I bought this snotty coin last week, and everybody laughed at me except Doug, but I think it's got an a bit of a bonus: I don't see the G of AVG on the obverse. Looks like the engraver ran out of room. All the sources I have list AVG and AG as abbreviations for Augustus, but not AV. What say you? Engraving error?
Who laughed? I have no idea about engraving error, but I don't see the "G" which would make it an anomaly.
Well, Jerry laughed...but I'm curious to know if AV is ever used in LRB's as an abbreviation. I haven't seen it yet, so I'm thinking the guy punching out the legend just ran out of room and said, "Meh, good enough".
Probably but I don't know the Latin for 'Meh'. Running out of room or letters scrunched into the bust are not all that rare. Omitted letters and reversed letters are not uncommon in ancients but seem to bring little or no premium. There are even examples of an abbreviation including the last letter (AVI). Greek speaking cutters sometimes mixed up Latin letters. Dies were hand cut, not punched, so variations happened. Strange people like me gather them.
Thanks Doug - premiums don't matter to me, but I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't notice the anomaly when I bought the coin. It definitely adds a premium to my appreciation of the piece, so I guess I'll join your club of strange people.
