Hi all! I just thought I'd share my first buys of 2022. I bought all of these on eBay Allectus - MONETA AVG My photos of this coin don't do it justice; it's quite glossy in hand. MONETA AVG is quite a scarce reverse for Allectus, and I can only find one on acsearch with S-P in field and ML in exergue. Surprisingly, the seller misdescribed this as a Gallienus Aurelian - DACIA FELIX (Also slightly better in hand lol) Somehow this is my third DACIA FELIX antoninianus of Aurelian. The others are in slightly better condition than this one (with more silvering and less roughness), but this was a cheap buy-it-now listing and I thought why not Volusian - VICTORIA AVG [Antioch] Apparently this is an ex Leu group lot coin, although, judging by how large Leu's lots are, that will be hard to verify. Unfortunately, this coin is quite overcleaned, and has some deposits. However, I can't find any examples with the obverse legend IM (sic!) C V AF GAL VEND (AL in GAL looks like M) in combination with the VICTORIA AVG reverse. I've even checked RIC, and I can't spot it there. Therefore, I think this coin might be unpublished Aurelian - CONCORD MILIT •• / *ɔ* [Cyzicus] A very scarce variation of a standard CONCORD MILIT antoninianus, this coin interestingly includes two dots after the reverse legend, possibly indicating this was struck in the second officina (alternatively, like the retrograde C, it might just be an engravers error). The only mention of this type I can find is as a footnote of the regular coin's page in ric.mom (here), where a picture of one other example is given (here). My coin uses the same reverse die, but a different obverse die. Anyway, those are my latest additions to start 2022. My goal for this year is to get one of the "big names" (such as Niginian, Julian of Pannonia, or even a CARAVSIVS ET FRATES SVI antonininanus), although I'm not sure how successful I'm going to be. Make sure to share your coins of Volusian, Aurelian, and Allectus (or anything else that might be relevant)!
This antoninianus is from the Antioch mint, and it happens sometimes that legends are a little blundered, especially Latin legends engraved by Greek-speaking celators. The fact that IMP is abbreviated IM does not signify it is another emission, the P has just been forgotten by the celator. It also happens on inscriptions like milestones, who may have IMCAESARI for IMPCAESARI... It is RIC IV Volusian 239A.
