There was a thread earlier today with a letter missing from a denarius of Severus Alexander. Rather than hi-jack that thread I thought it would be fun to see what sort of spelling mistakes we have out there. Let's ignore barbarous stuff with legends that are all gibberish and limit the coins to ones where we think they were trying to get it right but either couldn't spell or ran out of room and had to drop some letters. Here is one to start us off: Constantius II as Caesar 324 - 337 AD 2.26 g 18mm Laureate, draped & cuirassed bust right, FL IVL CONSTNTIVS NOB C (missing the A) Two soldiers holding spears and shields standing either side of two standards, GLOR IAEXER ITVS RFT in exergue Rome mint; Sear 17684 (Vol 5)
Probus Obv:– IMP C PROBVS • P • F • AVG, Radiate, cuirassed bust right Rev:– COMITI PORBI(sic) AVG, Minerva standing left, holding olive-branch and spear and resting left hand on shield Mint – Lugdunum (I in exe) Emission 7 Officina 1. A.D. 280 Reference:– Cohen -. Bastien 315 (example c). RIC 69 Bust type F var (PORBI in error not listed in RIC) One of the examples cited by Bastien of 315 - the standard PROBI coin, 315c - Voetter, is also PORBI from the same reverse die. No examples cited in Bastien Suppl. II. 3.76 gms
Probus Obv:– IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG, Radiate cuirassed bust right Rev:– ORIES (sic) AVG, Sol walking left between two captives, right hand raised, left holding globe. Minted in Lugdunum (I in exe) Emission 2 Officina 1. from November to December A.D. 276 Reference:– Cohen -. Bastien 164c. RIC 44 Bust type F. ORIES for ORIENS 4.16 gms
Severus Alexander denarius Obv:– IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG, Laureate head right Rev:– VIRVS (sic) AVG, Virtus standing right, holding reversed spear and victory Minted in Antioch This reverse type is unlisted from Antioch though a couple of examples are now known of the type. This one also has VIRVS in place of VIRTVS. I need to update my image of this one.
Probus Obv:– IMP C PROBVS P • F • AVG, Radiate, cuirassed bust right Rev:– TEMPR FELICI (sic), Felicitas standing right, holding caduceus and cornucopiae Mint – Lugdunum (I in exe) Emission 6 Officina 1. A.D.278 to A.D. 279 Reference:– Cohen -. Bastien -. RIC 104 Bust type F var. Not listed in Bastien or RIC with this reverse legend error. TEMPR for TEMPOR 4.73 gms
I know Martin has this one, too, so I'll jump in now to show the extra RE in Septimius Severus / FORTVNAE REREDVC 'Emesa' denarius.
Septimius Severus denarius Obv:– IMP CAE L SPE(sic) SEV PERT AVG COS II, Laureate head right Rev:– M-ONET AVG, Moneta standing left, holding scales in right hand, cornucopiae in left Minted in Emesa. A.D. 194 - 195 References:- RIC -. RSC -. BMCRE -. SPE for SEP
Eastern mint Sep Sev misspelling his name Sev Sev. Vetranio mispelled Vertanio. And Liberalitas transformed into completely new deity Liberatas.
Some 'spelling' errors are not really spelling or errors but just the local language getting in the way. We regularly see letter R which is not used in Greek confused with B on coins of 'Emesa'. Many later Roman 'type styles' used what we would call an H for A. We call him Delmatius but many coins of the same man show DALMATIUS. I have seen experts blaim this sort of thing on illiterate workers miscopying text but often we have examples of people being literate in the wrong language. Is the coin below of Leo I (Constantinople mint) a spelling error or are you OK with using a lambda for the L?
Divus Vespasian AR Denarius, 2.92g Rome Mint, 79-80 AD RIC T359a (C). BMC T124. RSC 149. Obv - DIVVS AVGVSPVS (sic) VESPASIANVS; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r. Rev - Column mounted by shield and topped by urn, flanked by two laurels; in field, EX, on shield, S C
My favorite misspelling of the bunch Oh the poor boy "May good fortune return our soldiers again, and again"? Engraver efficiency? That's very interesting and something I hadn't thought about. I'd like to have such a coin.
Constantius Gallus - AE2 Obv:- D N CONSTANTIVS IVN NBO(sic) C, Bare headed draped & cuirassed bust right; A Rev:– FEL TEMP REPARATIO, Emperor standing left on galley, holding Victory on globe and labarum; Victory behind, steering galley Minted in Siscia (III | * // BSIS) Reference:– RIC VIII Siscia 329 var (would be C but obverse legend error) 5.16 gms. 23.42 mm. 180 degrees NBO for NOB
I can provide two Magnus Maximus, Siliqua struck in Treveri, 2nd officina D N MAG MAX IMVS P F AVG, draped, cuirassed and diademed bust right VIRTVS RO MASORVM (sic !!) Roma seated facing, holding globe and spear. TRPS at exergue 1.91 gr Ref : Cohen # 20 var, Roman coins # 4201 Arcadius, AE 2 struck in Alexandria, 3rd officina D N ARCADIVS P F AVG, Diademed bust of Arcadius right VIRTS EXERCITI (sic !), Arcadius, standing right, a captive at right foot, holding globe and standard. ALE gamma at exergue 6.28 gr Ref : RIC # 18, RC #4230, LRBC #2896 var Q
Julia Domna. AR denarius, Emesa mint. Obv: IVLA [sic] DO–MNA AVG Rev: VENER–I – V–ICTR. This is a die duplicate of a coin in the Barry Murphy Collection http://bpmurphy.ancients.info/severan/jdemesa2.htm, SEV-470
Elagabalus. AR denarius, Eastern mint. Obv: ANTONINVS PIVS FEL AVG. Rev: TENPORVM [sic] – FELIC (the F upside down).
Severus Alexander. AR denarius, Eastern mint. Obv: IMP C M AVR SEV ALEXAND AVG. Rev: AEQVITAS AV [sic]. The engraver had plenty of room here. Misspelling or non-standard abbreviation?