Friday, March 09, 2007
Æ26, Neocaesarea in Pontus, Valerian, SNG von Aulock 114
AV K ΠO ΛIX OVAΛEPIANOC, Laureate draped cuirassed bust right | KOI ΠONT [MH]T NEOKAICA / AXTIA / ET PQB, Prize crown, wreathed, on altar.
Quite worn with rough surfaces, this coin from Neocaesarea, like Tuesday's post is precisely dated though not in a system we'd immediately recognize. The PQB represents 192, the number of years since the foundation of the city in 64 CE, so the coin is dated 254.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Æ antoninianus, Gallienus, Rome, Göbl 728z
IMP GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate head right | DIANAE CONS AVG, Doe standing right, head turned left over shoulder. E in exergue.
Like last week's “stag” post, this is from the “Zoo series,” a group of coins issued at roughly the same time with real and mythological animals representing dieties protecting the Emperor and Empress. Many of the designs are quite common and a bit different from coins minted under other emperors.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
AR denarius, Orbiana, Rome, RIC 319
SALL BARBIA ORBIANA AVG, Draped bust right, wearing tiara | CONCORDIA AVGG, Concordia seated left, wearing stephanos, holding patera in right hand and double cornucopiae with left
Sallustia Barbia Orbiana Augusta was briefly the wife of Severus Alexander but was divorced from him and exiled in 227 CE, a year or two after her marriage, when her father fell into disfavor as a threat to Severan women.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Æ tetradachm, Alexandria, Salonina, Emmett 3856(12)
KOPNHΛIA CAΛωNEINA CEB, Diademed draped bust right | LIB,Elpis standing left, holding flower left, hitching skirt right. Palm in left field, regnal year in right.
The reverse is dated the 12th year of Gallienus's reign, which began in 265 CE, so we know, as we usually do with coins from Alexandria (and from other provincial cities,) the year of minting as precisely as we know modern American coins. It's pretty cool to have such a precise date for something pedestrian that happened so long ago.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Billon antonianus, Gallienus, Rome, Göbl 635a
GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate head right | VIRTVS AVGVSTI,Mars standing left holding olive branch in right hand and spear in left.
The image on the reverse is flatly-struck, maybe because the blank wasn't all of the same thickness across its width. I have other similar examples that are more evenly-struck.
I've skipped posting this in the past because, probably, it's a bit ugly and because I should've waited for a better example before I bought Göbl 635, this reverse without an officina mark.
