Probus full silvering one side none the other, any ideas?

Picked up this Probus temple of Roma type the other day, caught my eye for it's good detail and full silvering the temple side but no silvering on the obverse.

Probus AD 276-282. Rome
Antoninianus Æ silvered

23mm., 4,96g.

IMP PROBVS AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust right, with Medusa on breastplate / ROMAE AETER, hexastyle temple within which statue of Roma holding Victory or Palladium and sceptre, in exergue, R crescent Γ.

good very fine

RIC 185; C. 530; Venèra 1401-1418
Probus has so many bust types and reverse types, that's see your's.

 

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Here's one that has it all: a radiate crown, a helmet, a cuirass, a shield, a left-facing bust, a scepter, a snake ...


Probus AD 276-282
Roman billon Antoninianus; 3.25 g, 21.7 mm
Ticinium mint, AD 280-82
Obv: VIRTVS PROBI AVG, Radiate, helmeted, cuirassed bust, left, holding spear and shield
Rev: SALVS AVG, Salus standing right, feeding serpent held in arms. V in left field; * in right field, TXXI in exergue
Refs: RIC-500; Cohen 584.

 

Very nice, I would have liked mine to have the more warlike bust like yours but got the statesman look

 

There most certainly are many types of busts but the most common ones fall into three groups. The OP is a regular bust. First below is military while last is consular. Each of the three comes with a range of minor details to the attire and pose. I wonder just how many changes of clothes that man owned.


Note the three I show all have different obverse legends, too. The plane bust below spells out the reverse legend. A complete set of Probus would be a lot of coins!

 

Beautiful! I love the broad flan and excellent centering. From your picture it looks like the obverse is silvered too, but toned and hidden under some deposits? If I had to pick a side whose look I preferred I'd go with the obverse, but I think the coin as it is is more interesting for having the two sides looking so different.

 

Very nice Probus!! I agree with Zumbly about both sides being silvered. The obverse just looks toned. Attractive portrait and the temple Rx is very nice!

 

Excellent AA! Nice details and silvered that reverse is silvered as can be!

Here are a some of my Probus coins.

 

Nice coin AA! This one has a hint of silvering left.

Probus AE Antoninianus. Obv: IMP PROBVS P F AVG, radiate, cuirassedi bust left, holding spear over shoulder and shield.
Rev: SALVS AVG, Salus standing right, feeding snake in her arms, officina letter(s) to right. Mintmark XXI.

 

Some nice types there, I especially like the horse and captive and of course great temple.

 

Some great Probus temple types Doug, looks like I have a few more to collect yet.

 

Nice one, am I correct presuming the Probus with XX mint marks are from provincial mints?

 

Thanks zumbly, had not thought that the silver might be underneath, I suppose whatever the obverse was sitting on could have caused a chemical reaction and toning.

 

Thanks, I actually like the portrait side as much as the temple.

 

Great Probus, one of the heavier ones I have seen too.

 

Not really. The first issue of Rome also has XXI in exe. This is not followed in RIC but Pink re-attributed a set of coins that had been mistakenly attributed to Siscia in RIC to Rome based on style. These coins for the first issue at Rome. Rome then standardised on subsequent issues generally having an R in them (there are exceptions such as unmarked coins that are attributable by style alone....)

Probus
Obv:– IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG, Radiate head facing right
Rev:– CONSERVAT AVG, Sol advancing left, right hand raised and carrying whip in left
Minted in Rome (//XXIB) Emission 1 Officina 2. A.D. 276 (Pink)
Reference:– RIC 673 Bust Type F



The following coin is from emission 2 where the R was introduced and in this case the mintmark is just R. This one is a bit of a heavy weight.

Probus
Obv:– IMP C M AVR PROBVS P F AVG, Radiate, bust left in imperial mantle, holding scepter surmounted by eagle
Rev:– SOLI INVICTO, Sol in quadriga riding left, holding globe and whip
Minted in Rome (R in exe) Emission 2. A.D. 277
Reference(s) – RIC 204 Bust type H
Weight 5.63 gms. Size 23.25 mm



This is one of my personal favourites.

