Xtra Long Xergues

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by hotwheelsearl, Jan 17, 2021.

  1. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    Many Roman coins have a mintmark of some sort in the exergue, the bottom part of the reverse of the coin.

    My main area of interest, the LRB period, tends to have exergues in this format;
    SMXY, where SM is Sacra Moneta, and X is the first letter of the mint, and Y is the numeral for the officina (branch) of that mint.
    Of course, some of them don't have the SM and start with the officina letter and then abbreviate the mint, such as:
    VRBS ROMA RIC VII 240 (2020_11_18 03_38_31 UTC).JPG
    Roma - *rSISC*
    Where the dots mean (something) and there is Gamma as the officina letter and SISC as the abbreviation for Siscia.

    However, sometimes we have rather unusually long mintmarks that spell out something a bit more interesting.

    Valens AE3 RIC Rome IX 17b tix a.JPG
    Valens - R*PRIMA where
    R = Rome
    PRIMA = first officina. No idea why this one is so unusually long, but it's kind of neat to see it spelled out entirely like that.

    Julian II RIC Rome VIII 329 P (2020_11_18 03_38_31 UTC).JPG
    Julian - VRB*ROM where
    VRB = Urbs (city)
    ROM = Rome
    This is cool, because instead of spelling out the officina number, it goes right into it and says "CITY OF ROME"

    Finally, an earlier one:
    Aelius As RIC 1071v.JPG
    Aelius - PANNONIA
    Instead of an officina or a mint, it spells out the entire province of PANNONIA.
    The Pannonia coins often have the word split up between left and right fields, but this one is kinda intersting because it squishes it all in the exergue.

    Of course, we also have some provincials where it, instead of a mint or province, spells out the regnal year of the ruler!
    Trajan Decius AE27 Moushmov Dacia 10 (2020_11_18 03_38_31 UTC).JPG
    Trajan Decius - ANIIII

    And we also have the provincials that have such an extraordinarily long reverse text that they are forced to finish up the legend in exergue:
    Diadumenian 4 Assaria Moushmov 1367.JPG
    Diadumenian - YΠ CTA ΛONΓINOY NIKOΠOΛITΩN ΠΡO-C ICTΡ
    where the legend is too long to fit around, so they put the CICTP on the bottom.
    I guess they finally ran out of space to finish up the last word as ISTRUM and left it as ISTR

    What's the most interesting/longest exergue text you have?
     
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  3. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    THUNDRBOLT!

    Cuz: Reverse had a lotta things going on!

    upload_2021-1-17_17-44-5.png
    RI
    Probus 276-282 CE
    Ant 21mm
    Rome mint
    captive on ground, Riding Horse (SPLIT HORSE!)
    in ex R-Thunderbolt-Z
    RIC 155
     
  4. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    A picture is worth 10,000 words so my Aurelian lion is equivalent of a lot of letters.:)
    rs2270b02077lg.JPG

    This Constantinople Julian II AE1 bull has a rather long and unusual abbreviation for the sity CONSP followed by the officina gamma and a branch.
    rx7410bb2242.jpg

    Unusual and not short are the Rome mint AE3's including this Crispus with R (for Rome) and EPWC followed by the officina gamma. Not everyone believes the idea that EPWC is Greek for the Latin AMOR which spelled backwards is ROMA. I do.
    rw5695bb2943.jpg

    When it comes to long exergues it is hard to beat this Gordian III of Nikopolis which continued the city name in three lines totaling 15 letters. The first line is actually a bit above the very short groundline under the rear hooves of the horse. The line above it is a die break and not the groundline.
    po2050b02362lg.jpg

    Herennia Etrucilla from Anazarbos tried to win with this AE29 by squeezing 16 letters into just two lines. Does three lines beat two or does 16 letters beat 15?
    po2485bb2870.jpg

    Macrinus and Diadumenian cheated with their Marcianopolis three line, 25 letter super-entry but put all those letters on the obverse.
    pn1600bb2318.jpg
    Exergues are fun.
     
    eparch, Henry112345, Spaniard and 9 others like this.
  5. gsimonel

    gsimonel Well-Known Member

    I, too, like exergues with images. This coin of Constantine I has, inexplicably, 2 captives in the mint mark. I don't think anyone knows why.
    [​IMG]
    Lugdunum (Lyons) mint, A.D. 320
    RIC 79 (var.)
    Obv: CON-STANTINVS AVG (Unrecorded obverse inscription break)
    Rev: VICTORIAE LAET PRINC PERP - Two Victories holding shield inscribed VOT/PR above altar
    P[2 captives]L in exergue
    19 mm, 3.2 g.
     
  6. Orielensis

    Orielensis Well-Known Member

    The lion exergue @dougsmit showed is phenomenal. I get that the XXI in the left field gives the ratio of copper to silver contained in this coin, and I assume the S in the right field identifies the officina (secunda, sexta, or septima?) – yet I have no idea what the lion signifies. Do you know more about this?

    I have a moon, sun, and star mintmarks from Siscia. The first coin was formerly yours, Doug – I won it in AMCC2:
    Rom – Konstantin der Große, AE3, Lagertor, Siscia.jpg
    Constantine I, Roman Empire, AE 3, 328–329 AD, Siscia mint. Obv: CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG, bust of Constantine I, rosette.diademed, draped and cuirassed, r. Rev: PROVIDENTIAE AVGG; "camp gate" with two turrets, star above; in exergue, ΓSIS-crescent. 19mm, 3.5g. Ref: RIC VII Siscia 215. Ex Doug Smith collection; ex AMCC 2, lot 496 (their picture).

    Rom – Crispus, AE3, Vot V, Siscia.png
    Crispus, Roman Empire, AE 3, 321–324 AD, Siscia mint. Obv: IVL CRISPVS NOB C; head of Crispus, laureate, r. Rev: CAESARVM NOSTRORVM; VOT X in wreath; in exergue ΔSISC-sunburst. 20mm, 3.24g. Ref: RIC VII Siscia 181.

    Rom – Konstantin der Große, AE3, Gloria Exercitus.png
    Constantine I, Roman Empire, AE 3, 335–336 AD, Siscia mint. Obv: CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG, bust of Constantine I, diademed, draped and cuirassed, r. Rev: GLORIA EXERCITUS; two soldiers standing facing each other, standard between them; in exergue, ASIS-star. 15mm, 1.45g. Ref: RIC VII Siscia 261.
     
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  7. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    I have no explanation for the lion or the similar whale/dolphin.
    rs2350b01982lga.jpg
     
  8. Spaniard

    Spaniard Well-Known Member

    Nice idea for a thread....
    Bolskan AE unit... "BOLSKAN" in Celt-Iberian in exergue.
    SPAIN BLACK 2.jpg
    Commodus......CONC MIL
    COMMODOS BLACK.jpg
     
    Johndakerftw, Bing and hotwheelsearl like this.
  9. gsimonel

    gsimonel Well-Known Member

    Do you know what mint they are from?
     
  10. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    Rome. The dolphin even has the R to the left.
     
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