Saturday, May 15, 2004
Æ antoninianus, Gallienus, Mediolanum, Göbl 1093h
GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate head right, one ribbon behind, one forward across shoulder | LAETITIA AVG, Laetitia standing facing, head left, holding wreath left, leaning on anchor right.
Of interest to me mainly because of the obverse die break (I guess) that makes Gallienus appear to be wearing his hair in a 1950s jellyroll.
Friday, May 14, 2004
A Response To Murder
Æ30, Perga in Pamphylia, Gallienus, SNG von Aulock 4723
ΑVΤ ΚΑΙ ΠΟ ΛΙ[?] ΓΑΛΛΙΗΝΟ CΕΒ, Laureate draped cuirassed bust right, I before | ΠΕΡΓΑΙΩΝ ΝΕΩΚΟΡΩΝ, Distyle temple, simulacrum of Pergaean Artemis within, large Α above, all between two standards.
A very recent acquisition. Turns out that there's a record of what this very coin was doing in October 2000. Somebody between now and then made a nice profit, not that they aren't welcome to it.
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Te audire non possum...
Billon antoninianus, Gallienus, Antioch, Göbl 1632fvar
GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate head left | MARS VICTOR, Mars advancing right, crouching slightly, wearing helmet, carrying spear and shield.
A bit weakly struck, but nothing very bad has happened since. This reverse is more commonly seen with Mars standing upright, walking, as here. Back in January, I posted this, an example of the one bust that Robert Göbl attests for this variant reverse, with Mars standing in a slight crouch.
Here, proof that the reverse exists with at least one other bust, too.
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
AR denarius, Lugdunum, Vitellius, July 69 CE, RIC 65var
A VITELLIVS GER IMP AVG P MAX TR P, Laureate bust right | VESTA P R QVIRITIVM, Vesta seated left, holding torch right and patera left. Normal examples show final two letters ligate.
I've recently posted coins of Galba and his successor (and assassin) Otho.
Aulus Vitellius acceeded to the principate after the suicide of Otho, and was recognizd by the Senate on April 19, 69 CE. By the time this coin was minted at Lugdunum in July of that year forces hostile to the emperor had already begun to move against him in the provinces. By September those forces had reached Italy and Rome in mid-December. On December 20 Vitellius, while hiding in disguise, was captured, tortured, killed, and his body thrown in the Tiber.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Æ24, Isinda in Pisidia, Valerian, Sear GIC 4479
Α Κ Π Λ ΟV[ΑΛ]ΕΡΙΑΝΟΝ CΕΒ, Laureate draped cuirassed bust right | ΙCΙΝ_ΔΕΩΝ, Isis seated right, suckling Horus the younger, serpent nearly erect at right.
Interesting that this coin of a city in Asia Minor should portray Egyptian gods, but travel broadens the mind, I suppose.
Monday, May 10, 2004
Silvered Æ antoninianus, Rome, Gallienus, Göbl 591a
GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate head right | SECVRIT PERPET, Securitas standing facing, head left, holding scepter left and resting on column right.
Securitas is the personification of safety, and this is a promise of not just safety, but perpetual safety. Promises are easy.
Sunday, May 09, 2004
Æ29, Tralles in Lydia, Valerian, BMC 182
ΑVΤ Κ ΠΟ ΛΙΚΙΝ [...] ΒΑΛΕ[ΡΙ]ΑΝΟC, Laureate draped cuirassed bust right | ΕΠΙ [ΓΡ?] ΑVΛ ΤΑΝ ΚΟΡ_ΙΝΘΟV ΤΡΑΛΛΙ / ΑΝΩ / Ν, Athena standing facing, head left, holding shield at feet left and spear right.
A new acquisition this week, my first coin from Tralles. "The city was heavily damaged in September 1922 when the retreating Greeks set it afire"... (Turkey also blames the Greeks, and the Armenians, for Smyrna.)
But, long before that happened, this. It's a bit unusual in transliterating Valerian's name as ΒΑΛΕΡΙΑΝΟC instead of ΟVΑΛΕΡΙΑΝΟC, but Latin names often included sounds that weren't easily expressed in Greek, and "the 'b' and the 'v' being the same" isn't unheard of in modern times.
The design is mostly harmless, a nice generic Athena with shield and spear.
