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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;zumbly, post: 1932535, member: 57495&quot;]Hi all, </p><p><br /></p><p>I have some slightly anal questions regarding the antoninianus, and hope those of you equally anal but far more knowledgeable have some answers.&nbsp; Everyone else is free to roll their eyes <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie11" alt=":rolleyes:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, I&#039;ve been wondering if there&#039;s any correct or consistent way that the material used for this denomination should be described.&nbsp; What I&#039;ve seen includes :&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Silver or AR antoninianus</p><p>Billon antoninianus</p><p>Silvered antoninianus</p><p>Silvered AE antoninianus</p><p>AE antoninianus</p><p><br /></p><p>My understanding is that even when Caracalla started issuing these, the silver fineness was already under 50%.&nbsp; Is there some level of silver fineness from which a coin would go from being called silver to billon?&nbsp; If so, what&#039;s that level?&nbsp; In Sear&#039;s books, he uses &quot;billon antoninianus&quot; to describe those coins issued from Valerian&#039;s range onwards, and &quot;silver antoninianus&quot; for those before. </p><p><br /></p><p>Is there then also a difference between &quot;billon antoninianus&quot; and &quot;AE antoninianus&quot;?&nbsp; Was there a time where there was in fact no silver content at all in the antoninianus?&nbsp; I believe Gallienus may have gotten to as low as 2% with the surface of the coin enriched with silver plating or &#039;wash&#039;.&nbsp; Did Claudius II or Tetricus issue antoniniani that didn&#039;t even have a silver &#039;wash&#039;?&nbsp; Would only these be correctly called &quot;AE antoninianus&quot;, and others that had the silver &#039;wash&#039; be properly called &quot;silvered antoninianus&quot;?&nbsp; What would you then call them if they no longer had the &#039;wash&#039;?</p><p><br /></p><p>A quick search for Gallienus antoniniani on sale will turn up &quot;silver antoninianus&quot; as well as &quot;billon antoninianus&quot;, &quot;AE antoninianus&quot;, and &quot;silvered antoninianus&quot;.&nbsp; Wouldn&#039;t&nbsp; be surprised if there were more.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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