The reverse of this coin has the letter S in upper left field. It belongs to the series of the "Fallen Horseman" which is here struck under Emperor Constantius Gallus. The exergue reads ANSI most probably struck in Antioch. On searching, I couldn't find the exact match or attribution. The coin weighs 4 g.
Your mintmark is ANBI and is from Antioch. It is a workshop not noted in RIC, but out of 15 possible workshops, only five were recorded in RIC from this issue for Gallus. Antioch 149 has an FH3 horseman, extending arm, like yours; while Antioch 151 has an FH4 horseman, falling forward on horse.
VERY nice @7Calbrey ! This is one of the VERY few Fallen Horsemen that I have in my collection... RI Constantius Gallus Caesar 351-354 AE21 FEL TEMP REPARATIO soldier-spearing-fallen-horseman RIC 348 Siscia
CONSTANTIUS GALLUS Centenionalis OBVERSE: D N FL CL CONSTANTIVS NOB CAES, Bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust right REVERSE: FEL TEMP REPARATIO, Helmeted soldier to left, shield on left arm, spearing fallen horseman; shield on ground at right. Horseman turns to face soldier and raises right arm, dot SMKA in ex. Struck at Cyzicus 351-354 AD 5.40 g, 23.9 mm RIC-VIII, 97
I see these old Roman coins with images of someone being speared or dragged away as a captive, and I almost lament that our modern coinage does not show such things. Can you imagine a new coin depicting the spirit of the bayonet or a drive by shooting? How about a road side bomb coin? We could maybe have a B-52 and a nuke too? I guess we don't glory and revel in bloodshed the way the ancients did, and maybe it is a good thing. On the other hand, we could perhaps use more population control....
We don't have to have it on a coin. We have 24-hour, 10,000 channels of sensationalized TV news, and Internet Access to everything. No worries, we still have it.
I would prefer to see what our leaders would see fit to put on coins advertising their beliefs in what was the brag-worthy moments of our history. As an exercise, take each year and select one thing you would have put on a Roman style coin for that year. I had an uncle who thought it was terrible that they put that awful FDR on the dime. I wonder today if some people would refuse Obamacare dimes while others would want nothing to do with those showing a dead Osama bin Ladin? Maybe we would have to assign the duty of selecting a year's design to the Speaker of the House or Vice President so people could vote someone out of office for poor numismatic tastes.
Thanks for all your comments. As for the modern American coins, I would suggest to add the initials of American scientists who had won noble prizes in physics, medicine etc.. and also those American youths who had broken the records in world or Olympic sports games. That would encourage the new generations to appreciate more and more the realm of science and exercise.
I could agree with something like this except the Noble Prizes have gotten to be so political and sports, including the Olympics, seems to be all about the money and not about roll models.
Make all coinage subjects SPINTRIA... it makes the World Go 'Round... And there are no politics, they are "equal". Just a passing thought... Random
Ah, how I wish my coins could tell stories.........of the places they've been and the hands they've passed through....holding history in one's hand, indeed.
I guess theres 2 kinds of stories. Something like the fel temp series, crossing into unknown waters, conquering their enemies and pacifying the land to settle and start a new. Or something like this. Mark Antony, Triumvir and Imperator, 44 - 30 B.C., Silver denarius, cf. Crawford 544/14, Sydenham 1216, BMCRR 190, and RSC I 27 ff., Fair, Patrae?, 2.818g, 17.7mm, 180o, 32 - 31 B.C.; obverse ANT•AVG / III VIR•R•P•C, galley right with rowers, mast with banners at prow, border of dots; reverse LEG - [...], legionary eagle between two standards, border of dots Ex Forvm The silver for this issue may have come from the Ptolemaic treasury, and this coin may have been present at the Battle of Actium. "The Battle of Actium was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic. It was fought between the forces of Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the city of Actium, at the Roman province of Epirus vetus in Greece. Octavian's fleet was commanded by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, while Antony's fleet was supported by the ships of Queen Cleopatra of Ptolemaic Egypt. Octavian's victory enabled him to consolidate his power over Rome and its dominions. To that end, he adopted the title of Princeps ("first citizen") and some years after the victory was awarded the title of Augustus by the Roman Senate. This became the name by which he was known in later times. As Augustus, he would retain the trappings of a restored Republican leader; however, historians generally view this consolidation of power and the adoption of these honorifics as the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire." Because of the low grade silver used, MA denarii circulated for many, many years and passed through many hands. Think of the stories
