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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;John Anthony, post: 2558917, member: 42773&quot;]I have a couple of nice ants in my stock at the moment. Here they are, with a little write-up (hope you don&#039;t mind)...</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius_Probus" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius_Probus" rel="nofollow">Marcus Aurelius Probus</a> distinguished himself in the military under emperors Valerian, Aurelian, and Tacitus. Tacitus’ death in 276 prompted Probus’ soldiers to proclaim him emperor, which the Senate ratified in 277. Probus fought a number of successful wars against Germanic tribes, but was eventually assassinated by his own troops. They may have been disgruntled at having to perform what they considered menial tasks, such as the draining of marshes and farming. Reminds me of one of my college buddies who joined the Navy and found himself stuck washing dishes for hours on end. “I joined the Navy, not a f--- diner!”</p><p><br /></p><p>At any rate, Emperor Probus was very nice to us future ancient numismatists and assiduously struck millions and millions of coins . The CLEMENTIA TEMP(orvm) ants are some of the easiest types to collect at low prices. Jupiter was thought to protect and patronize people in positions of authority - here he is seen handing the emperor Victory, while the inscription proclaims the gentleness or pleasantness of the times. (Given the turbulence of Probus’ reign, this may have been more wishful thinking than accurate description.)</p><p><br /></p><p>The meaning of XXI on these coins is generally understood to be a ratio: 20 parts of copper to one part of silver. Because of the silver content in the alloy, and the fact that many of these coins received a silver wash, they can present very different fabrics than that of bronze. Often the coins exhibit various shades of gold, copper, and blue. They rarely acquire hard mineral patinas as bronze does.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://s14.postimg.org/8e3th8ne9/probus_6.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="3">Probus, AD 276-282</font></p><p><font size="3">Bl Antoninianus, 3.4g, 21mm, 12h; Antioch mint.</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv.: IMP C M AVR PROBVS PF AVG; Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rev.: CLEMENTIA TEMP; Emperor standing right, holding scepter, receiving Victory from Jupiter; A, dot in field; XXI in exergue.</font></p><p><font size="3">Reference: RIC Vb 922, p. 120</font></p><p><br /></p><p>Here is another CLEMENTIA TEMP of Probus, but struck at the rare and somewhat mysterious mint of Tripolis. <a href="http://esty.ancients.info/Tripolis/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://esty.ancients.info/Tripolis/" rel="nofollow">Warren Esty (Valentinian) has an informative page on this mint here</a>. </p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://s10.postimg.org/72j9656rt/probus_tri_6.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="3">Probus, AD 276-282</font></p><p><font size="3">Bl Antoninianus, 3.5g, 24mm, 6h; Tripolis mint.</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv.: IMP C M AVR PROBVS PF AVG; Radiate, draped, cuirassed bust right.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rev.: CLEMENTIA TEMP; Emperor standing right, holding scepter, receiving globe from Jupiter; star in field; XXI in exergue.</font></p><p><font size="3">Reference: RIC Vb 927, p. 121</font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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