Just came across this large ae of Antoninus Pius which I'm pretty sure was issued in Stratonikeia Caria, but I can't find it and it's got a full but odd legend. Provincials from this city are not common and this one I can't find anywhere. Antoninus Pius Ae : 33mm, 19.0gms Obv: AYT K ANTΩNEINΩC EYC CEB; Laureate bust right Rev: EΠI ΦΛAOY ΔOMIT CTPATNICAEΩN; Togate figure standing slightly right holding scepter and ? The spelling of the city name is a bit odd, and it's not in great shape, but had to buy it as it's a solving of the puzzle thing.
Nice looking coin. I knew that name rang a bell - last fall I got a lot of low-grade provincials in which one was, I think, from Stratonicaea, Caria. I spent a lot of time looking for a match, and this is as close as I got. The lady on a lion is kind of interesting and somewhat narrowed down the search. My attribution is uncertain. Pseudo-Autonomous Æ 20 Caria, Stratonicaea Time of Septimius Severus or Caracalla, (193-217 A.D.) Zeus Panamaros on horseback right, altar to right (?) / Hekate, with veil billowing, left on lion, [magistrate’s name] in legend. SNG München -; BMC 44/45 (for obv./rev.) Uncertain attrib. (5.57 grams / 20 mm)
Have you ever seen a coin of this city with that much legend? I'd start with microscope looking for possible tooling that created odd letters. EΠI ΦΛAOY ΔOMIT CTPATNICAEΩN Is the O in ΦΛAOY a theta? That would be an easy loss to condition. Does the city use a C in NICAEΩN rather than a K as used in the Severan years? Most troubling is the missing letter between T and N.
@dougsmith : I just gave it a thorough look at high mag and there's no obvious tooling at all. Some of the lettering merges into the rim of the coin flawlessly, and there's even specks of that hard green patina on more than a few of the letters. The oddest part is that the name is normally spelled ΣTΡATONIKEΩN which isn't really close. That's why I'm very confused, and certainly won't pass it on to anyone else until I can figure it out.
It's from Nysa in Lydia, at least according to RPC, and they call it tooled. https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/11501 Barry Murphy
Thanks Barry. That's it. I really don't see any major evidence of tooling but I'll go with that and just put it away.