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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 2746929, member: 19463&quot;]Late Roman mints each played by their own rules when it comes to mint marks and they changed the rules often.&nbsp; You just have to learn the language.&nbsp; Here we have two mints that used similar systems.&nbsp; SM abbreviates Sacra Moneta or sacred money which I like to think of as a reminder that you should not commit the sacrilege of counterfeiting.&nbsp; AQ abbreviates Aquileia while TES is Thessalonika, the town names.&nbsp; The P after SMAQ refers to PRIMA of &#039;first&#039; which is the workshop within the mint that made the coin.&nbsp; If you look you will find identical coins with SMAQS where S = secunda.&nbsp; Not all mints used these ordinal numbers but it is one of the options. </p><p>A good place to learn about this late period is CT member Valentinian&#039;s site. </p><p><a href="http://augustuscoins.com/ed/ricix/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://augustuscoins.com/ed/ricix/" rel="nofollow">http://augustuscoins.com/ed/ricix/</a></p><p>Start with the photos of the reverses a little ways down the page and find a match for the coin you are seeking.&nbsp; Click on it to go to his pages telling more about the options for that type (which rulers and which mints used it).&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>We each have our favorites in ancient coins.&nbsp; Valentinian is 1000 times as interested in coins of Valentinian as I am.&nbsp; When you figure out what your next step will be, we will guide you to where to learn more about them.&nbsp; Please take that next step with someone with a grasp on reality when it comes to prices.&nbsp; TIF mentioned Victor.&nbsp; We also have Ken Dorney who has a vCoins store and John Anthony who sells coins using a private conversation list here on Coin Talk.&nbsp; Valentinian also sells using the Coin Talk sales pages and his own web site.&nbsp; You can contact any of them for details if interested.&nbsp; What you really need to do is decide in which direction you will go next.&nbsp; From where you started, &#039;better&#039; will not be difficult.&nbsp; I will say, however, that your first seller knows a lot about coins and I have not seen him selling fakes.&nbsp; Our problem with him is telling people that a $10 coin is $1000 marked down to only $100.&nbsp; Like you say, that is 1000% better than the ones who sell fakes worth nothing at the same prices. </p><p><br /></p><p>Ask.&nbsp; If you don&#039;t want to ask publicly do a conversation with someone who might know.&nbsp; TIF and Valentinian are both great people with whom I correspond regularly but on different subjects.&nbsp; Pay attention to who has posted on coins you find interesting and bother them.&nbsp; A few will ignore you.&nbsp; Most here are rather user friendly.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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