Friday, August 04, 2006
Æ29, Tyre in Phoenicia, Valerian or Gallienus, uncertain
IMP C P LIC [...], Laureate draped bust right | COL T_VRO [...], Roma seated at right, facing left, holding small Nike, who holds wreath to crown her, murex below; on left side of coin Astarte standing left, being crowned by a small Nike standing on a column, while Astarte builds a trophy, Marsyas of the forum at her feet to left.
Tyre has been much in the news lately. Some say “not so fast”.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Æ denarius, Gallienus, Rome, Göbl 659t
IMP GALLIENVS AVG, Laureate head right | ABVNDANTIA AVG, Abundantia standing right, emptying cornucopia right.
I'm still quite fond of denarii if this reign, generally thought to have had half the face value of the far more common antoninianii,
readily distinguished from them by their smaller size and by having no radiate crown.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Æ centenionalis, Constantius Gallus, Siscia, RIC 351
D N CONSTANTIVS IVN NOB C, Bare-headed draped cuirassed bust right, A in left field | CONCORDIA MILITVM, Gallus standing head left, star above head, labarum marked with Chi-Rho in each hand, III left, BSIS
in exergue.Flavius Claudius Constantius Gallus was a nephew of Constantine, one of the few who survived the purge following his uncle's death, perhaps because of his young age.
Gallus was made a Cæsar in 351, and took up residence in Antioch. By 354, Gallus's heavy-handedness and clumsy mismanagent had provoked Constantius II to pay attention to palace intrigues and to order the execution of Gallus.
(Crescent mintmark image swiped from Forvm Ancient Coins.)
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Æ32, Laerte in Cilicia, Valerian II, BMC 92,7
ΠOV ΛIK KOP OVAΛEPIANON KAI CEB, Bare-headed draped cuirassed bust right, IA before | ΛAEPT_EI / TΩN, Nike, holding wreath aloft, in quadriga right.
This reverse design was often used on Greek coins prior to the Roman empire, and on coins of the Roman republic, but by this time, the middle of the 3rd Century, it's primarily seen on Provincial coins such as this.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Æ antoninianus, Gallienus, Rome, Göbl 678w¹
IMP GALLIENVS P F AVG, Radiate head right | PAX AETERNA AVG, Pax standing left, raising branch in right hand, holding scepter transverse in left. Δ in left field.
This PAX AETERNA AVG, honoring the emperor's eternal peace, with a left or right mintmark for the forth officina; of workshop, is seen with quite a variety of obverse legends: GALLIENVS AVG, IMP GALLIENVS AVG, IMP CAES GALLIENVS AVG as well as today's coin, of which Göbl attests only a single example. His plate coin isn't identically-shaped to this, so there are at least two examples, and I don't doubt that we could find more with a bit of effort. Still, not a very common coin.
Exactly why they couldn't settle on one isn't known.
