Coins of Deultum (Thrace) and Marcianopolis (Moesia Inf.) were struck at the same mint

First of all, I want to give a huge thank you to @Brian Bucklan, who not only discovered this coin, but was so kind as to send it to me as a gift! This forum has the friendliest, most generous members! So a huge shout out to Brian is in order!



Here's the coin:

Julia Mamaea, AD 222-235.
Roman Provincial Æ tetrassarion, 22.4 mm, 8.92 g, 1 h.
Hybrid of coins of Deultum and Marcianopolis, AD 227-228/229.
Obv: IVLIA MA-MAEA AVG; draped bust, right, wearing stephane.
Rev: VΠ TIB IOVΛ ΦHCTȢ MAPKIANOΠOΛITΩN, eagle standing facing, head left, with wings spread, holding wreath in beak.
Refs: Unpublished; see Varbanov II, 2333 (Mamaea) and AMNG I-1, 1018-21 (Severus Alexander). ​

You'll notice the obverse has a Latin inscription, whereas the reverse has a Greek one. This was the clue that the coin was a hybrid (mule) and that the obverse was one used by the city of Deultum in Thrace which, as a Roman colony, used Latin inscriptions. The obverse is a die match to this coin of Deultum, Gorny & Mosch Giessener Münzhandlung, Online Auction 278, lot 3331, 21 April 2021. Note it even has the same die-break behind the bust. This establishes with certainty that it was an obverse intended for Deultum.



The reverse type is clearly one issued by Marcianopolis in Moesia Inferior for Severus Alexander, the son of Julia Mamaea. The reverse inscription names the Governor of Moesia Inferior, Tiberius Julius Festus, who served from AD 227-228/229, allowing the coin to be dated and identified as a reverse type intended for a tetrassarion of Severus Alexander. See here for numerous examples (unfortunately, none are die-matches to the hybrid coin).

The Significance of the Find

This coin is a mint error -- a hybrid/mule -- in which the obverse meant for Deultum was unintentionally paired with a reverse intended for Marcianopolis. This conclusively demonstrates that they were struck in the same mint. It has long been suggested that there was a centralized mint along the Black Sea coast in the third century that struck coins for the cities in the region. Die-sharing was first noted between coins of the region by Pick and Riegling, who note the existence of hybrids between coins of Odessus and Marcianopolis and between Odessus and Tomis.[1] A comprehensive list of hybrid coins in the third century of the city of Odessus has been published by Lazarenko.[2] Similarly, die-sharing has been described by Calomino for the time of Gordian III between the cities of Marcianopolis, Odessus and Tomis,[3] and by Peter between Marcianopolis and Dionysopolis and between Marcianopolis and Anchialus (Thrace).[4] To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that a hybrid has been described between Deultum and Marcianopolis.

Thus, there appears to have been a centralized mint in the third century AD that served the cities along or near the coast of the Black Sea and which transcended the political organization of Moesia Inferior and Thrace as separate provinces within the Roman Empire.

Map of present-day Bulgaria showing Roman provinces, major towns, and military sites (after S. Goshev and R. Ivanov).[5]​

As always, post anything you feel is relevant!

~~~

Notes:
1. Pick, Behrendt, and Kurt Regling. Die Antiken Münzen Von Dacien Und Moesien. I-2, Georg Reimer, 1910, p. 528.

2. Lazarenko, Igor. "Chronology of the coins minted in Odessus in the period from the reign of emperor Septimius Severus (AD 193-211) until Emperor Gordian III (AD 238-244)," in Miscellanea in Honor of Alexander Minchev (=Acta Musei Varnaensis VIII/2). Varna, 2012, nn. 251-261, pp. 161-2, 184-5, 200.

3. Calomino, Dario. "Die-Sharing in Moesia Inferior under Gordian III." The Numismatic Chronicle, vol. 173, 2013, pp. 105–126. DOI:https://www.jstor.org/stable/43859730.

4. Peter, Ulrike. "Religious-cultural identity in Thrace and Moesia Inferior," in Howgego, Christopher, et al. Coinage and Identity in the Roman Provinces. Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 107-114. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199265268.001.0001.

5. Ivanov, Rumen. "Romans on the Danube: Abritus." Athena Review 2,3: Romans on the Danube: An ABC of Barbarian Tribes, 2000, www.athenapub.com/AR/7abritus.htm.

 

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That's a fascinating find RC, well done!

 

More broadly, these hybrids may also shed new light on the provincial organization of the period. My impression is that provincial boundaries and administration were more fluid in practice than the traditional numismatic arrangement suggests.

 

I find this fascinating, and not the least bit surprising given how closely the styles of 3rd Century Roman Provincial coins from Thrace and Moesia often seem to resemble each other, regardless of the city that "issued" them. And given the common use of the central "lathe dimple" technique to achieve the roundness of the flans. Something I haven't really seen outside Moesia and Thrace.

Marcianopolis, Moesia Inferior [Devnya, Bulgaria]



Anchialus, Thrace [Pomorie, Bulgaria]


Mesembria, Thrace [Nessebar, Bulgaria]



Just out of curiosity, what were the two or three largest cities in those two provinces? One might think that the largest cities would be good candidates for the location of such a central mint.

 

Great find Roman Collector, and Brian Bucklan too of course. Although I'm not very into the provincial Roman coinage, discoveries like yours deserve applause!

 

Very cool! Ken Harl is doing a study of this mint, though focusing on dual-portrait issues. In any case, if there are other Deultum/Marcianopolis mules, he's likely to know of them.

Here's a Severus Alexander from Marcianopolis, ex Doug Smith:

MOESIA INFERIOR, Marcianopolis: Severus Alexander (222-235), issued by Julius Gaetulicus, legatus consularis, AE25. 10.29g, 25mm.
Obv: AYK M AV CEV AΛΕΧΑΝΔΡΟC, Laureate and draped bust right
Rev: ΥΠ ΙΟΥ ΓΑΕΤΥΛΚΟΥ ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΙΤ, Nemesis stg. with scale and rod; below, wheel
Moushmov 709, Varbanov 1807. Scarce.
From the Doug Smith collection, acquired in 2001 from Colosseum.
Gaetulicus seems to have been legate in the first year or two under Severus Alexander.

 

..great gift from @Brian Bucklan and kool info RC! ...