Probus
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)
Appears to be an obverse die match to the plate example in Bastien



Here is an imperial robe type from Lugdunum but in this case the emperor is holding a Victory on a globe.

Probus
Obv:– IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG, Radiate bust left wearing imperial mantle, holding Victory on globe in right hand
Rev:– VIRTVS AVG, Soldier standing left, holding Victory and spear, left hand on shield.
Minted in Lugdunum (//IIII) Emission 5 Officina 4. End A.D. 277 to start A.D. 278 (Bastien)
Reference(s) – Cohen 821. Bastien 258 (7 examples cited). RIC 111 var (Not listed with this bust type in RIC).

3.80 gms

 

We really should not use the term 'provincial' here. By the time of Probus, the only 'provincial' mint was Alexandria which was producing the thick tetradrachms. The rest of the Roman world was served by a series of Imperial mints striking the Imperial antoniniani. These were not local issues as we knew from earlier days but just a unified coinage across the Empire. Each mint chose how they would express or ignore the marking of metal content and some changed the way they did it along the way. Some used XXI, some KA (Greek for XXI) and Ticinum even replaced the I in XXi with a T standing for the city name. You just have to learn how each one did things.

When I wrote my Probus page, I intended to keep it up and expand it. That never happened so what you get is vintage 1997 (XXI years ago) but some may find it of interest still. Some information, including the update on that Rome first issue, are not covered.
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/probus.html

 

Two budget run of the mill Probus coins:



As maridvnvm I Like the Sol in quadriga too,

 

What a cool OP with half and half silvering....and so many wonderful coins and comments that followed.

Mine too

I'll pile on with an Ant---just a suggestion of silvering with the XXI marking:

 

Some really nice Probus coins all around, the OP being very special with such a broad flan and excellent centering.

For those specialized in Probus, or just interested in seeing more, there is a very useful website/database here : http://www.probuscoins.fr/search


Probus, Antoninianus Siscia mint
IMP C M AVR PROBVS P F AVG, radiate ust of Probus left, wearing imperial mantle (bust type H)
SOLI INVICTO, Sol in quadriga, XXIT at exergue
3.77 gr
Ref : Cohen #662, RCV # 12038 var, RIC 767



Probus, antoninianus minted in Rome, AD 278-280
IMP PROBVS AVG, Radiate and cuirassed bust of Probus right
VICTORIA GERM, Two captives under a trophy. R*A at exergue
4.32 gr
Ref : RIC #222, RCV #12055, Cohen #768

Q

 

Congrats on the pick-up @Ancient Aussie
I have to agree with Cucumbor, there are some nice coins of Probus in this thread. Ill add my two favorite coins of him that I own. I would like to pick up one of the Sol in quadriga coins as well.


Probus Billon Antoninianus, 277 A.D.
Rome mint, 2nd emission, 6th officina
3.860g, 21.5mm, 180o
Obverse: VIRTVS PROBI AVG (the valor of Emperor Probus), radiate, helmeted, and cuirassed bust left, spear in right hand over right shoulder, oval shield decorated with charging horseman on left arm;
Reverse: ADVENTVS PROBI AVG (the arrival of Emperor Probus), Probus on horseback left, raising right hand in salute, long scepter in left hand, horses' right foreleg raised over bound captive seated left, R S in exergue
RIC V, part 2, 166 (S)


Probus Billon Antoninianus, 279 A.D.
Rome mint, emission 4, 279 A.D.
3.303g, 23.1mm, 225o, 6th officina,
Obverse: IMP PROBVS AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust right;
Reverse: ADVENTVS AVG (arrival of the Emperor), Probus on horseback left, raising right hand in salute, long scepter in left hand, bound captive seated left in front of horse below raised right foreleg, R crescent S in exergue.
RIC V, part 2, 157