Thread: Commodus

I've seen a few examples online (all sold) so it doesn't seem too rare that you couldn't find more. But it is more interesting than another r5 I have, with just a rare officina letter.

Originally Posted by dougsmit

I am. I wonder if anyone else here would understand trading a denarius of Commodus for a Constantine II AE3 with unclear workshop letter and a scratch on the face? Who is crazy?
Attachment 155323

So are you just going to leave us hanging Doug?

Originally Posted by medoraman

So are you just going to leave us hanging Doug?

Originally Posted by dougsmit

Reading the mintmark: R is for Rome (Roma) followed by a ligature of Greek letters EPWC or Eros the Greek word for love. What is Latin for love? Amor. If you spell Amor backwards you get Roma. This is the strangest mintmark I know. Following the ligature is a workshop letter completely illegible on the coin I got from Randy and half off (possibly S?) on the Constantine I. Neither of these are very nice examples but fully legible and high grade examples sell well when they come up. I lost a really nice one that went over $200 once. See RIC Volume VII pages 317-320. If you get one trade me. I have more Commodus denarii.

heres a little more

"Part of this mint mark is a cryptogram, and is Greek for eros, which in Latin is amor. Amor and Roma are palindromes-- they read the same backward or forward. Amor was the secret name of Rome. This may have been an attempt by the pagan aristocracy of Rome to use the old religion of mystery and romance to confront the pro-Christian policies of Constantine.¹ The first letter in this mintmark is the Latin letter “R”, for Rome. The next symbol is a ligature, which consists of two Greek letters epsilon and rho, and then an upward sweep which transforms the ligature into the Greek letter omega. What looks like a “C’ is actually the Greek letter sigma. The last letter is the Latin “Q’, which is the officina. The Greek cryptogram section reads epsilon rho omega sigma or Eros."

http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/ROMAE/

As usual I missed it. Thanks for setting me straight Randy.

np

I think the next one I find, I may be keeping

That Commodus denarius is of great quality. Not that often you find them with quality portraits, I'm still looking for a decent one

Q

Originally Posted by randygeki

np

I think the next one I find, I may be keeping

Bad Randy! You know you want to send it to me.