I get the feeling that I'm boring most of you with my Gothicus SPQR obsession, but regardless, this is the guy I'm spending my lunch break with, courtesy of the wife: CLAUDIUS II GOTHICUS AE18x23mm 3.25g Antoninian (F+, patina, obverse and reverse partial double strike) AV: IMP C M AVR CLAVDIVS AVG; radiate, with traces of drapery to front and rear of truncation head r. beneath bust. REV: VICTORIAE GOTHIC; Trophy of arms (helmet l.); on each side, a bound and std. captive in oriental dress. EXE: SPQR REF: RIC V-1 251 var. (bust type and no officina mark), RIC Temp #929, very rare, 1 other spec recorded in the F. Johannessen collection, different obverse die, 1st phase at Cyzicus mint, mid - end 269AD. This type started being minted soon after the mint from Smyrna moved to Cyzicus and employs the specifics of Smyrna like the bust design, the early obv. legend and the overall good style, although the lettering and spacing are starting to show characteristics more in tune with the later Cyzicus Phase 2. Small traces of a double strike on both obverse and reverse, no sign of officina marks, making this probably one of the earlier issues of this phase. This spec is important as it shows an early example of a (still) subtle departure from the Smyrna style.
Considering the other thread got ignored & a silly "tune" thread keeps going it's possible. Nice find, Seth. Don't have any SPQR Claudius II.
The SPQR has had a fascination for me for quite some time. Never knew it could be in place of a mint mark. If SPQR is used as a mint mark, where was the coin minted?
Well, I'm not sure that I like your coin as much as that cool tune-thread, but congrats anyway, seth (just jokes => it's a very cool pickup) Sadly, this is my only Claudius II Gothicus example ... so, if you think you're being ignored then I'll be your pile-on fella (the reverse on my coin is so messed-up that I could try lying and I could say that there is an SPQR on it, but that would be wrong, eh?) ... oh well, at least it's a pretty green colour
I like the threads about maybe obscure numismatic topics...even though I likely have little to nothing to contribute. My silence is me paying attention.
Hi @Kentucky Well things are a bit complicated. The type originated in 268 with Gallienus at a generic "Asian Mint" (cf. RIC) or Smyrna (cf. J. Mairat, S. Estiot) and was carried over for Gothicus for the last part of 268 and early 269, before being moved to Cyzicus prior to mid 269. At Cyzicus the type continued although with different reverses up until the death of Gothicus. Very rare SPQR coins for Quintillus and Aurelian are also recorded. You can check out another topic where I deal with a possible chronology for Smyrna Phase 2 for Gothicus here and if you read French, here is a very detailed study by J. Mairat.
That's exactly how I feel. I thoroughly enjoy the erudite pursuits of all the collectors that post here, but having nothing to contribute on certain subjects, I remember Lincoln's words of wisdom, "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."
Even if you don't know much about the coin(s) and can't really contribute, at least a simple "cool coin and interesting info" or similar would not be a bad thing if you have the time. At least it shows that you are genuinely interested in what the OP has to share, and that their effort to drum up discussion has been acknowledged. And let's face it, most of us hardly get any attention for our coins in real life, which I'm pretty sure is one reason we hang out at places like CT.
Considering the lack of interest and confusion of why we would do such a thing as collecting coins when we try and talk to someone who doesn't collect, I agree, we should at least appreciate whatever phase of coin collection one of our fraternity wants to share....except perhaps paper money collectors : - )
Not everybody can be interested in the same things and that's ok. I post mainly because I'm curious if others share my interest or might draw some information from my threads or might be inspired to more research themselves. I consider research the most important part of coin collecting and numismatics. More research gives more context to the actual coin and more context always means an added relative value.
