Featured Ways to write the number 9

The 9th officina used a star instead of a theta.


Aurelian AD 270-275.
Roman silvered billon Antoninianus, 3.60 gm, 21.7 mm, 6 h.
Rome mint, officina 9, issue 11, early – September AD 275.
Obv: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: ORIE-N-S AVG, Sol walking r., holding olive branch in r. hand and bow in l. hand, l. foot resting on a captive in oriental dress kneeling on the ground to r., head turned l., r. hand raised; * in left field, XXIR in exergue.
Refs: RIC 64; MER/RIC temp 1834; RCV 11569; Hunter 23; Cohen 159; La Venera 1321-32.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

here's a Galerius with Δ Є across fields.





Galerius
A.D. 300- 301
25x26mm 9.2g
GAL VAL MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES; Laureate head right.
GENIO POPVLI ROMANI; Genius standing facing, head left, modius on head, naked but for chlamys across left shoulder, liquors flowing from patera in right hand, cornucopiae in left, in left field Δ over K, in right Є over V.
In ex. ANT
RIC VI Antioch 55b

 

Here's an Alexandrian Year 19 with the number spelled out -- I don't know if it incorporates the spelled-out word for 9.

Hadrian, Billon Tetradrachm, Year 19 (134/135 AD), Alexandria, Egypt Mint. Obv. Laureate bust left, slight drapery; ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙϹ Τ[ΡΑΙΑΝ] - ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟϹ ϹƐΒ (clockwise from upper right) [bracketed portion off flan] / Rev. Slightly draped bust of Nilus right, crowned with taenia and lotus-buds, cornucopiae behind right shoulder; L ЄN NЄAKΔ [= Year 19 spelled out] (clockwise from lower left). RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. III 5941 (2015); RPC III Online at https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/5941 ; Köln 1147 [Geissen, A., Katalog alexandrinischer Kaisermünzen, Köln, Band II (Hadrian-Antoninus Pius) (Cologne, 1978, corrected reprint 1987)]; Dattari (Savio) 7450-1 [Savio, A. ed., Catalogo completo della collezione Dattari Numi Augg. Alexandrini (Trieste, 2007)]; K&G 32.619 [Kampmann, Ursula & Granschow, Thomas, Die Münzen der römischen Münzstätte Alexandria (2008)]; Milne 1449 [Milne, J., A Catalogue of the Alexandrian Coins in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, 1933, reprint with supplement by Colin M. Kraay)]; Emmett 875.19 [Emmett, Keith, Alexandrian Coins (Lodi, WI, 2001)]. 24.5 mm., 13.10 g., 12 h.

 

An abbreviation of ἐννεακαίδεκα, the word for nineteen (literally nine and ten).

 

Thank you! No way I would ever have figured that one out!

 

I am late to the fray on this thread and don't have a great deal to share that hasn't already been covered.

I do have an example of an IX used during the Flavian period.

Titus Denarius
Obv:- IMP TITVS CAES VESPASIAN AVG P M, Laureate head right
Rev:- TR P IX IMP XV COS VIII P P, Draped throne with triangular back on which are corn ears
Minted in Rome A.D. 80
Reference:- RIC II new p. 206, 124




And the Tetrarchy used Theta too

Maximianus Herculius Follis
Obv:– IMP C M AVR VAL MAXIMIANVS P F AVG, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– GENIO IMP-ERATORIS, Genius standing left holding patera and cornucopia
Minted in Antioch (_ | Theta / E //ANT Dot). Early to Later A.D. 309
Reference:– RIC VI Antioch 112c (R) (Citing Oxford; Apparently a rare issue for Maximianus Herculius and only issued from this officina)
6.39 gms. 26.19 mm. 0 degree

 

Here is a Republican coin with 9 written additively on both sides.



Denarius. 18 mm. 3.70 grams.
C. Mari C.F. Capit (C. Marius C.f. Capito)
This issue has Roman numeral up to 151. This one has
CXVIII = 100+10+5+1+1+1+1 = 119 on both sides.
Bust of Ceres (notice the ears of grain as a wreath)
Man plowing left with two oxen.

