Gratian, help with mint and control marks...

I'm trying to decipher all the marks on the reverse of this coin...



Am I correct in reading this?

The reason I ask is the Q is tilted clockwise, looking like a P, Kappa is in a two-stroke cursive form that resembles miniscule script (is that common?), and if there is an R at the end of the letters in exergue, it appears worn down or poorly engraved, making it look like something else. The situation isn't helped by rough surfaces.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

To me it looks like "Q" but I'm 100% certain, and it looks like * above the "K"

 

Compare styles on my Valentinian also with the tilted Q. I'd call your coin perfectly normal.

 

I'm reasonably sure it's a Q - if it was a P, it would have some trace of serifs, no?

 

Thanks Doug - that clears that up. Have you seen the odd style Kappa before?

 

RIC IX pages 137 and 138 mention the field marks and extra letter ending the mintmark by saying that they are complicated and the reasoning behind them is unknown.

 

That's fine. I was just trying to match up the marks in RIC. If I've got K and R it would be xxvii at the bottom of page 142.

 

I'm not the RIC IX person. That is Warren (Valentinian). There is an even more strange letter in this series but it is not really a K.