Roman Coins In Florida Waters

[debajo agua]

As strange as that sounds, albeit second hand, I've personally have heard two different stories, told by two totally unrelated people and at different times during my own life, tell of 3rd party finding Roman Coins in Florida waters. There is no explanation but I'm not making this up.

Are there any other divers who have found Roman Coins in the waters off the Americas?

 

[debajo agua]

Update: Today I have a first-hand account and the interview is recorded. Not only that, but the person whom I interviewed, still has the coins (All 18 of them). Unfortunately, he 73 and in the hospital for a fractured hip; however, he expects to be out within a few weeks and he has agreed to let me photograph the coins in question.

 

[Rich Keller]

I do not think 18 Roman coins is going to prove much without being able to examine the location they were recovered from. These could have been a part of someones collection that was lost at sea. A Roman ship sunk here would be a historical find of unprecedented proportion. I am not saying you are wrong but this is highly unlikely.

 

[debajo agua]

I don't have the faintest idea why they would be found here. It makes absolutely no sense to find them here, especially, in the water. My next step is to photograph the coins and find out more information about them. Perhaps he was told wrong about the origin and ID of the coins...IDK... I have to wait a few weeks for him to get out of the hospital, before I can take photos. I did do a Google search on the words "Roman" "Coins" "Florida" and found a link to another separate story. There was also a link to one found in Texas, under a mound of rocks. My motive is to, at least, document the story and coins.

 

[Culcuhain]

If you can post the pics, I can help narrow down when they were minted... I am a collector of Ancient Roman Coins.

 

[debajo agua]

If you can post the pics, I can help narrow down when they were minted... I am a collector of Ancient Roman Coins.

That would be great... When taking the photographs, is there any special technique that I should use e.g. natural light, magnification technique, focusing in on a certain area? What about some type of metal test? I'm planning on bringing a magnet and magnifying glass, what else can I do?

TIA

 

[Culcuhain]

There are a few techniques.
1. Place a black/dark coffee cup over it and scan it
2. Place it on a dark back ground and take a picture of it. I have taken pictures through my magnifying lamp.
3. I would need to see the front and back.

Here is a great link that helps you attribute your coins. I collect the Constantine and Severn Era. I do a have Nero Coin minted in Alexandria the I had Dr. Zahi Hawass autograph the back side of the paper piece.
Roman Coin Attribution Toolkit

 

[drbill]

Hey, if you read Clive Cussler's books you know that this is a possibility! Seriously, my mentor when I was at Harvard switched from marine biology to pre-Columbian exploration and found examples of probable pre-Columbian exploration of the "New" World on both coasts. It is possible even the ancient Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans made it out to Florida, but not knowing what they had discovered did not write it all down.

 

[scubalil]

It is rare, but occassionally pre-Columbian pottery fragments and (rarely) coins endded up in the ballast of ships, reaching the New World in the hull of vessels. If the coins were found together this would be unlikely.

Without knowing the context where it was found and if it was associated with a larger site, it is impossible to say.

 

[debajo agua]

Coin # 1 of 18

Weight: 10.1 gram

Length: 2.5cm

Front Inscription: CAEARAR/AVG/P/DOMITIAN/COS/"looks like the greek for pi" There appears to be some kind of bow hanging from the back of the head.

Back Inscription: NAVALIS ????ORIA ....a prominent S and C . A helmeted goddess with wings in a dress, holding something in her right hand that's extended eye-level in front of her. Very faintly in front of her torso, another object that's long and skinny appears to be held.

Non-magnetic Metal

Impression: Thick Coin With Good Relief

My photographs need work. My camera is an Intova IC 10 .....Any suggestions?