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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 2851440, member: 19463&quot;]These coins are great for people who like to seek out die links.&nbsp; There are some that are known only from one die pair but more that share dies with other types as Martin demonstrated above.&nbsp; This shows that those two coins were made around the same time in the same place unless we can find something odd that suggests otherwise.&nbsp; One theory that will never be proven but that explains all the die links.&nbsp; What if (wild guess follows) that each day the obverse dies and the reverse dies were locked up separately and each morning they were passed out randomly to striking teams.&nbsp; After hours work would require cooperation between an obverse person and a reverse person.&nbsp; This theory makes sense when to see some obverse dies used with several reverses.&nbsp; The most I have seen is over a dozen but I do not own many with that obverse so all you see here is my set of six reverses used with the same obverse.</p><p><img src="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/die03.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>I no longer believe this theory but I do not have a good one to replace it.&nbsp; If this were the explanation we should have more examples of one reverse used with several obverses.&nbsp; Lets trot out another wild guess:&nbsp; Each night all reverse dies in use were destroyed but the obverses were kept.&nbsp; That would do even more to prevent after hours striking but would require a night shift engraver to cut a replacement in time for opening.&nbsp; That one is too far fetched for me even.&nbsp; Better brains need to be storming before this one is settled.&nbsp; Where were these coins struck?&nbsp; Traditional wisdom placed the mint at Emesa.&nbsp; Some suspect a mint operation travelling with the army.&nbsp;&nbsp; If anyone knows, they have not yet tried let alone convinced me.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>We have to be careful not to jump to conclusions as to what our evidence proves as opposed to only suggests.&nbsp; The paper that figures this out will have trouble when it comes time for &#039;peer review&#039;.&nbsp; Where will they dig up the peers?&nbsp; Being an expert in the Rome mint coins of any period will hardly qualify someone to follow all the oddities of this group of coins.&nbsp; The best we can do is wait for a hobbyist (known or unknown to us) to figure out the meaningful characteristics and identify the random happenings.&nbsp; One expert has denied there is any meaning to the one to three dots following the reverse legends of some coins (who here noticed them in the above samples?).&nbsp; I can not prove him wrong.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Are there a similar opportunities for study in the coinage of other rulers?&nbsp; &nbsp; I can&#039;t prove that either.&nbsp; </p><p><img src="http://www.sportinglifearkansas.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/magic-8-ball-150x150.png" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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