I developed quite a liking for Ambianum coins. This one is not really rare, but it has a beautiful portrait: MAGNENTIUS AE2 21mm 4.21g Maiorina (VF, green deposits) AV: DN MAGNEN - TIVS PF AVG; bare-headed draped cuirassed bust r. A behind bust REV: VICTORIAE DD NN AVG ET CAE; two victories holding wreath inscribed with VOT/V/MVLT/X; christogram above. EXE: AMB dot in crescent Ambianum mint. REF: RIC VIII Ambianum 25, rated Scarce, 351-352AD. Ambianum coins are scarce, as the mint was only open for 3years.
An Ambianum coin is still on my list, nice catch. The green stuff can be removed with Verdigone, if desired.
If you treated this coin with Verdigone, would it then have a texture like mine below or would it be smooth like the cheek is now? As stated, seth77's coin is RIC 25; mine is RIC 23. New to the hobby folks: What difference can you see that makes this difference?
Okay, I'll bite---What's the significance of the 'dot'??? And should I love it too??? By the way, I like Doug's non- green stuff coin best...
There really should be a universal sarcasm font. Left-slanting italic would be great. It should be preinstalled in every new computer.
Overall we find the mints added little things like dots or changed from a crescent to a star when they wanted to separate an issue from the one before it. The US did this on seated liberty silver when a small weight change was marked by arrows or rays. We don't always know why Rome did it. It might have been something completely strange like coins made in one month or by one crew but what we know for sure is that they were not consistent every time and there are many codes we will never understand. Did the dot indicate that the alloy used was reduced/increased in silver, that the silver came from a different source, that the dies were made by freemen or slaves....we don't know in many cases and never will. One respected expert claims that some dots were placed on some dies just to fill a space. I do not believe him. The coins below have zero, one and two dots at the end of the reverse legend. I would love to know why. Does two dots have anything to do with poor spelling?
"Hey, let's put a dot here and some dots there... the guys studying these in 1600years will have a blast!"
Wow, I haven't thought about the value of a "coin-dot" in quite a while ... I do happen to have a 1936-dot quarter ... hey, it's not worth a whole lotta cash, but the dot is certainly a desired addition ... ... man, although I've always loved this fairly rare coin, it sure is refreshing to collect ancients rather than modern coins ...
I would have a lot more interest in dots and such if I knew the code they carried in their day. I am all for the distinction between, for example, the Constantinian two soldiers types with two standards for the heavy series and one standard for the light. The dots might mean something equally important but since I am ignorant of the question most of them fall onto my apathy list. Every so often we hear from someone who is excited to find he has an unlisted variety with a dot that does not appear in the catalog. The coin above shows a dot between stars that is not mentioned in catalogs but that is because it is a compass point used when they laid out the die. Some dies have the dot erased by a star or some other element of design. Authors of standard catalogs understand this and ignore such dots. If you look at the Domna's center star closely you will see the dot in the lower right angle touching the star as closely as you can without being erased completely. There are dies with no sign of the dot.
Speaking of dots, here is a coin with what I call ghost dots - dots that are supposed to be there, but because of the style and the preservation state of the coin you can barely see them and you wouldn't even notice them if not familiar with the type: CLAUDIUS II GOTHICUS AE21mm 3.53g (aVF, high silver content, deposits) AV: IMP C M AVR CLAVDIVS AVG; radiate, cuirassed and draped with paludamentum, seen from rear bust r. •• beneath bust REV: ROMAE AETERNAE; Roma std l., shield leaning against throne, holding Victory on globe in r. hand and spear in l. hand. EXE: SPQR REF: RIC V-1 241, RIC Online #857 scarce, 7 recorded specs in RIC Online but others are known; 2nd officina Smyrna mint, late 268 - early 269AD. The small dots are beneath the bust and to the back of it, between 6 and 7 o'clock. If you're not used to these issues, you will probably miss them. About @dougsmit's interest, on this issues the function of the dots is to mark the officina. Claudius II is one of the last emperors to use dots under the bust as officina marks. Sorry for the pic, the silvering and patina make this very hard to photograph. And a more clear one, this time from the first officina: CLAUDIUS II GOTHICUS AE21mm 3.39g Antoninian (VF+) AV: IMP C M AVR CLAVDIVS AVG; • under the bust. REV: FORTVNA AVG; Fortuna stg. l., holding patera over small altar in r. hand and cornucopiae in l. hand EXE: SPQR REF: RIC V-1 231var. (different bust type) RIC Online #829 very rare, only 1 other specimen recorded, diferent dies, first officina, Smyrna mint end 268 – early 269AD.
