I've been looking at some Antoninus Pius coins from Cappadocia. They are attributed as an AE Diassarion ...They are all around 23mm dia and just under 9 grams... I've tried searching for this denomination but still not really clear as to where it originated or what roman/greek equivalents there are, if any?....I think the denomination/name is related to its size rather than weight but I'm really not sure?......What actually is a 'Diassarion'??....Any help would be much appreciated....Thanks
@Bob L......Thanks Bob.....That gave me some links to follow up...Looks like the smallest denomination was the Assarion-1 As , Diassarion-2 Asses, Triassarion-3 Asses, Tetrasarrion-4 Asses and Pentassarion-5 asses. There also seems to be a letter which was used to denote which Assarion it was. A, B, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon. Here's one of the coins I'm interested in...Where's the letter reference? Cappadocia. Tyana. Antoninus Pius (as Augustus, AD 138-161). Æ Diassarion (8.93g, 23mm), RY 19 = AD 156/7. Obverse: ΑΥΤΟΚ ΑΝΤⲰΝƐΙΝΟϹ ϹƐΒΑϹΤ - Laureate head right. Reverse: ΤΥΑΝƐⲰΝ Τ Π Τ ΙƐΡ ΑϹΥ ΑΥΤΟΝ - City-goddess, turreted and veiled, seated to left, holding grain ears in her right hand and leaning left on rock; below, river-god Euphrates swimming left; ЄΤ - ΘI between.
@dougsmit.....Thanks Doug.....Another probably silly question but why would this coin not be referenced as a Provincial ae..x....The mint location? The reverse depiction?...So as you can see I'm still not 100% ofay as to why it's given this denomination?
The answer here, I believe, is personal preference. I like AExx better than guessing at a denomination so I assume someone has good reason to believe diassarion. AExx at least tells us what size the coin is. I have seen a number of coins listed with both "diassarion (AExx)" which might be best (belt and suspenders insure pants stay up).
@dougsmit......Thanks that's much clearer now, I do prefer the double reference plus I 'usually' want my pants to stay up.
@hotwheelsearl......Sorry to confuse you.....It was to know why certain Provincials are referenced as ae xx and some as Diassarion...
