As a specialist collector that has been collecting a series for some time I have to resign myself to the fact that quite often the coins I am now chasing after are quite often relatively scarce. The side effects of this are twofold. It can be a long time between being able to find coins I am after to enhance the collection (fill gaps or upgrade) and along side many are sought after by other collectors too and as such they can demand a high price, which is often beyond my means. The result of this with my Probus Lugdunum collection is that I might only add 4 or 5 coins a year to it exactly for those two reasons i.e. I don't see things that often and when I do, such as at the Gysen collection auctioned last year the coins I am after go beyond my reach (well apart from one). 2019 has started well for me on this front as we are less than 3 weeks in and I have already added two coins to this collection. This thread is to share the first of those with some of the context around it. I am basing the emission allocation and dating on Bastien. Lugdunum was operating 4 officina (workshops) during this period and these were generally identified by the numerals I, II, III and IIII for the first eight emissions (issues) with a transition to A, B, C and D for emission 9. For this thread I am going to focus in on Emission 7, which is dated to the Summer of A.D. 281. The four officina seems to have had a clean separation of types that they were producing, which is not always the case. The reverse titles are all pushing a political message trying to reinforce the virtues of the Emperor, such as claiming Minerva and Hercules as being companions of the Emperor. We have to place this into the context that a year later Probus was killed by his troops. Officina 1 - COMITI PROBI AVG, Minerva standing left, holding olive-branch and spear and resting left hand on shield Officina 2 - MARTI VICTORI AVG, Mars standing left, holding laurel-branch and spear; to left behind him, shield (shield sometimes missing, perhaps in error since all examples without shield are from a single reverse die) Officina 3 - SPES PROBI AVG, Spes walking left, holding flower and raising robe Officina 4 - COMITI PROBI AVG, Hercules standing left, holding olive-branch, club and lion skin Officina 1 only uses two obverse legends IMP C PROBVS P F AVG (with and without dots in the obverse legend) Which appears with two bust types Radiate, cuirassed bust right (Bastien 315 (dots) and 316 (no dots)) We also find the reverse error legend COMITI PORBI AVG (Bastien 315c double die match) Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right (seen from the front) (Bastien 314) IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG (Bastien 313, citing 4 known examples), Onberse die match to Bastien 313a This is my newest addition - no examples on Wildwinds or Probvs.net I know that it isn't in great shape but I don't know when, if ever, I will see another Officina 2 only uses two obverse legends IMP C PROBVS P F AVG (with and without dots in the obverse legend) Which appears with four bust types Radiate cuirassed bust right Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from the front My search continues for this variant Radiate bust leaft wearing imperial mantle, holding Victoriola Only one example known and my hopes of ever finding one that I can afford is VERY slim IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from the rear Officina 3 only uses two obverse legends IMP C PROBVS P F AVG (with and without dots in the obverse legend) Which appears with two bust types Radiate cuirassed bust right Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from the front My search continues for this variant IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from the rear Officina 4 only uses two obverse legends IMP C PROBVS P F AVG (with and without dots in the obverse legend) Which appears with four bust types Radiate cuirassed bust right My search continues for this variant Radiate cuirassed bust right (seen from the rear) My search continues for this variant Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from the front Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from the rear My search continues for this variant IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from the rear Martin (sharing his obsession one post at a time)
Congratulations on acquiring Bastien 313. I think it's a fine example of the coin and you shouldn't apologize for its state of preservation. As you say, you may not come across another. I find such in-depth study of a series fascinating and admire those who are able to pursue such studies over a lifetime.
Thanks for sharing all of this detail. I’ve developed a lot of interest in Probus coins because of the general detail and quality of the strikes and their affordability. I want to collect more but still not entirely sure of the road to take. I’m tempted to go after one of every reverse legend outside of aureus coins. Probably not feasible but fun to try anyway. I look forward to any other Probus coins you post. I just added this one to my EQVITI Ticinum series II. (Photo from seller)
I think I recall a CNG Probus labeled "Unique" that sold for $1000 several years ago. I feel your pain....as they say these days.
Congrats on getting such a rare coin to add to your collection. I love the coins of Probus, but find precious few resources to devote to his coinage after several other collecting areas are addressed. Still, I keep coming back to then due to the artistic quality and strong strikes. This is my favorite coin of Probus from my collection.
I have a real soft spot for the second issue of Rome too, which is where that coin comes from @TheRed . I did try and focus on that for a while but I became spread too thin in my collecting focus. I still have many coins from that issue. Here are just a few of my ADVENTVS PROBI AVG examples from that issue:-
@PeteB Unfortunately there are many, many coins from Emission 5 which I will never get. These typically have the "fancy" busts for Lugdunum and a bust such as "Radiate bust left in imperial mantle, holding sceptre surmounted by eagle" which would be common enough from any other mint is probably going to evade me as the only ones I have seen come to market since 2000 have been over $1000. This isn't helped by many auction houses mis-attributing coins without mintmarks from othermints such as Serdica to Lugdunum and asking stratospheric prices.
