Can't really say why I got these. Just a 'I haven't gotten enough anciients recently" buy. Gallienus AE Antoninianus. Siscia mint, AD 260-268, sole reign. GALLIENVS AVG, radiate head right / PROVI AVG, Providentia standing left, holding baton and cornucopiae, globe at feet left. No fieldmarks. Cohen 872; Sear 10332 and 10334.RIC 580 .. and this little ae12 mystery coin Kyzikos ? Kore? / Tripod
Yeah, it happens. Whenever I "feel the urge to buy coins" but don´t have enough money, I go Asian. Chinese coins are really cheap, so I have a list and from time to time I fill in those blank spaces in it. Nice Gallienus BTW!
What a coincidence!!! And a nice example. Maybe TIF can help with your mystery coin? And always Doug...... This is my best since almost all the others I have were from 'uncleaned lots' (decades ago) and are typically poorly struck to begin with. I tend to overlook my LRB's (or any of these types)---let alone a necessary upgrade---and so I pulled the trigger on this example: Bil Ant of Gallienus, (Eastern Mint?). 3.58 grams Draped bust with radiated head right Victory standing left with crowned Emperor
that's a respectable gallienus RG, full obverse legend and a good bust. i'm not sure on the little greek, there are many that have apollo/tripod combos...that one may be hard to pin down.
I'll try later. Right now I'm trying, none too successfully, to spend my money in the CNG and G&M auctions . It's a marathon auction week!
Good luck TIF !!!! As for me, I'm done, just waiting for my last few 'scraps' to fall into my hands...then that damned wagon again
I posted this coin last week, but it's my newest arrival for Gallienus and your thread prompted me to dig up the full attribution. It didn't turn out to be anything uncommon, but the reverse is hard struck with nice clarity. Evidently these ants come in two reverse legend varieties, VICTORIA AVG and VICTORIA AET. This example is the latter. Since this is an undated ant, the best we can do is assign it to the dates of Gallienus' sole rule, although judging by its low fineness, it probably falls toward the end of his reign. If there's one "interesting" thing about this coin, it's the fact that sometimes the Z in the reverse field gets engraved backward. Gallienus, AD 253-268 AE Antoninianus; Rome mint, AD 260-268. Obv.: GALLIENVS AVG; radiate head right. Rev.: VICTORIA AET; Victory standing left, holding wreath and palm; Z in left field. Reference: RIC 5(a) Gallienus Sole Reign 297 (p. 157).
Mine is similar but RIC 586 assigns it to Siscia. It makes the point that there is a difference between a backwards Z and an S. In fact, mine is listed as S-P across field and seems off because the P falls between the E and T of AET. I have no idea what the SP means. We assume the single Z is a workshop number but the extra letter confuses me. Help anyone?
I can't help with the S-P mystery, but I found other coins attributed to Rome with the backward Z, and RIC lists Rome as the only mint at which Z was used, so we have to assume it was an engraving variation, or error.
I believe dies were engraved by one cutter and officina letters were often added later as needed not necessarily by the same cutter. It makes sense that a die could be completely correct and someone erred when they added the letter.
I like your style, randygeki ... Man, I have no idea why I buy most of my coins either? Oh, but congrats on scoring a sweet new addition!! (hey, they're all good, right?) Hmmm Gallienus, eh? ... well ironically, he is actually one of the dudes that I love all of the coins that I've purchased ... again, geki => I like you and I think that your new addition is awesome!!
