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<p>[QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 4402793, member: 75937"]During the reign of Gallienus, the Rome mint introduced a system of putting officina marks on coins. This may have been for purposes of quality control, helping to trace irregularities in coin weights and alloys.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here are examples from each officina. <i>Let's see your coins of Gallienus or Salonina with officina marks! </i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>At first, the Rome mint used a letter abbreviation for the Latin number of the officina, such as P, S, T, or Q (<i>prima, secunda, tertia, quarta</i>) for the first four officinae, and the Roman numerals V and VI for the fifth and sixth. They could not use the letter abbreviation for "fifth," <i>quinta</i>, because it would have been indistinguishable from Q for <i>quarta</i>, or for "sixth," <i>sexta</i>, because it would have been indistinguishable from S for <i>secunda</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p>P (=Prima, meaning "first"):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1106423[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>S (=Secunda, meaning "second"):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1106425[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>T (=Tertia, meaning "third"):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1106426[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Q (=Quarta, meaning "fourth"):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1106427[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>V (="fifth"):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1106428[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>VI (="sixth):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1106460[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>But by late in the reign, the number of officinae was expanded to 12, necessitating a change in the numbering system. As Jim Phelps* explains, "officinae numbers 1-8 used Greek numerals, while 9 used Nu (N), which normally meant 50. The normal Greek letter for 9 was Theta (Θ), but this was also the first letter of the Greek word for death, Thanatos, and seems to have been considered unlucky. Officinae 10-12 went back to typical Roman numerals, providing a mixed and sometimes confusing pattern." I personally think Phelps errs in his explanation for the ninth officina; the most likely explanation for using N for nine is not that it is the Greek letter nu, but that it is an abbreviation for the Latin <i>nona</i>, meaning "ninth."</p><p><br /></p><p>Phelps, discussing coins of the so-called "zoo series," explains that "each officina produced a different coin within the series, with some producing a second, less common type also." He provides this table, which makes this readily apparent:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1106422[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>A (Alpha, officina 1):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1106429[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>B (Beta, officina 2):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1106430[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Γ (Gamma, officina 3):</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1106431[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>~~~</p><p><br /></p><p>* Jim Phelps, “NumisWiki - The Collaborative Numismatics Project - Thousands Of Online Numismatic Books, Articles And Pages. Gallienus+Zoo.” <i>Forum Ancient Coins</i>, <a href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Gallienus%2BZoo" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Gallienus%2BZoo" rel="nofollow">www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Gallienus%2BZoo</a>.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 4402793, member: 75937"]During the reign of Gallienus, the Rome mint introduced a system of putting officina marks on coins. This may have been for purposes of quality control, helping to trace irregularities in coin weights and alloys. Here are examples from each officina. [I]Let's see your coins of Gallienus or Salonina with officina marks! [/I] At first, the Rome mint used a letter abbreviation for the Latin number of the officina, such as P, S, T, or Q ([I]prima, secunda, tertia, quarta[/I]) for the first four officinae, and the Roman numerals V and VI for the fifth and sixth. They could not use the letter abbreviation for "fifth," [I]quinta[/I], because it would have been indistinguishable from Q for [I]quarta[/I], or for "sixth," [I]sexta[/I], because it would have been indistinguishable from S for [I]secunda[/I]. P (=Prima, meaning "first"): [ATTACH=full]1106423[/ATTACH] S (=Secunda, meaning "second"): [ATTACH=full]1106425[/ATTACH] T (=Tertia, meaning "third"): [ATTACH=full]1106426[/ATTACH] Q (=Quarta, meaning "fourth"): [ATTACH=full]1106427[/ATTACH] V (="fifth"): [ATTACH=full]1106428[/ATTACH] VI (="sixth): [ATTACH=full]1106460[/ATTACH] But by late in the reign, the number of officinae was expanded to 12, necessitating a change in the numbering system. As Jim Phelps* explains, "officinae numbers 1-8 used Greek numerals, while 9 used Nu (N), which normally meant 50. The normal Greek letter for 9 was Theta (Θ), but this was also the first letter of the Greek word for death, Thanatos, and seems to have been considered unlucky. Officinae 10-12 went back to typical Roman numerals, providing a mixed and sometimes confusing pattern." I personally think Phelps errs in his explanation for the ninth officina; the most likely explanation for using N for nine is not that it is the Greek letter nu, but that it is an abbreviation for the Latin [I]nona[/I], meaning "ninth." Phelps, discussing coins of the so-called "zoo series," explains that "each officina produced a different coin within the series, with some producing a second, less common type also." He provides this table, which makes this readily apparent: [ATTACH=full]1106422[/ATTACH] A (Alpha, officina 1): [ATTACH=full]1106429[/ATTACH] B (Beta, officina 2): [ATTACH=full]1106430[/ATTACH] Γ (Gamma, officina 3): [ATTACH=full]1106431[/ATTACH] ~~~ * Jim Phelps, “NumisWiki - The Collaborative Numismatics Project - Thousands Of Online Numismatic Books, Articles And Pages. Gallienus+Zoo.” [I]Forum Ancient Coins[/I], [URL='http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Gallienus%2BZoo']www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Gallienus%2BZoo[/URL].[/QUOTE]
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