Been out buying again; Antoninus Pius 138-161 Denarius. Is it Annona on the reverse? And how do you narrow down the date, i take it the XV and the IIII on the reverse would be the key to the answer.
Basically yes. I know very little about ancient coins, but this "TR POT XV" means something like Tribune Power, and the number after that refers to the number of years he has been in power. COS IIII refers to the fourth year of a consulate. So the coin should be from 152-53 methinks. I am sure others can give you more (or more accurate ) information ... Christian
All right Sylvester,nice one!!The goddess on the reverse is not Annona it is PAX and it is indeed from 152-53 AD.I believe you have RIC #216A.Pax usually is shown with a branch and sceptre while Annona had ears of corn or something like that. The way you narrow down is to go to Wildwinds,(my bible) find your emperor,click on "show page with thumbnails" scroll down,looking not only at the photos but the TRP and COS numbers until you find your coin..easy. http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/antoninus_pius/t.html
Yep just read another answer to this on another forum i enquired on. I had three choices Annona (as someone on CU said) and i had seen some Annona's but they didn't look quite like mine. Pax was another initial thought, seeing what could be olive brances and all. The third thought was perhaps Ceres being that i'd seen it next to a Ceres coin (it said CERES on it) and the design had been almost the same except the Ceres had been holding corn ears and this one held the branch looking things. Otherwise they were stood the same, same staff, same clothing and everything! Although i'm actually glad this one is PAX, (not part of my deity collection) but wasn't the period of the Four Good Emperors known as the Imperial peace? I had guessed that the XV would be the 15th so i was thinking 153. However i didn't know how the IIII would affect it, obviously in this case it didn't. And you'll note i feel into the trap of getting the Regnal year nearly wrong. Regnal years count the first year as from the first day of the reign to the day before the first anniversary! The first anniversary is the start of the second year. So i should have known it was 152 (to 153)!
