An unpublished variety of an antoninianus of Claudius II

I have just received in the mail a coin I was very eagerly awaiting:

Claudius II (268-270), Antoninianus, Siscia mint, second officina.
Obverse: IMP CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust with paludamentum left, seen from the front;
Reverse: PA-X A-VG, Pax standing left, holding olive branch in right hand and long transverse sceptre in left hand; II in left field;
RIC - , RIC V Online -

At first glance it doesn't seem like anything special: it does have nice details, but it lacks eye appeal and it was also struck on a pretty awful flan. However, it has something very special: this bust type, D1l, is known for three different reverse types of the Siscia mint (LAETITIA AVG, SPES AVG and AEQVITAS AVG), but not with PAX AVG, like my coin. I have been unable to find any other coin like this, and it's even missing from RIC V Online. I also haven't found an obverse die match for this coin, though, if anyone wants to take a look, here's the RIC V Online page for the Siscia coins with this bust type: http://www.ric.mom.fr/en/search/adv...ion=&Note=&Reference=&page=1&hpp=5&mod=result

Have you ever found a previously unknown variety of a coin? Post anything you feel like might be relevant.

 

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That's very special and important and you should report its existence to the editors of MER-RIC.

I have found previously unknown varieties before, particularly in the field of Roman provincial coins, and have submitted them for inclusion into online databases. The only Roman imperial issue I have found that truly was previously unknown is this denarius of Faustina I with the PIETATI legend, but this is probably an unofficial issue. It may be unique.


Faustina I, AD 138-140.
Unofficial or imitative AR denarius, 3.19 g, 17.6 mm, 6 h.
Ca. AD 145-160?
Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: PIETATI AVG, Pietas, veiled and draped, standing left, dropping incense from right hand onto lighted altar and holding box in left hand.
Refs: Cf. BMC p. 67, † note, RSC 234b, CRE 113 and Strack 462 (Budapest), all of which read PIETAS AVG.

 

The busts left from Gallienus to Tacitus are a bit special by themselves.

 

Very nice! Makes one wonder both what percentage of these coins were either destroyed or remain yet to be discovered.

A few years ago I also found a previously unpublished Claudius II although nothing as cool as a new bust type / reverse pairing. This one reads FIDES EXERCITI, all others only FIDES EXER or FIDES EXERC

 

That's still very cool and a really nice discovery! It too appears to be missing from RIC V Online (http://www.ric.mom.fr/en/search/adv...scription=&Note=&Reference=&page=1&mod=result), so I think you should consider submitting it.

 

...For what it's worth, especially in the French feudal series, innumerable die variations are almost the default mode. What Duplessy does a lot of the time is to list legend variants, almost frantically, at the end of a given listing. ...Can't help thinking that the phenomenon you guys are talking about is symptomatic --in a good way-- of the relative, but no less impressive progress that's been made in documenting Romans.

 

Congrats on a great discovery! I look forward to seeing it in RIC online.

The seller found it rather than me, but this heavy miliarense of Theodosius I was (I believe) previously unknown:

 

Neat find... definitely submit it to the MER-RIC database.

I picked up this unassuming Gallienus from a Frank Robinson bargain list for $7.75 some years ago. It's a previously unknown variety with the retrograde S in the left field, not noted in either RIC or Göbl.


GALLIENUS
Billon Antoninianus. 2.5g, 22.8mm. Mediolanum (Milan) mint, 262-263 AD. RIC 537 var. (field mark); Göbl -; Cunetio -; Normanby -. O: GALLIENVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right. R: VIRTVS AVG, Hercules standing left, holding laurel branch, club and lion's skin; retrograde S in left field.

From the Festival of Isis series, this reverse type was unrecorded for Valens, and this seems to be the only known example. It's now listed in the Tesorillo database, where I submitted it to.

VALENS. Festival of Isis.
AE. 1.11g, 12.7mm. Rome mint, circa AD 364-378. Festival of Isis issue. Vagi -; Cohen VIII -; Alföldi -; Tesorillo online 6/29 (this coin illustrated). O: D N VALEN S P F AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right. R: VOTA PVBLICA, Isis standing left, holding sistrum and situla.

 

Cool discovery and you have added some hidden knowledge to the field of numismatics.