SMKD exergue...am I seeing things?

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Steven Michael Gardner, Aug 4, 2020.

  1. Steven Michael Gardner

    Steven Michael Gardner Well-Known Member

    I have never seen or heard of an exergue of SMKD for a Cyzicus Constantinopoli,
    so I am assuming it is SMKB but I wish my eyes would tell me that..?
    Please confirm that it is a B so I can sleep tonight..!
    113-CONSTANTINOPOLIS.jpg
    SMKB.png
    1133-CONSTANTINOPOLIS.jpg
     
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  3. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Sure as heck looks like a "D" to me? o_O
     
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  4. Pishpash

    Pishpash Well-Known Member

    Have you checked Dane's RIC lists?
     
  5. Ocatarinetabellatchitchix

    Ocatarinetabellatchitchix Well-Known Member

    No SMKD in RIC volume VII. Maybe it's a gamma (Ⲅ) with a runny nose...
     
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  6. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    I agree.
     
  7. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    I have come across a couple of officina letter B's that look like D's. I just have to accept it, regardless of what my eyes tell me!
     
  8. Hermann Watzlawik

    Hermann Watzlawik Well-Known Member

    I have found some coins with SMKD:
    THEODOSE I Cysique en 379-383 Nummus
    AE 4 . 19 mm . 1,57 g
    VOT V SMKD (Atelier Cysique) RIC IX 20c

    provenance : coll. Dumez Numsmatique
    see: https://www.colleconline.com/de/ite...-theodose-ier-le-grand-379-395-nummus-cysique

    and another one:
    Martinian Æ Follis. 324 AD. IM C S MAR MARTINIANVS P F AVS, radiate, draped & cuirassed bust right / IOVI CONSERVATORI, Jupiter standing left, holding Victory on globe in right hand & scepter in left; to left, eagle standing left, head right with wreath in beak; to right, bound captive seated right; X/IIG/SMKD. Cohen 2.
    Source: CNG Coins

    [​IMG]
    MONEDA ROMANA DEL EMPERADOR CONSTANTE CECA SMKD CYZICUS se puede limpiar más ,moneda original con pátina natural.se manda la moneda de la foto
    from: https://www.todocoleccion.net/moned...nte-ceca-smkd-cyzicus~x58365421#sobre_el_lote
     
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  9. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    The Martinian is clearly a delta and not a D but many of us use D being unprepared to put in the Greek alphabet.
     
  10. Hermann Watzlawik

    Hermann Watzlawik Well-Known Member

    you are right, but the other 2 should be a D, am I right?
     
  11. Victor_Clark

    Victor_Clark all my best friends are dead Romans Dealer

    These coins are using Greek to number the workshops -- A, B, Γ, Δ etc.; so no possibility of D.
     
  12. Steven Michael Gardner

    Steven Michael Gardner Well-Known Member

    OK, so now that it has been made crystal clear, no chance of it being a D,
    and I am to take my best intuitive guess at what it was intended to look like...
    I am leaning toward a B, however there is a low % possibility of it being
    a gamma and even less % being a delta...! Am I dialed in yet???
    This has been informative!
     
  13. Victor_Clark

    Victor_Clark all my best friends are dead Romans Dealer

  14. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    Here's another example of a "B" in an exergue that I could have sworn was a "D"
    -- but can't possibly be one, because Greek letters were used for officina numbers for this type, and if the coin had been issued by the 4th Officina, a delta (Δ) would have been used. Another reason the letter has to be a "B" is that all coins of this particular "Gallienus Zoo" type were issued by the 2nd Officina:

    Gallienus, Billon Antoninianus, 267-268 AD, Rome Mint (2nd Officina). Obv. Radiate head right, GALLIENVS AVG /Rev. Tigress walking left, LIBERO P • CONS AVG; B in exergue. RIC V-1 230, RSC IV 586, Wolkow 19a2 [Cédric Wolkow, Catalogue des monnaies romaines - Gallien - L'émission dite "Du Bestiaire" - atelier de Rome (BNumis, édition 2019)], Göbl MIR [Moneta Imperii Romani] Band 36, No. 713(B), Sear RCV III 10281 [Tigress variety of these catalogue numbers; see http://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Liber Pater ]. 19 mm, 2.83 g., 6 h.

    Gallienus - Tigress - jpg version.jpg

    Detail Gallienus - Tigress - jpg version (2).jpg

    So yes, this is a "B."
     
  15. Steven Michael Gardner

    Steven Michael Gardner Well-Known Member

    I do hope that the engraver of these B's along with the quality control overseer were both sent to the mines, or became entertainment for the lions after putting out all of
    these D / B's...
     
  16. Steven Michael Gardner

    Steven Michael Gardner Well-Known Member

    That is a beauty of a coin, I love'm when the reverses are some interesting animals!
     
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  17. maridvnvm

    maridvnvm Well-Known Member

    Here is a retrograde B formed in much the same way.... except it now looks more like an E

    [​IMG]
     
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  18. Spaniard

    Spaniard Well-Known Member

    I have a Licinius .....HTB
    l black.jpg
     
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