Help needed - Caracalla / Coiled Serpent

I am having difficulty attributing this coin.
I believe that it is a Provincial of Caracalla, but I am finding it hard to locate a reference to this 'reverse' with a Left facing bust on the 'obverse'. On the rare occasion that I have found one, the legend doesn't match. I have (painstakingly) searched 'Wildwinds', 'Acsearch' (and several other sites).

Is it not Caracalla?

Can anyone help me please?

 

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Large bronze provincial, coiled serpent... think Thrace (Pautalia) and Moesia Inferior (Marcianopolis).

Wildwinds is a fantastic resource but my first stop is always CNG's archives. Their search engine is far better. While their database probably isn't as large as Wildwinds, it is still vast and the images are good. They usually don't write out the legends though so when you find a probable match you'll need to look for those elsewhere.

For instance, here are the results for search terms "AE, coiled serpent". Note that when searching CNG's archives the results page will show separate tabs for Coin Shop, e-Auctions, and Print Auctions. Be sure to look through the hits for each of those tabs. There is also a Historical Articles category which does not show thumbnails but when you click on the link you'll find a coin, probably from one of their "big" auctions, with an interesting writeup.

Or, you could take a guess with the emperor if you think you know the emperor (Caracalla had many snake issues) and use search terms "Caracalla (or whoever), AE, coiled serpent".

 

Pautalia is clear at reverse right and the portrait with AN just above and right of the head makes Caracalla 99% in my book.

 

@> TIF - I haven't had much luck using CNG before, so I have 'shied' away from it, but with your advice I shall give it another go.

Thank-you TIF (new Avatar - I like it), and Doug.

 

Sorry. Even with your help, my luck is no better.
' Ae coiled serpent' got me one Greek coin and two Roman coins (none with a coiled serpent on it)

 

No joy under 'Caracalla' either.

 

I have not had a chance to read through all the responses, but if someone hasn't already said, the snake is radiate. Much like mine below:

MACRINUS
Pentassarion AE28
OBVERSE: AVT K OPEL CEVH MAKREINOC K M OPEL ANTWNEINOC - confronted busts
REVERSE: VP PONTIAN-OV MARKIANO/ POLIT, Coiled serpent with radiate head
Struck at Markianopolis, Moesia Inferior, Magistrate Pontianus; 217 - 218 AD
12.6g, 28mm
Hr & J (2012) 6.24.22.6

 

You guys usually answer these before I can on the weekends. Maybe nobody out there has Varbanov? Anyway, yes, it is Caracalla, Pautalia, Varbanov5230. Though this one is really worn, its a heroic bust with Antoninus holding a spear and shield. It's a common type for the mint and Varbanov gives it a rarity 4 rating, or 200 - 500 examples.

 

Thank-you, Ken.
Although I do not have Varbanov, your input gives me a lot to work with,
Thank-you.

 

Varbanov's Greek Imperial Coins (English version) would be a reasonable thing for me to buy, given my love of provincials. One of these days

???

I posted the link to the results of that search in my first message of this thread. Looking at it now, there are 343 results for the search phrase "AE, coiled serpent". I didn't look through them for a match to your coin but Ken provided the reference so the point is moot. However, I'm curious about your CNG search results.

 

@> TIF.
I thought that I clicked on your link and it failed to take me to where it NOW does take me. (Perhaps I did something wrong. I do find navigating computers rather difficult and some of the 'pathways' hard to follow.)

To explain:
Firstly, I entered 'CNG' into the 'Google' taskbar(?)
Of the choices that came up Secondly I chose:-
CNG: CNG-Ancient Greek, Roman, British Coins
https://www.cngcoins.com/

On the resulting page I Thirdly entered 'Ae coiled serpent'

The resulting page showed three coins. 1x Greek and 2x Roman, all without snakes.

I screwed something up, didn't I?

 

@> TIF

I have now checked all four of the 'categories' that are displayed when I clicked on the link that you provided (thank-you very much), but (unfortunately) there are no left facing busts of Caracalla with my coiled serpent reverse to be found.
I can now cross off CNG and Cohen as well as Wildwinds and Acsearch, (and a couple of others).

Ken might be on the right track with his R.4 rating.

 

Ah, I see. When the link failed you went to their home page and typed the search terms in search box to the right. On that page, a search will reveal only coins currently up for auction. To search their archives, you have to click "Research" (in the middle of the navigation bar near the top of the page); type your search terms in the appropriate box.

 

Aha! Thank-you.
It is considerably past my bed-time, so I will practice that tomorrow,
Thank-you (again).

(Serpents on coins, crustaceans on heads - what a wonderful world we live in.)

 

Wow, that's a great serpent-coin, Topcat ... it certainly sounds like you're in good hands for coin-help ...

... have a nice sleep

 

http://booksfrombulgaria.com/COINS/coins.htm
The above link will make you wonder why you did not take Burgarian in high school. There are US dealers that sell the English 3 volume Varbanov but we each have to ask how many coins we will own before investing ~$280 in a book on them. I know I have well over that dollar amount in coins covered by these books but I have not bought them yet either. I do see some dealers asking more for sets so they might be an investment when they go out of print.

 

Varbanov 5230 is right. Here's are the legends and description:
O: AYT K M AYPH ANTΩNINOC, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust left, holding shield and spear.
R: OYΛΠIAC ΠAYTAΛIAC, fourfold coiled serpent, with radiate head right; club beneath.

 

Your results will entirely depend on your input. You did well as a first search, though entering AE is a generic term you should avoid (some engines will not use them, others will and you get less results). However, when entering "Caracalla Pautalia Serpent" one get this entry:

http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=124467

Just one result, but that doesnt mean super rare. Keep in mind most of these provincials are very low grade and this would never make it into an auction due to condition.

 

I know the search was broad but I was giving TopCat the opportunity to sleuth it out for himself .

You're right about short words in most search engines. CoinTalk's, for instance, doesn't seem to accept 3 letter words and shorter, plus it rejects common words.

 

I bought my set when they first came out but it was some time ago so I dont remember what I paid (though I bought them directly from Bulgaria). I took a risk as nobody could know they would become the standard reference for the series. If one is serious about their collecting areas I always suggest they buy such standard works (and all subsequent new works and revisions). Most coin books are always small run, most will be bought by dealers and researchers leaving only a small number available to collectors.