Probus the Oblong

A few days ago, I bought an oddly shaped Probus antoninianus from the Lugdunum (Lyons) mint. This particular coin is my first Roman Imperial issue of Probus; I was particularly drawn to it by the remaining silvering evident on the obverse. The only other Probus in my collection is an Alexandrian tetradrachm that I purchased from Romae Aeternae Numismatics back in February. With that being said, I'd like to see some of your coins of Probus, oblong flans, or anything else you feel is relevant.



Probus
AE Antoninianus
A.D. 277
Obverse: IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right
Reverse: TEMPORVM FELICITAS, Felicitas standing right, holding caduceus and cornucopiae.
Lugdunum (Lyons) Mint
Mintmark: I
RIC 52; Cohen 729
Ex-HJ Berk

 

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Nice Probus.
TEMPOR FELICIT

 

another Probus oblong flan:

 

I like oblong flans.
This was my first Augustus coin


Seleucis and Pieria. Antioch. Augustus 27 BC-AD 14.
Bronze Æ

27 mm., 8,76 g.

 

Lots of the coins from these early issues come of nice full flans. I saw that one but already have two of the type in my collection.

Bastien places these in the 3rd Emission/Issue from Lugdunum, dating it to earlt A.D. 377

Obv:– IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG, Radiate cuirassed bust right
Rev:– TEMPORVM FELICITAS, Felicitas standing right, holding caduceus and cornucopiae
Minted in Lugdunum (I in exe) Emission 3, Officina 1. Early A.D. 277
Reference:– Cohen 729, Bastien 176. RIC 52 Bust type F


Regards,
Martin

 

My “Victoria Germ” Probus Antoninianus has that oblong flan as well.

 

Nice pickup! My favorite Probus also has an oblong flan.



Probus, Antoninianus (24 mm, 3.39 g), Rome, 282. Radiate and cuirassed bust r./Rev. Jupiter standing front, head to l., holding thunderbolt in his r. hand and scepter in his l. RIC 175

 

Most examples of this Bar Kochba type were struck on round flans, but the 2 below are oblong. You will immediately notice that the top one was struck vertically (mine; purchased from Gert Boersema), and the bottom one was struck horizontally (not mine; sold by Zuzim). It is interesting to see what portions of the dies were struck onto each flan as a result of the oblong and positioning.


BTW: The type looks common, but is actually rare. It is a year 3 type, but instead of naming "Simon" as Priest as should be expected for year 3, it names "Eleazar" as Priest. It is clear that the mint held onto 1 Eleazar obverse die from year 1, and used it again in year 3 paired with a year 3 reverse die. [Hendin 1438. Mildenberg 155.]

 

Ignore the double ones; just a few of many and not necessarily the best.

 

Not Probus but Oblong.
The 2nd highest number of obverse dies and the 2nd coin of 3 issues by the same pair of magistrates ,( instead of 3), that was normal (ish).
Athens, NewStyle Dolphin & Trident.

 

My favorite coin with an oblong flan is an Otacilia Severa:


A few of my favorite Probus coins:

Serdica



Rome



Rome


Serdica

Cyzicus

 

Oval flans can occur for a whole range of reasons.

Here we have a coin that would have probably been round if not for an off-centre and uneven strike which causes the resulting shape.....

If you look at the second image you can see where the increased pressure on one side, which is where all the detail is) results in a much thinner coin than on the remainder of the coin (lacking detail) which is much thicker.

 

Cock with Palm. Athens NewStyle

 

Here is an Aurelian with a large oval flan.


27-20 mm. Twenty seven! 3.42 grams.
The flan is oversize and you can see the edge of the die at 11:00 on the obverse, just slightly outside the beading. The coin was struck with the die tilted slightly toward 10:00-12:00 on the obverse, making 4:00-6:00 weakly struck.
RIC online Siscia 244.

 

I have so many coins of Trebonianus Gallus with oblong flans that I wondered if the flans were prepared with some sort of rolling pin!

 

Very oblong, this Probus coin probably saw all corners of the mint before landing in someone's lap. Ouch!



However, there were various theories posted about its method in one of our fascinating earlier threads. It might have been intentional.

 

An oblong Nero SALVS denarius is certainly something you don’t see everyday. Thanks for sharing @lordmarcovan.