SYRIA Laodicea ad Mare Antoninus Pius AE 24 143 (Year 191)? Buste Tyche van Laodicea Hi Coinfriends, i purchased this nice special coin thinking it was a hadrian, with being busy with work hobby and family (not in that order) is did not look closely. On receival it was a very interesting Antoninus Pius unlisted in BMC the Counterstrike. Reference. BMC Greek (Galatia) 74.p256 var. with "Counterstrike" i'll Mail my coin to BM http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3458382&partId=1&images=true&people=25090&place=27683 73894 57863|41011&object=23360&matcult=24823&page=1 Obv. AYT KAI AI ADRI ANTWNEINOC CEB EY Laureate head left with countermark of laureate imperial head. Rev. IOVΛΙΕΩΝΤΩΝ ΚΑΙΛΑΟΔΙΚΕΩΝ (IOULIEONTON KAILAODIKEON) Bust of Tyche of Laodicea, right, wearing turreted headdress and bunches of grapes. Inscription. ΘΟΕ (THOE) 8.17 gr 24 mm
Cool addition ... I love countermarks!! That's a sweet mistake (does it feel kinda good getting something other than a Hadrian?)
This is a common "head of emperor in oval" countermark, and it has been recorded on many provincial issues. If the BMC doesn't have one on a coin of AP from Laodicea, that's not terribly noteworthy - the BMC does not pretend to catalog every known coin or variation. The Romans used countermarks in the provinces to remonetize older coins, or keep them monetized as the case may be. So one frequently finds the initials of a new emperor stamped onto an older emperor's coins. Sometimes the mark features the initials of a local governor, or a symbol, or BON(VM) - meaning "good," and sometimes, as on your coin, the bust of the new emperor. When it comes to the bust marks, it's sometimes difficult to attribute them because the marks are generally small, and not terribly well-detailed. I would say your mark could belong to any of several of A.P.'s successors - perhaps Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, or even Commodus.
hi John, thank you on your comment learning every day here, they BM can use it or not. i like helping out if needed .
It might be more useful to collectors to send the image and attribution to Wildwinds. There aren't too many coins of AP from Laodicea listed there, and only one of them has a countermark, and it is a different type than yours. Collectors refer to Wildwinds all the time, and it is constantly updated. AP on Wildwinds
All of the coin images and attributions on Wildwinds are contributed. It's a site by collectors, for collectors.
http://www.acsearch.info/library.html also all under 1 link, i use 10x a day acsearch just now noticed this.
ah yes i mistaked wildwinds with acsearch, dane uses sometimes my info. she has a account on our webpage. cheers, eric
