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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Finn235, post: 3235563, member: 98035&quot;]The VOT coins are misleading. I have read it as the inscription meaning &quot;I vow to serve five years, and, God willing, ten.&quot; That explains VOT V types for emperors like Jovian who ruled less than a year. It doesn&#039;t claim they actually attained five years, just that they hope or expect to.</p><p><br /></p><p>Doug&#039;s comments sparked a couple thoughts into my head:</p><p><br /></p><p>1) The entire AD calendar system is based on medieval math that we now know may well be wrong. The biblical narrative tells us that Herod ordered the Massacre of the Innocents in response to the birth of Jesus, when he was about 1-2 years old. Josephus states that Herod died in a short interval between a lunar eclipse and Passover, which has led a majority of scholars to accept a date of death in late March or early April 4 BC. If correct, that would mean our entire calendar system is off by about half a decade.</p><p><br /></p><p>2) Of the calendars of antiquity, only the Mayan calendar is what we would call scientifically accurate. The old Roman calendar was so far off that upon the adoption of the Julian calendar in 44 BC, two extra months were added to catch up. I have no idea if scholars adjusted older dates accordingly.</p><p><br /></p><p>3) Re: Doug&#039;s comments about modern coins that lie about their date, plenty have done it since 1804. The 1816 Austrian kreuzer was frozen for almost half a century, and 1780 Maria Theresa thalers are still being made. With the switch from silver to clad coins in 1964, the Mint actually froze the date and continued making 1964-dated coins until at least early 1966, hoping to convince the public that silver wasn&#039;t actually being hoarded. Likewise, there have been a few instances where the Philly mint couldn&#039;t meet its production quota, so &quot;Philadelphia&quot; coins were struck at San Francisco and/or West Point.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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