can co