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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;maridvnvm, post: 4669393, member: 31620&quot;]Rarity can come down to the absolute degree to which we determine difference too.</p><p><br /></p><p>Are coins of Probus difficult to find? - NO</p><p>Are coins of Probus from Lugdunum difficult to find? - NO</p><p>Are coins of Probus from Lugdunum from the 9th emission (using letters as mintmarks) difficult to find? - NO</p><p>Are coins of Probus from Lugdunum of the type &quot;Felicitas standing right, holding caduceus and cornucopiae&quot; from the 9th emission difficult to find? - NO</p><p>How does RIC describe scarcity? - COMMON</p><p>Are there specialist publications that post date RIC and what do they have so say about scarcity? - IT DEPENDS ON THE VARIATION (Obverse legend, Bust type and officina mark positioning)</p><p>Are there lots of variations? - YES</p><p><br /></p><p>Let&#039;s see a few....</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Example 1</b></p><p>Obv:– IMP C PROBVS • P • F • AVG, Radiate, cuirassed bust right</p><p>Rev:– TEMPOR FELICIT, Felicitas standing right, holding caduceus and cornucopiae</p><p>Minted in Lugdunum (B in left field) Emission 9, Officina 2. January to August A.D. 282</p><p>Reference:– Cohen 727. Bastien 386 (39 examples cited). RIC 129 Bust type F (Common)</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10618/RI%20132bs%20img.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p>How many examples are there on ACSearch of this exact type? - 23</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Example 2</b></p><p>As above but</p><p>Minted in Lugdunum (B in <b>right </b>field) Emission 9, Officina 2. January to August A.D. 282</p><p>Reference:– Cohen 727. Bastien 397 (17 examples cited). RIC 129 Bust type F</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10618/RI%20132es%20img.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p>How many examples are there on ACSearch of this exact type? - 5</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Example 3</b></p><p>As above but</p><p>Minted in Lugdunum (B in exe) Emission 9, Officina 1. January to August A.D. 282</p><p>Reference:– Cohen 727. Bastien 439 (2 examples cited). RIC 129 var. Bust type F (officina position not listed in RIC) </p><p><img src="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10618/RI_132df_img.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>How many examples are there on ACSearch of this exact type? - 0</p><p><br /></p><p>I have seen one further example of this sold in the past 15 years which did not note the variation. This further example was NGC slabbed and graded AU. Discussions with Dr. S. Estiot would seem to confirm that there are still only four examples known to her including mine and the additional example I saw.</p><p><br /></p><p>Is there anything numismatically interesting about this 3rd example? - YES (POSSIBLY). All coins of the Example 3 type are known from a single die pair and this reverse die is the <b>only reverse die to place a letter in the exe </b>rather than in the left or right fields. As such it <b>MIGHT</b> be an indication of an unknown 10th emission cut short by the death of Probus.</p><p><br /></p><p>ACSearch results seem to back up the relative scarcity illustrated by Bastien with examples with the officina mark in the left field being relatively more common than example with the officina mark in the right field, with examples with the officina mark in the exe being much less common.</p><p><br /></p><p>Does this impact on price?</p><p><br /></p><p>Examples of coins with the officina mark in the left or right field sell for between $50 and $180 from dealers depending on the grade with no real differentiation in the price based on the position of the officina mark. I think that this makes sense as neither is particularly scarcer than the other.</p><p><br /></p><p>The fourth example of the officina mark in exe sold earlier this year for $110 (fixed price) from a dealer in the USA and I might have bought it at that were it not for the additional cost of shipping, handling, import duty etc. which added a further $80 to that particular coin. I already had one and was not quite willing to pay that level of premium to own two. I would say that the variation doesn&#039;t necessarily demand a premium for being significantly scarcer.</p><p><br /></p><p>Martin[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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