Crawford 378/1c. Sear I 300.

 

Not a 9 but a 4. The only example I have of IV that I can think of is an engraving error where it is VI retrograde.

Probus
Obv:– IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– CONCORD MILIT, Emperor standing right, clasping hand of Concordia.
Minted in Siscia (IV/XXI in exe) Emission 7 Officina 6. A.D. 280
Reference:– Alfoldi type 26, unlisted. RIC 651 Bust type C var. This error (IV instead of VI is not listed in RIC or Alfoldi)

 

I did not know that about theta. 6 is another strange number in Greek because it is not symbolized by Zeta, the 6th letter, like you think it might be, but a combination of sigma and tau. This symbol is called "stigma" and it is where our English word derives from. In the book of Revelations, we read that the number of the beast is 666, in other words, chi, xi, stigma in the Greek text. 6 being considered the number of a man, and inferior to 7 (the perfect or Godly number), is where our English meaning derives. BTW, you still see Greek letters for numbers, especially in liturgical texts or when referring to a monarch.

 

The Greek numbers were set before the archaic letters they use were dropped from the alphabet. The other one we see is qoppa for 90. In earlier times the city we call Corinth or Korinth used qoppa and that city kept the Q as a city symbol long after they stopped spelling words with that letter. Changing the number system to drop those letters would have been really confusing to people. There was a third archaic numeral dropped Ϡ but it was 900 and I am not aware of a coin that used it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampi
Does anyone have a coin bearing a 96 using both of the archaic numbers? I'm probably the only one who would like one.

 

Hi All,



Ar Denarius
Size: 16x19 mm
Weight: 3.59 g
Die Axis: 09:00

References: Crawford 544/22; CRI 379; Sydenham 1226; RSC 54; (RBW Collection of Roman Republican Coins) RBW - UNLISTED; (Sear History & Coinage of the Roman Imperators) CRI 360.

Provenance: Bought in 2020. was ex Roma E-Live Auction 3 (25 Oct 2018), Lot #604; Ex-Inventory of a UK dealer. See https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6973618 [as seen 12 Aug 2021]. Image by Roma.

- Broucheion

 

Hey, I have one of those

 

I found a couple of Byzantine scale weights. Both use Θ for 9. I was looking for 17 & 27 and will post them separately.

9 Nomismata = 9 Solidi Monetary weight, square 3.0 x 3.15 x 0.50 cm 39.2 grams; Copper alloy (bronze or brass), Incised and Inlaid with silver

Obv - Cross between marks of value (Νο(μίσματα) θ´) inside simple arch and base, Auction Münz Zentrum 2006; pondera 10278


9 Nomismata = 9 Solidi Round coin weight. AE 3.1 cm dia, 40.0 grams; Copper alloy (bronze or brass), Incised; Obv - Round disc with high edges. Engraved on the top N - Θ, above it cross, below triangle, at the edge and in the field of dots consisting of décor. Pondera 9695, Gorny & Mosch 2009

 

I wonder what the point of a nine-solidus weight would be. The chances of anyone having 9 solidi would be close to nil. Mathematically, I don't see the reason for it. 1, 2, 4, 8, yes. 1, 5, 10, yes. But 9?

 

Thinking very mathematically, with a two-pan balance one can confirm all integer weights up to 13 with weights of 1, 3, and 9. For example, 2 could be confirmed by putting 1 with it and balancing it against 3. 4 balances opposite 1+3. To 5 add 1 and 4 which balances against 9. Etc. But, I doubt they did this.

 

The ancient scale weight makers did not make many 9s. Only 21 of the 13,000 scale weights on Pondera are 9. One has no marks indicated, one has Nθ & VIIII and the rest have Nθ.
A use for 9 Sol is that it equals 1 and a half ounces. The two most common Byzantine commercial weights I have are 1 & .5 ounces.
Maybe 9 sol is like the 27/64ths drill bit in my large set.