Friday, July 28, 2006
Æ tetradrachm, Alexandria, Gallienus, Emmett 3836(11)
AVT K Π ΛIK ΓAΛΛIHNOC CEB, Laureate draped cuirassed bust right | (retrograde) LIA, Tyche standing left, holding rudder with right hand and cornucopia in right.
Busy, busy, busy. Work, work, work.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Æ antoninianus, Gallienus, Rome, Göbl 504f
GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate head right | SECVRIT AVG, Securitas standing left, leaning on column right, right hand raised over head. VI in right field.
Quite similar to Monday's coin, but for the location of the VI field mark that indicates this was produced in the 6th officina or workshop. Well, and the condition, that's different today too.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Welcome to the neighborhood!
New to the side-bar, pay a visit to The Life of Antoninus Pius.
Billon antoninianus, reverse brockage, Trebonianus Gallus?, Mediolanum?, RIC 73?
Incuse mirror of reverse | PIETAS AVGG, Pietas standing right, hands raised. Altar at feet, left.
A brockage is created when a coin, after striking, remains stock to one of the dies, and is still there when the next blank coin is struck, so that one side of that second coin recieves a reverse image from the first coin.
Some brockage examples here and here.
Because of the way the dies are usually arranged, it's far more common for the coin to stick to the die for the obverse ("heads") side than to the reverse, as it has here.
While I originally thought this was a coin of Valerian or Gallienus, the reverse doesn't match any of their coins. This PIETAS AVGG with Pietas holding both arms above her shoulders and an altar at her feet was used during the joint reign or Trebonianus Gallus and his son Hostilian.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Æ25, Serdica in Thrace, Gallienus, unknown
AVT ΓAΛ_[ΛIHNOC], Radiate draped cuirassed bust right | OVΛΠIAC [CEPΔIKHC], Gallienus riding horse right, his left hand raised.
An equestrian reverse for Gallienus, not commonly-seen, but not unique and not nearly-so.
I haven't acquired this week as many coins as I want to post, so I'm forced to use rough-looking examples like this that I've passed over before when looking for good candidates. Still, they were good enough for me to choose to buy them, so there's no justification for squeamishness now.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Æ antoninianus, Gallienus, Rome, Göbl 503f
GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate head right | SECVRIT AVG, Securitas standing left, leaning on column right, right hand raised over head. VI in left field.
A rather poorly-preserved example of this coin, but Göbl cites only nine examples, so I'm willing to forgive its flaws and, last week's evidence to the contrary, I'd only upgrade to an example I think is incapable of further improvement.
