JOIVANUS--my first ancient typo.

This came today. I bought it from a trusted eBay seller. There is a good bit of corrosion damage, but it looks much better in hand than my poor photos. On the other hand, I only paid a bit over $13 including postage and sales tax, so I am very pleased. It is my first Jovian. On closer inspection, I found it is also my first ancient typo (or would that be engraveo?). Jovianus is spelled JOIVANUS. I especially appreciate this because I am somewhat dyslexic myself and tend to reverse letters and numbers. 20mm, 2.9g. Siscia mint, I believe.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I believe:
Siscia
RIC 426,B Jovian AE3, Siscia. 363-364 AD. DN IOVIA-NVS PF AVG, Pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right / VOT V MVLT X in four lines within wreath, mintmark BSISC. LRBC 1267; RIC VIII Siscia 426; Sear 19228.

 

Correct. The coin is worn, and that's why we might misread some letters. The left side of obverse reads: DNJOVIA . And the right side reads: NUSPFAUG. good luck.

 

DN IOVIANVS PV AVG is what I am seeing. Is that not right? What am I missing? I just woke up from a nap and am a bit blurry still.

 

I think there’s some confusion on the letter “J.”

“J” was not in the Latin alphabet. It came over from other languages much later.

So “IO” in Latin roughly equals “JO.” DN IOVIANVS PF AVG is correct on your coin for Jovian. Julian, Jupiter and other words are similarly spelled... “IVLIANVS” for Julian and “IOVI”.. for Jove or Jupiter.

Edit... it’s hard to tell but you may be right about a misspelling... it looks like it reads: DN IOIVANVS PF AVG

 

except, as Neal has pointed out, the obverse legend on his coin looks like JOIVANUS; which it does -- D N IOIVA-NVS P F AVG

 

Haha, on first read I thought the missing “J” was the misspelling. I see the confusion was mine!

 

My favorite misspelling is VINO REGINA -- "Wine the Queen" -- on this antoninianus of Salonina from Antioch:

 

JOVIAN
Right and Left (Sinister) PAIR


RI Jovian AE3 Sirmium mint VOT V RIC 118

RI Jovian 363-364 AE 20mm Folles LEFT Sinister VOT V

 

Is this a misspelling or a mint engraver making a social comment on the sly?

 

I apologize for my poor photo. The spelling IOIVANUS is more obvious in hand. Expecting to see IOVIANUS, I at first saw it that way, and worked hard in my mind to force the letters to read that way, but then realized the fault was in the coin, not my eye.

Thanks for all your replies!

 

Thank you for this attribution! I really appreciate it. The seller just said, "Jovian." Does the "typo" change this? Or would it be just a variant of the same attribution?

 

Ok, I was half asleep when I commented, made it through the rest of the day, and then now am back to half asleep... What am I missing?
I see a coin that spells out DN IOVIANVS AVG, which it should if all I have read is true.
What is the "typo" I am missing?

 

V U v u. Just think how an engraver from Siscia might figure the 2 letters v and u in the word JOVIANUS. Add to this that the letter A is almost completely disfigured on this worn coin. Some engravers might mint the letter A this way "II".

 

Here are some better shots of just the name, or rather the first part of the name. IOIVA. Yes, the A is almost totally obliterated, not by wear but by damage. But both more or less vertical lines of the A are showing, while the V has both its diagonal lines clearly visible. The second I, between the O and V is quite distinct, not a part of an A.