Earlier this year I picked up this Constantius Gallus FH of Antioch, and just got around to looking at it closely. It mostly conforms to an RIC VIII 134 from Antioch, but I can't quite tell what is going on in the exergue. After the initial "AN" which appear quite normal, the next mark is very clear but very strange. Randy, Martin, anyone - your thoughts on what is going on there would be most welcome.
I suppose ANAI is a possible and I can't thinkof many alternatives. My only 134 doesn't help as the exe was never struck up.
That's bizarre for sure. Maybe a worn die or double (or over strike) or some combination of that. Look in the middle of the shield (on the ground) and to the right of the shield. Another ANAI for comparison:
Thanks for the replies, I appreciate the thoughts and the glimpses at other examples. I should have mentioned that the axis of rotation is at 11:00, so for any kind of double striking, we might look more closely at the obverse seven o'clock position for residual effect. My only problem with the letter pair suggestions is that the oddball figure appears to be continuous from the descender on left, then arching its way to the ascender on the right, leaving a strange pointed "arrowhead" disconnected in the middle. No way do I think that description is literally what we are seeing, and I am fairly convinced that the deformity arose on a die with multiple letters for the officina. Not so sure about which ones. Knowing how it might have taken this form might help solve the riddle. "AI" is a good option, but so is "<Delta>I", both of which are options in this case. Given the isolation of the "arrowpoint" from other lines, we might also consider officina "I", but that leaves us with the deep-dish crescent to explain. (A deformed letter pair is more plausible, I think). If you see anything else, give me a shout. And thanks.
