A rare and interesting DIVO CLAVDIO from Siscia

The Tacitus I talked about last Thursday was not the only unassuming rarity from Siscia that I have managed to pick up; in the same auction, I also won this DIVO CLAVDIO with a few interesting characteristics worth talking about:


Claudius II (268-270), Posthumous Antoninianus, Siscia mint.
Obverse: DIVO CLAVDIO, radiate and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind;
Reverse: CONSAECRATIO, altar with flame, divided in four squares with a dot inside each, Q in exergue;
RIC V 257 (unlisted variant), RIC V Online 1304

There are three things worthy of note about this beaten up coin that would be ignored by many; firstly, the reverse has the very interesting spelling CONSAECRATIO, rather than the usual CONSACRATIO or CONSECRATIO. This variant of the reverse legend was only used at Siscia, by all 4 officinae, and it's quite rare. While in my example part of the legend is missing, we can still be sure of the identification thanks to at least one reverse die match:


(Image courtesy of RIC V Online)

Now, let's look at the legend on the obverse of the coin: is it me, or was the second D re-engraved on the die, on top of the old one? At first, I thought it might be the result of a double strike, but there's no other trace of it. Is it a plausible hypothesis? Are there any more coins where this is known to have happened?



I've found a few obverse die matches, and they don't seem to have this characteristic - the second D looks normal on them:





Finally, let's talk about the bust: while Cyzicus, Mediolanum and Rome all used the radiate head or its variations on the coins of DIVO CLAVDIO, Siscia stands out for having also used busts; in particular, it used B1 (cuirassed, seen from front), B2 (cuirassed, seen from behind, like on my coin) and D2 (draped and cuirassed seen from behind, known from only one example). The B2 bust was used at most of Claudius II's mints, but it's quite rare. From my collection I can show another example from Siscia (ex-Gysen), and also one from Rome:


Claudius II (268-270), Antoninianus, Siscia mint.
Obverse: IMP CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind;
Reverse: PA-X A-VG, Pax standing left, holding olive branch in right hand and transverse sceptre in left hand;
RIC V 186, RIC V Online 747


Claudius II (268-270), Antoninianus, Rome mint.
Obverse: IMP C CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind;
Reverse: VICTORIA AV-G, Victory standing left, holding wreath in right hand and palm against left shoulder;
RIC V 104, RIC V Online 169

The last interesting thing to note about the DIVO CLAVDIO issues from Siscia is that they use Latin letters in the exergue to denote the officina, an innovation inherited from the last lifetime issue of the emperor at that mint; prior to that, the officina mark was either absent, or in the fields, and often rendered with Latin numerals rather than letters. The lifetime issues with these mintmarks are quite rare, and are only known with two reverse types, PAX AET and P M TR P COS P P. I can show an example of the latter from my collection:


Claudius II (268-270), Antoninianus, Siscia mint.
Obverse: IMP CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust right, seen from the front;
Reverse: P M T-R P COS P P, Apollo seated left, holding olive branch in right hand and with left elbow leaning on lyre, P in exergue;
RIC V - , RIC V Online 770, Minster 271, La Venera 9728

That's all for now: post your unassuming rarities, your DIVO CLAVDIO issues, your consecration coins, or anything else you feel like might be relevant !

 

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Very interesting coin and writeup : I would have overlooked most of it and missed some very good information. Thanks for sharing

Q

Edit to add :

Even though I don't have it in hand yet (and for that reason shouldn't post it) here's one of my recent purchases from AMCC3 auction, featuring Claudius II with a Diana Lucifera reverse

 

I like it when I see a collector studying a coin and retrieving interesting information. Congratulations for the coin and for your passion. I am not sure about the second D but I would have probably overlooked the CONSAECRATIO legend.

My best unassuming rarity is this Trajan quadrans

IMP TRAIANO AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS VI P P, head of Trajan, laureate, right / S C, She-wolf walking right
RIC II Trajan 693
It doesn't seem special but from the Trajan quadrantes with the she wolf this is the most interesting one.
@curtislclay advised me that Woytek 601 reports just three specimens, all from the same pair of dies, in Glasgow, Paris, and CNG 38, 1996, lot 975.
This being the 4th known specimen, from the same pair of dies.
I had no idea, I was an almost absolute beginner and I just said hey, look, a Trajan with a nice portrait, I want it.

As for Consecration coins, I spend the last 2 days centralizing my collection in an Excel file (oh boy, seems easier said than done) and I realized I almost forgot about this coin, for some reason.



DIVVS ANTONINVS, head of Antoninus Pius, bare, right / DIVO PIO, square altar
RIC III Marcus Aurelius 441

 

Funeral Pyre of Claudius Gothicus, DIVO CLAVDIO, probably struck under Quintillus. CONSECRATIO reverse