Picked this up a couple days ago. The info I have on it is limited. I have been looking at various descriptions and it seems to be a relatively common coin with many different incantations. Info provided: Claudius II Antoninianus 268-270 AD. I believe it to be: Claudius II AE Antoninianus. Rome, AD 269. IMP C CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate cuirassed bust right / P M TR P II COS P P, Emperor standing left, holding branch and short sceptre. Can someone tell me how far I am off? Thanks, Gene
Yeah I figured that out. Are there any good sites like tesorillo but that cover earlier coins? Sorry to hijack OP's thread. I didn't mean to!
Prior to the Tetrarchs, Constantine Era, and onward, Imperial portraits are relatively identifiable. Repeatedly looking at portraits will serve you well. I used to know of a group of webpages which showed examples of Imperial portraits but that link has gone dead. Others probably exist. Another good exercise is to learn the various Imperial deities and personifications-- how they are portrayed, dressed, what accoutrements they have, etc. For learning that I used Doug's pages: Roman Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Personifications As for Imperial legends... well... I never really bothered to learn them . I should do that though. Who here can link a good page which breaks down the abbreviations and meanings? Seems like one was posted recently.
Here's a Claudius II from my collection, fyi. The reverse personification seems particularly well done for this time.
I actually don't either, and I had noticed that. Could be because of the small size of the flan, though.
http://www.ric.mom.fr/en/search/advanced The best we have for Claudius (actually Aurelian through Tacitus) is the above database. Their search features take a bit of getting used to and have no forgiveness for misspellings so ID of poor condition coins can be a problem. On the other hand, you can look at a thousand coins and might be lucky to find a match. Attitude problem: There are a thousand specialties in ancient coins and most of us that call ourselves general collectors only play in a couple hundred of them. TIF says she is not an expert. I agree but she does know ten times what most of the people here do so we all value her inexpertise. We do have some real experts lurking in the wings here but mot of them are expert IN one or two areas - maybe a hundred areas - but can not help with minor details of the other fields. When we have no answer, we are not being difficult. I will say one thing: When someone tells you he is an expert, 98% of the time he does not understand the word being used. My interest in coins of Claudius and a hundred other rulers does not go deeply enough to care if a bust is cuirassed or if it is a bust rather than a head. I have my specialties in which I have an opinion but there are cases where little details can consume specialists beyond my understanding. Lately we have been asked a lot for suggestions on books. I wish I could help but I have not seen 99% of the things written on coins in the last 200 years and have not bought many coin books (maybe 20) in the last 20 years. The Internet has been helpful to me. Those of you who know more about books should post more reviews telling us why and how they might help us. All I care to know on Claudius II is on the site linked. IMO, We are lucky to have that resource. http://www.ric.mom.fr/en/search/advanced
