I did not not have a Probus in my collection, although I have wanted one for a while. I like their style and find them very appealing. However, as I generally buy groups of later coins, I just havent bumped into any. Yesterday I met a dealer/collector from my local area and bought a few coins from him. One was this coin, which i immediately spotted must have come from a hoard. The detail was there, but the fields were filled with a pale green hard deposit. I wish I had taken photos, because the transformation once I had soaked the coin in my witches brew was spectacular. I had no idea that the coin was silvered until I rubbed the green away with a cotton bud. The coin cost me £14 GBP, which I think was fair bearing in mind the condition it was in when I bought it, but I think its a bit better now. Please show me some of your Probus coins....the more silver the better!! ps. I cant make out the mint mark on this one...its R and then possibly a thunderbolt and another character?? 3.6g 22mm
R "thunderbolt" gamma? darn near flawless details on that bust! here's mine of the type, of of my 4 probus coins from 2015. PROBUS Antoninianus, 276-282 AD O: IMP PROBVS AVG Radiate, helmeted, cuirassed bust left, holding spear and shield. R: ADVENTVS AVG Emperor riding left hand raised, left holding sceptre; at foot, captive., R (star) S in ex. 20x24 mm, 3.8g Rome mint, RIC 157
Wow, what a beauty, YOC. Probus (276-282 AD) AE silvered Antoninianus A: IMP CM AVR PROBVS PF AVG, radiate bust in imperial mantle l., holding eagle-tipped sceptre. R: SOLI INVICTO / CM / XXIT, radiate Sol in spread quadriga, hand risen, holding whip. 22mm 3.8g Cyzicus, 3rd officina RIC Vb Cyzicus 911
I like Probus but don't have the rare ones like Martin may be showing. Instead I will address your statement: I have a real problem with silvering. 100% silver is great. 0% silver is fine with me. The problem comes when you have %0% silver arranged in a patchy pattern making it hard to see the designs. Probus has three major portrait styles: Plain, Military and Consular. Each has many variations including some really rare ones but a general collector might want one of each as a starter. Plain bust, little silver Tripolis mint Jupiter and emperor - KA alloy mark for 20:1 Same thing with silver - which is better? Military bust - very different but similar Serdica - no silver Siscia silvered Consular silvered Ticinum Consular patchy silver Siscia
Thanks Bing!. Doug, patchy silver siscia is my favourite from your selection. Beautiful. The reason I was interested in seeing heavily silvered is because my coin looks silver, not just silvered. I was interested to see how many really heavily silvered coins are out there as usually as you rightly pointed out, they look patchy. Lovely coins everyone, thanks . I am drooling to own some more.
great new addition YOC, love that obv. bust, added to my want list... heres my three Probus... Probus AE Antoninianus. Rome mint. IMP PROBVS AVG, radiate & cuirassed bust right / VICTORIA GERM, Trophy between two captives, R-dot in crescent-A in ex. RIC V 222, crescent 22mm 3.3g Refers to a victorious campaign in Gaul circa AD 278. Probus, AE Antoninianus, AD 276-282. Serdica. IMP CM AVR PROBVS AVG, radiate bust left, wearing imperial mantle, holding eagle-tipped sceptre / SOLI INVICTO, Sol, radiate, holding globe and raising right hand, standing in facing, spread quadriga. Mintmark: KA dot gamma dot, RIC V-2 Serdica 862 var (bust type and officina). 22.75mm 3.3g Probus AE Antoninianus. Antioch mint. 276-282 AD IMP C M AVR PROBVS P F AVG, radiate, draped & cuirassed bust right / CLEMENTIA TEMP, emperor standing right with sceptre, receiving Victory from Jupiter standing left with sceptre, A between. Mintmark XXI. RIC V 922, A
Now that's minty fresh! Love the detail on the shield and cuirass. No silvering... Patchy silvering...
I can only deduce that the cleaning methods employed by different dealers contribute to the silvering/patchy/no silvering. Most of the sharp coins in this thread are from hoards, that is irrefutable and certain acids I know dealers use will dissolve silver if left in too long, so poor timing and harsh cleaning methods sadly seem to be the contributing factors.
The OP coin is very nice. It looks like officina 3 - Gamma. This is the closest I have. Probus Obv:– IMP PROBVS AVG, Radiate, helmeted, cuirassed bust left, holding spear and shield Rev:– ADVENTVS AVG, Emperor riding left, right hand raised, left holding sceptre; at foot, captive Minted in Rome (R thunderbolt S (digamma) in exe) Emission 6 Officina 6. A.D. 280 Reference(s) – RIC 157 Bust Type G Martin
