At only 9.5mm this is my smallest Roman coin. It was difficult for me to photograph a coin of this size .. I will have to play with the lighting a bit more I think - a good portion of the wreath on the reverse is visible with a magnifying glass but I wasn't able to get that in the photo very well. The coin is pretty rough but most examples I have seen seem to be in fairly poor condition. The coin lacks a mintmark but came with an attribution of: Marcian AE4, monogram 9 in wreath, Thessalonika. Looking at Wildwinds - they list only 7 Marcian monograms in RIC (not 9)... the only one that lists a star above the monogram (instead of a cross) is: RIC X 559 Marcian, AE4, Nicomedia, 450-457 AD. DN MARCIANVS PF AVG, pearl diademed, draped, cuirassed bust right / Monogram type 2c within wreath with exergual line, star above. Mintmark NICO. RIC X 559; Sear 21396. I have been reading a Forvm thread and it seems there are a couple of other monograms that are not listed in RIC. The investigation continues.... Here is a quick/blurry phone image of the coin beside a denarius for scale: Please post any tiny Romans in your collection... and if you just so happen to have any further insight into my coin I would certainly appreciate it!
Dane Kurth to the rescue once again: Monograms on Late Roman, Visigoths, and Vandals Bronze Coins Scroll down to Marcian and you'll see a drawing of 16 monograms and their subtypes plus barbarous monograms. Yours does indeed look like #9 . Edited: it looks like 1C. I don't know which book the monogram chart came from. In case you or others missed a recent post (and many old posts), here's another extremely useful link to her page of exquisitely detailed spreadsheets covering dozens of different types of later Roman coins: http://www.catbikes.ch/coinstuff/coins-ric.htm Note that Wildwinds is and will always be a work in progress.
This Arcadius is my smallest attributable coin. I have a few culls that are even smaller but unidentifiable. Type: AE4 1.1 grams, Antioch mint - real desert patina Obverse: D N ARCADIVS P F AVG, diademed bust right Reverse: SALVS REIPVBLICAE, Victory Advancing Left
That is a fact. Even the better examples often would show half detail on the better side. If you look at enough coins you might find one you like but most of us are happy to get one we can tolerate. I like my Marcian even though the CON mintmark is 95% off flan. I bought it for $50 from Bill Porter 30 years ago. He should be at the Baltimore show next week (not this week) but he probably would ask more now. That list of Dane's is a good resource. Sometimes we get lucky and find a poor coin that is really very good by nothing short of dumb luck. Below is an AE4 of Leo I. It has a dirt filled natural hole all the way through the flan and the mintmark is completely gone. However it is off center in just the right way that the left side obverse legend is clear and you can see it is the variety using the Greek lambda in place of the L. That makes the coin special to me. Had it been off center the opposite direction it would have been just another scrappy coin. Some we win. Dan Clark $45, 20 years ago. Patience.
My Marcian monogram, needs a re-shoot: My best AE4 monogram is my Anastasius, arguably the last Roman bronze coin:
These are more interesting than pretty... Here's my modest Marcian Marcian, AE4 Diademed and draped bust right Marcian monogram in wreath 1.1 gr Ref : Roman coins # 4328 Q
Three more offenses against numismatic aesthetics: Marcian (Bronze) AE4 Constantinople mint, A.D. 450-457 Obv: D N MARCIANVS P F AVG Rev: Cross above monogram (#2), within wreath CON in exergue RIC 545 12mm, 1.1g Leo I (Bronze) AE4 Thessalonica mint? Obv: D N LE-ON VG? Rev: Monogram #1, within wreath. THS in exergue? RIC 681? 11mm, 1.3g Zeno (Bronze) AE4 Thessalonica mint, A.D. 476-491 (second reign) Obv: D N ZE-NO AVG or variant Rev: Monogram #1 within wreath THS in exergue RIC 958 10mm, 1.3g
I received this one last Saturnalia from my secret Saturnalia benefactor: Marcian, AD 450-457. Roman Æ nummus, 1.41 g, 10.3 mm, 12 h. Constantinople, AD 450-457. Obv: D N MARCIANVS P F AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust, right. Rev: Monogram in wreath: Ꚛ above; CON in exergue Refs: RIC 546; RCV 21395.
