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<p>[QUOTE="lrbguy, post: 3081734, member: 88829"]Doug has described what I was referring to, however, the Greek "letter" is not a letter but a numeral. Letters of the Greek alphabet regularly served as numerals when the occasion required a printed number. The odd symbols appearing on these coins are consistent in their pairing with the Greek numerals, and so are presumed to be corresponding numerals in some as yet undetermined alphabet local to Siscia, the only mint which used these particular symbols. That they are alphabetic, however, is merely an hypothesis, and the precise character of the symbols is not certain. Nonetheless, given the correlation to the Greek numerals used, I think we are safe to call these symbols "counters" whether they are part of an alphabetic system, or a strictly numeric one. (On the distinction compare the use of "counters" in the western mints and the occasional use of Roman numerals).</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is a Constans for officina delta, an original of which the fake is a copy:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]776229[/ATTACH] </p><p>and another in which the "local" figure takes on a slightly different shape (closer to the normal)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]776231[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="lrbguy, post: 3081734, member: 88829"]Doug has described what I was referring to, however, the Greek "letter" is not a letter but a numeral. Letters of the Greek alphabet regularly served as numerals when the occasion required a printed number. The odd symbols appearing on these coins are consistent in their pairing with the Greek numerals, and so are presumed to be corresponding numerals in some as yet undetermined alphabet local to Siscia, the only mint which used these particular symbols. That they are alphabetic, however, is merely an hypothesis, and the precise character of the symbols is not certain. Nonetheless, given the correlation to the Greek numerals used, I think we are safe to call these symbols "counters" whether they are part of an alphabetic system, or a strictly numeric one. (On the distinction compare the use of "counters" in the western mints and the occasional use of Roman numerals). Here is a Constans for officina delta, an original of which the fake is a copy: [ATTACH=full]776229[/ATTACH] and another in which the "local" figure takes on a slightly different shape (closer to the normal) [ATTACH=full]776231[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
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