Had this coin for a couple years now, but figured you guys & gals would get a kick out of it Gallienus AE Antoninianus GALLIENVS AVG, radiate bust right DIANAE CONS AVG, stag walking left, cross in exergue (actually a slanted X) Rome mint, 10th officina RIC 179 (var left, X) Occam's razor states that between the possibilities that a die engraver working in the mint at Rome was a Christian and wanted to send a message to other Christians in hiding, or that the engraver accidentally didn't slant an X correctly, odds are that the engraver just didn't slant the X correctly. Still, this coin hails from an era when Christians were taking the brunt of the blame for the empire's hardships merely by their presence, so putting a cross on *any* coin, let alone one begging a pagan goddess for protection, would have been a hasty death sentence. Interestingly, I don't think I have ever seen another example with the X slanted as a cross. Comments and coins welcome!
Neither have I, but This era is not high on my collecting priorities. It does make for interesting conjecture.
Very interesting theory - I like it! I looked through my small, low-grade Gallienus collection and found a similar (Christian?) cross - but on an antelope (I think - the horns are very faintly struck). It really is more of a cross than an X: Gallienus Æ Antoninianus (c. 267-268 A.D.) Rome Mint GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right / DIANAE CONS AVG, antelope (or gazelle) walking left, Officina mark X in exergue. RIC 181; RSC 165; Goebl 750b; Sear 10200. (1.83 grams / 17 mm) I also have a stag (like the OP) but with an X looking like an X:
Always tricky to know if intended or not. I have Sogdian pieces with crosses. Some I am positive it was a intentional cross, others maybe just a rare die variety with a cross for a control mark instead of a usual swastika or something. However, mine are dots or swastikas being replaced with crosses in an era without christian persecution, so might be easier for the die cutter to get away with it.
Very interesting to see it on that first coin, @Marsyas Mike ! One thing I have always wondered is, are there any barbarous coins kicking around that have Christian symbolism? We know that there were a lot of Christians in the empire, and barbs exist that have completely original reverse types - At least one has a swastika: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/630210 How flippin' cool would it be to own a coin with an intentional cross or other Christian symbol that was minted more than 50 years before the Edict of Milan?
At what time did a plain cross come to be understood as a symbol of Christianity? I think at this time the chi rho was used and if I recall correctly a plain cross was not used until later. I am sure some of the Biblical collectors will know. John
We need to be careful reading meanings into symbols. This Ptolemaic bronze was centuries before Christ when the Chi Rho was a symbol of approval (chrēston = good) but not predicting Christianity.
The cross was a symbol of Christianity since at least the second century, as pagan writers mocked them for the perceived similarity of barbarians worshipping objects such as the maypole. Wikipedia says the early cross was a T, but we know without a doubt that the mint at Trier started putting recognizable crosses on coins soon after it became legal and permissible to do so, around 315-320. My OP Gallienus was only minted about 50 years prior to that, so I doubt the symbolism could have changed that dramatically.
Cool Gallienus coin! The "X is 'cross' theory" needs more supporting evidence in my opinion. But it is interesting.
Did a little digging and confirmed my hunch that a deliberate cross found its way onto at least one pre-Edict of Milan coin: https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=94518 Does that mean the engraver was a Christian? Who knows! It is certainly possible. But to recap, there is a 99.999999% chance that my OP coin is just mis-engraved.
I don't know whether it was intentional but it is great inspiration for a short historical fiction story!