PROBUS death

The third interpretation seems most convincing to me. The first two refer only to Probus and his life (biography) while this bust type was also struck by other emperors, not only Claudius II, but also subsequently by Constantine and Crispus - among others, who have different biographies.

On the other hand it is quite possible that all these emperors wanted to underline the importance of cavalry in victories. Incidentally there seem to have been some important improvements made to the functioning of the cavalry at that time (late IIIrd century and early IV century).

The fourth interpretation does not convince me since there are also other reverse types associated with this bust type (e.g.Soli Invicto or Virtvs Probi Avg).

I know the article you mentioned well and value it highly for its many pictures of this great bust type (not published anywhere else t my knowledge). However it shows two coins, one of which is an obvious modern forgery (coin no. 5 with Concordia Avg reverse and the alleged LEG II instricption on shield), while the other coin does not exist in reality - namely RIC 189. The author of RIC V clearly confused the obverse of a coin from siscia with the horse head bust and the reverse of a coin from Rome mint with ROMAE AETER reverse).

Anyway, this bust type is still missing in my collection and definitly is on my want list! a

 

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My humble contribution to the thread...

Probus BI Antoninianus. Rome, AD 276-282. IMP PROBVS AVG, radiate, helmeted and cuirassed bust left, holding spear and shield / ROMAE AETER, Roma, holding Victory and sceptre, seated within hexastyle temple; R*Γ in exergue. RIC 186. 3.58g, 21mm, 6h.

 

I recently bought this Probus, but I couldn't find this variant (RIC 733) of RESTITVT ORBIS, star above Z (retrograde), on your site.

 

Very interesting and rare variant! You can't find it on probvs.net because it's not there Your variant is also not included in the probuscoins.fr database.
It's also unlisted by Alfoldi! Congratulations!

Unfortunately for various reasons the probvs.net website will not be further developed in the foreseeable future so I suggest you notify your coin to Christophe Oliva - author of the probuscoins.fr website. He will surely include your variant in his database (though it make take some time).

 

i have something similar.... but different

RIC 734; Alföldi type 57, n° 6



I also have this retrograde oddity

Obv:– IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– CONCORD MILIT, Emperor standing right, clasping hand of Concordia.
Minted in Siscia (IV/XXI in exe) Emission 7 Officina 6. A.D. 280
Reference:– Alfoldi type 26, unlisted. RIC 651 Bust type C var. This error (IV instead of VI is not listed in RIC or Alfoldi)

 

Thank you !, both websites are excellent tools for collectors , I already used your database to identify and label one of my Probus coins.
In connection with the latest posts here, I observed than 50% of the 4965 coin types/variations from probuscoins.fr database are rare(R2 - less than 10 coins known) and very rare(R3 - less than 5 coins known). I don't think it's surprising to find out, given that there are so many combinations of : bust type , reverse type , obv or rev legends , mintmarks , emission , officina , etc..

 

I don't always agree with rarity grades of particular coins on probuscoins.fr (some are obviously overrated while others are obviously underrated) but I guess statistically speaking they are quite adequate and rightly show how many rare Probus variants are out there. Needless to say, the database is far from complete. A famous 19th century Austrian collector Alexander Missong gathered more than 11,000 different Probus coins which are now at the Kunsthistorishes Museum in Vienne. It remains the biggest Probus collection ever assembled to date.

It is particularly satisfying to find a variant which Missong did not have in his huge collection! I have quite a few of such variants ...

 

Nice coins Martin!

I also have some Probus coins with retrograde mintmarks:



By the way, the above first three coins will be hammered at the RDA auction on 22 November - see my post in the auction listings section of the forum for more details.