Gallienus with SPQR Mint Mark

I recently received an antoninianus of Gallienus with a VICTORIA AVG reverse and with SPQR in the exergue, very similar to this one (although not as nice):
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=165792

RIC attributes all these SPQR mint marks to an unidentified Asian mint. Any dated coins (P M TR P XVI or XVII) with this mint mark are dated 268 A.D.

When I scroll through ACSearch for coins with these mint marks, I find some dealers attribute them to Antioch, some (like this dealer) to Cyzicus, one to Smyrna, and many to "Asian" mint.

Any idea for why this discrepancy? Has some new scholarship assigned coins with this mint mark to a specific mint and/or time?

 

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gsimonel, SPQR isn't a mintmark. It translates: Senatus Populusque Romanus. "The Senate & People of Rome".

 

Here is a SPQR PROVIDENT.AVG: RICV #S653 Attributed to Antioch by RIC.

 

@Jims Coins: Your coin collection looks like it could be very nice; however, the small images are hard to make out. I tried to enlarge one of images earlier, but it became to pixilated. Any chance you can post larger images. I know I can't be the only one not able to see your coins well.

 

I use a scanner on my printer, need to find a better way, when I enlarge with paint the pictures get very blurry

 

I've never used a scanner, but there must be some setting to make the image larger. I use a cheap olympus camera. I get fair images that are easy to enlarge. I would very much like to see your coins, but my old eyes find the small images hard to make out.

 

Göbl and Elks attribute them to Cyzicus, which can then tied into the SPQR issue of Claudius II that was from Cyzicus. I agree with them, as these coins are very scare in Eastern hoards, so I find it unlikely that they were from an eastern mint, and the links between the Gallienus SPQR antoniniani and the Claudius II SPQR antoninianI are convincing.

 

Here it is, a little bigger.

 

Thanks, Joseph. I wasn't aware of the SPQR coins of Claudius II. It makes sense that they would be from the same mint. Also, the dated coins of Gallienus with this mint mark were from the last year of his reign, so one might assume that SPQR coins of Claudius II come from early in his reign.

I just did a quick and dirty glance through Wildwinds, and the obverse portrait on my coin does seem more similar to Cyzicus coins than Antioch. I wonder why RIC resisted placing them there. They claim that the similarity of the SPQR coins to those with PXV and VIIC mint marks suggests that they are all from the same mint. Going solely by the portrait--I haven't compared lettering--I'd say my coin looks pretty similar to the those with the PXV mint mark, but different from those with the VIIC mint mark.

This might be a good time for everyone to say: "Shut up, Glenn."

 

Its always a learning experience, too with a cell phone and a flashlight for lighting.