Hi all! I bought this in one of the big lots I bought recently, and it appears to be an antoninianus of Tetricus I, with SPES AVGG reverse, and IMP C TETRICVS AVG on the obverse. RIC does list an antoninianus of Tetricus I with SPES AVGG on the reverse (rated common by RIC, although I can't seem to find any examples online), but with either IMP TETRICVS P F AVG (definitely not this) or IMP C TETRICVS P F AVG (not this, as there isn't space for the P F on the obverse). This reverse is readily available with Tetricus II, but not Tetricus I, so this might be a mule. The first picture is of just the coin, while the second picture is the coin, but with letters added (green is what I can definitely see, orange is what I can sort of see, while red is an educated guess). This coin is also much nicer in hand, so I can probably see more detail than the pictures suggest. The coin weighs 2.09g, and is 19mm in diameter. Can anyone help? Thanks! Edit: Have managed to find one coin with this obverse legend, but not reverse legend on OCRE. No luck on ACSearch or CoinArchives http://coins.lib.virginia.edu/id/1987.46.17
..i would have to concur with my grumpy old friend here....barbarous i believe sir...but nice none the less for what it is and collectable....i collected the "tets" of the Gallic empire recently meself..
Very, very impressionistically, the sense I get is that even within barbarous imitations of Gallic emperors, the stylistic range is pretty wide. Some, like yours looks to be, and to second @dltsrq and @ominus1, have enough stylization to distinguish them from official issues, but are still pretty creditable as knockoffs.
...Sorry, @ominus1, I was being stupidly elliptical again. Yours is as real as they come. I was still referring to @Harry G's example.
Barbarous radiates are almost as interesting as the official issues. What with the problem of lack of enough coins in circulation to support the economy.
I strongly suspect my only Tetricus is also barbarous. I like this coin. A barbarous imitation has its rightful place in history and numismatics. The obverse portrait doesn't "seem" official enough and the reverse looks to me like an alien looking right side.
I have a Tetricus II which is not barbarous but is so crude on the reverse that one might think it is.
Interesting coin @Harry G . First thing, RIC is completely obsolete about the Gallic Empire rulers. I suggest you use the Jerome Mairat 840 pages study from 2014 sadly never published : https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:5...afe_filename=Volume_1.pdf&type_of_work=Thesis The obverse legend (if exact) of your coin is not very common, and not used with the SPES AVGG reverse legend neither for Tetricus I or II. Is it a mule ? Mairat is using the word "mule" for examples with a reverse of 2 different Emperors (e.g. an obverse of Victorinus and reverse of Tetricus). "Hybrid" is used for specimen with an obverse of Tetricus I and a reverse of Tetricus II ( or vice versa). Is it the case for your coin ? It's a possibility, but as other members replied before, there is a strong possibility that it is an ancient imitation. Here are some statistics about different hoards found in Britain : There are several hundred contemporary copies for each of Victorinus, Tetricus I and Tetricus II recorded and it is sometimes difficult to separate poor quality official coins from good contemporary copies, although the latter are often slightly stylised or have errors in the dies or legends that would point to them being copies. In all cases, poor quality and small flans, as well as coins that are struck with unusual die axes between the obverse and reverse dies, can be indications that the coin is a copy rather than a product of one of the official mints. Of course, given the Gallic rulers are usurpers where the line between official and unofficial mint lies is another matter entirely! Hoping that it will help you in your research.
I have one of Tetricus that is a SPES reverse. I collect mainly the Roman Republic, so it is much harder for me to truly have an eye for these being "official" or "barbarous"... LOL, they ALL look "barbarous" to me! The Empire (yes, I understand that this was the Gallic Empire portion), seemed so tired and wore out by this time, and was reflected in the quality of coinage compared to much earlier. Ooops, my SPES is of his son, Tet II RI Tetricus II 273-274 CE BI Ant SPES w Flower
