Post your examples of coins with interesting lettering or anything you feel is relevant. If you collect Roman provincial coins, you have undoubtedly noticed different ways of rendering the various letters, such as C for Σ, Є for E, V for Y, + for Φ, Ѡ for Ω, and so forth. You have probably also noted the tendency of some die-engravers to use ligatures, combining various letters, such as A and E to make Æ. Certain ligatures are fairly common: O+Y as Ȣ, A+V as Ꜹ, and a host of ligatures I can't represent here because there is no unicode for them, such as N+E, Ꜹ+Γ, A+P, and Ω+Ν. But this coin has some paleographic features I've never seen before. In Faustina's name (ΦAVCTEINA), phi is rendered as ·I· and T E is ligate: Here's the whole coin: Faustina II, AD 147-175. Roman provincial Æ 22.7 mm, 6.54 g, 7 h. Thrace, Hadrianopolis, AD 147-155. Obv: ·I·AVCTEINA CEBACTH, pearl-diademed and draped bust, right. Rev: ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ, Hygieia, feeding serpent from patera, and Asklepios, leaning on serpent-entwined staff, standing facing one-another. Refs: RPC (temp) 10453; SNG Cop 560; Jurukova 84-87; Varbanov 3219; Moushmov 2521; Mionnet suppl. 2, 636. Here are a couple of other examples struck with this same obverse die for comparison: Rauch, Auction 71, lot 276, 4/28/03 Helios, Auction 7, lot 503, 12/12/11
Very interesting catch @Roman Collector ! There are indeed some unique things about Roman provincials. Nice coin as well.
I wonder if the ligate TE was planned and intentional or if the engraver forgot the E and found a creative way to include it. I like the phi as ·I·. Cool flyspecking!!
I was thinking the exact same thing because in the Latin spelling of her name, there is no E (FAVSTINA) and forgetting it might be easy. I have only one other coin of Faustina from this city and it's not ligate on this obverse inscription: It's hard to read, so here's a die-match from the French national collection in Paris: