http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii261/Oldman1176/Scan10029.jpg http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii261/Oldman1176/Scan10028.jpg Anyone happen to know if this is Roman and if it is what do you know about it? Thanks Oldman
It is a Roman coin. A caesar head on one side is distinctive. But I can not idntify details. Mint name should apear under the legs of the man.
It is a follis of emperor Licinius I (co-emperor of Constantine the Great), minted at the London mint in 313-314 AD. Obv legend - IMP LICINIVS PF AVG Obv design - laureate, cuirassed bust of emperor facing right rev design - Genus standing left, modius on head, with loins draped holding patera and cornucopiae rev legend - GENIO - POP ROM, PLN in exergue, S in left field, F in right field. References - RIC VII London 3, rarity C3
This is definitely Roman. It is a Numis or Folles in the name of Emperor Licinius. Note however there were two Emperors named Licinius, the I and II. First one reigned between 308-324. The second between 317-324. The second Licinius was the son. I believe your coin is for the first Licinius because the coin calls him IMP (Imperator). His son was a CAESAR (heir apparent). Nice coin by the way! I see ARDATIRION was faster and more accurate than i was!
Thank you can you tell or show a web site that would have more infomation on this coin. Im digging threw old box's of stuff I have had for over 40 years. Im finding stuff i for got i even had. lol I would love to see what this is valued at nowadays. If I remember right I think i paid 25 cents each for a small box full of dirty uncleaned Ancients on a trip to the UK about 25 years ago.
Well, I suppose you can try www.wildwinds.com or www.coinarchives.com . But I can't imaginewhat other info you can expect to find! Lol. It is a rather nice coin, even if it is common. I always liked the style of the London mint.
Thank you again. Im sure its not worth much more then a dollar. lol I do agree and thank you about it being a nice one. This one I zapped over 24 years ago in an effort to restore and protect it from falling apart. I think i did a pretty good job if i say so my self.
There is still much that could be found out about the coin. What do the inscriptions mean? How about the S F in the reverse fields...many believe that it stands for SAECVLI FELICITAS or happy times--that seems interesting to me at least. What about the imagery of the back? The reverse of this coin translates as "To the spirit of the Roman people". That could be a whole separate topic about the Roman concept of Genius. What about the exergue...PLN. It most likely stands for money (pecunia) from London (LN). I did read one theory that P might stand for percussum, meaning struck, but pecunia seems more likely. There is always something else to find out, for those that are interested.
hardly, prices for roman coins are going up, even for later imperial, this coin could probably make 10-20 USD these days.
S F are control markers used by many Western mints, likely with no additional symbolism implied. As it does in other Roman mintmarks the P in PLN likely stands for Prima, the first officina of the mint. S would be Secunda, so on so forth.
London only had one officina at this time, so it would seem unlikely that there would be a need to distinguish between first and second. This being the case, pecunia is most likely. During the entire period covered from RIC VI through RIC VII, London only had the one officina, which makes it exceedingly unlikely that P would have stood for prima.
not sure I agree, simply because they did not have to distinguish between first and second does not mean it would not be marked first all the same in keeping with convention. One can only postulate I guess.
London did not keep in convention in many aspects. London also used other marks also such as MSL which can't be confused with an abbreviation for an officina (or can it). MSL probably stood for moneta sacra London.
Many numismatists would disagree. It is true that we have no inscriptions or surviving papyrus letters stating what S F stood for, but the authors of RIC VII suggested that they were abbreviations for "common catchwords of the day."
Nice coin Oldman There is a set of books about ancient coins. I don't know who published them, but I think there are about six volumes. I considered buying one or two a few years back, when I discovered that the set was in my local library in the reference area! You might want to check your local library if you have any more questions about ancient coins. That Licinius is a very nice coin. It's well centered, well struck, with lots of detail. We take the quality of our coins today for granted, but 1700 years ago, the "minting" process was so much more primitive that it's more common to find ancient coins that are off center, than well centered. I don't know the specific value of the Licinius coins, but I'll bet that this one is worth $20 minimum.
There are a few sets of books on ancient coins as it is a large subject. In this case, you might be referring to The Roman Imperial Coinage, a 10 volume set published by Spink.
