Here is my latest addition to my specialis collection of the Antoniniani of Probus from the Lugdunum mint. I don't get to add many of these coins to my collection. Lugdunum produced a short issue to commemorate Probus travelling through Lugdunum at the start of the summer of A.D. 277 travelling with his army from Asia to battle in the Rhine. My coin below comes from the next emission, dating End A.D. 277 to Early A.D. 278 which was produced to celebrate the return of Probus after his victories in Gaul and contains a very wide range of bust types that had been notably missing from the output of Lugdunum up to that point. Probus Ant. Obv:– VIRTVS PROBI AVG, Radiate, helmeted, cuirassed bust left, holding spear and shield Rev:– ADVENTVS PROBI AVG, Emperor, riding left, right hand raised, left holding sceptre; at foot, captive Mint – Lugdunum (//III) Emission 5, Officina 3. End A. D. 277 to Early A.D. 278 Reference:– RIC 64 Bust Type G var (officina), Cohen 69, Bastien 226 (1 example cited, which would appear to be from the same die pair as my new example) Some silvering remaining. 3.35 gms. 180 degrees. 22.19 mm. A lone metal detector find from the Ely area in Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom Martin
The reverse type is generally common for Probus from the majority of the mints producing coins but is rare at Lugdunum and Ticinum. The ADVENTVS PROBI AVG reverse seems to have been minted to celebrate a visit by the emperor to a particular city and he simply didn't visit these cities very often. As part of my collection (built over a number of years) I also have the following two coins of the type:- The first minted on his outward journey to Gaul Obv:– IMP C PROBVS • P • F • AVG, Radiate, cuirassed bust right Rev:– ADVENTVS PROBI AVG, Emperor riding left, right hand raised, left holding sceptre; at foot, captive Minted in Lugdunum (I in exe) Emission 4 Officina 1. Middle to End A.D. 277 Reference:– Cohen 68. Bastien 184 (10 examples cited). RIC 19 Bust type F the second was part of the same issue as my initial coin above but made at officina 4 rather than officina 3 Obv:– VIRTVS PRO-BI AVG, Radiate, helmeted, cuirassed bust left, holding spear and shield, decorated with emperor riding past row of soldiers with shields Rev:– ADVENTVS PROBI AVG, Emperor riding left, right hand raised, left holding sceptre; at foot, captive Minted in Lugdunum (//IIII) Emission 5 Officina 4. End A.D. 277 to Early A.D. 278 References:– Cohen 69. Bastien 256 (2 examples). RIC 64 Bust Type G (S) An obverse die match to the plate example in Bastien
Nice => that's a sweet new avatar, Mat (I'm jealous of that artwork!) Oh, and Martin => very cool addition (ummm, a lone metal detector find?) ... did "you" find this baby? ... very cool, either way I like you guys
cool coin, Martin ... Sadly, I'm always wary of the dudes that claim that they "found this coin the other day" ... but then again, I'm pretty sure that you have far more street-cred than I do when it comes to spotting "fakes and fakers" ... Hmmm? ... but I guess that all of these ancient coins are found by "somebody and their metal detector", eh? => Martin, please keep-up the awesome job of being awesome (well done)
.... eh-heh-heh ... these are my only two Probus coins (Probii?) ... => rock-on, Probus!! AE Antoninianus ... a bit grungy Alexandrian AE TET ... even grungier
Martin is a specialist in one mint and there are rarities there which are more common elsewhere. In addition there are many minor variations like the Medusa head on that OP shield. There must be a million variations on Probus. I only have a couple Lugdunum coins (not my thing) but below are other variations on the theme for those who collect from the rest of the empire. My favorite is the Serdica (second one below).
I have an interesting but rather unlovely coin of Lugdunum with a legend variation not listed in RIC (the addition of IMP). This is what I wrote when I first posted it... "The reverse presents Sol in the scarce variety of standing right, facing left, with spread chalmys. If you wanted to collect a high-grade example of this variety, you would head over to the Trier mint where you would shell out a pretty penny, but easily come away with a "museum quality" coin - whatever that means. (I think the dealers that use that term have likely never darkened the doors of a museum.) The variety is scarce to begin with - Sol is found far more often standing left. I believe the type is even scarcer coming out of Lugdunum. RIC lists one coin with these particular mint marks, referenced to the Oxford Collection, with the obverse legend CONSTANTINVS AVG as R4. My legend-variant may of course be listed elsewhere, but RIC is all I've got." Constantine I AE Follis, 18mm, 2.8g; Lugdunum mint: 316 Obv.: IMP CONSTANTINVS AVG; laureate, cuirassed bust right. Rev.: SOLI INVIC-TO COMITI; Sol standing right, looking left, chalmys spread, holding globe; A - S // PLG Reference: cf. RIC VII, Lyon 62.
