I'm just getting started and have bought my first coin. It is a Herennia Etruscilla antoninianus. I've looked it up in the copy of Aorta I acquired and narrowed it down to four lines that list the same bust, obverse, reverse, and type. The first 3 lines are from the Rome mint. First has no qualifier, second says Obv. exe: **, and third says Obv. exe: IV. The fourth line is from a different mint. 1) What do those qualifiers mean? Maybe it says somewhere in the text at the front of the book, but with my old eyes and the small print I can't find it. 2) If there is no mint mark, can I assume it is from Rome? Thanks in advance.
I think exe is an abbreviation for exergue. Exergue is the field below the relief design at the bottom of a coin. ** and IV might be mint marks. I'm not a specialist in Herennia Etruscilla and don't have a copy of AORTA handy (sorry), but here's a previous CoinTalk thread on the subject: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/he...styles-and-mints-its-confusing-indeed.308030/ The ** might indicate two dots below the bust (examples shown in the thread linked above), although I'm not sure why the author of AORTA would choose to represent the dots with asterisks instead of bullets like this •• For antoninianii of Herennia Etruscilla and other Crisis of the Third Century coinage, I recommend picking up a copy of Roman Silver Coins, Vol. IV by Seaby and Sear as an easy-to-use reference.
I don't have a coin of Herennia Etruscilla that shows this point but Trebonianus Gallus issued similarly this coin from the third workshop with ... in exergue (at bottom of both sides). ...and this coin from workshop six (VI).
I mentioned not having an Antioch mint coin of Herennia Etruscilla with the officina marks in exergue but should have mentioned that they are rare compared to the Rome mint coins. If you have one, we really would like to see a photo. For that matter, we like to see photos fom any coins that pertain to questions asked on the list. Remember a picture is worth 10,000 words and we will get bored and stop reading a long time before you get to 10,000 words so post a picture and you will find this list much more helpful. Since I have posted over 13,000 posts on CT, I don't expect anyone to read my words anymore but I am happy if hey look at the pictures. Welcome.
Wow...thanks for all the responses. I'm away for a few days but will post pictures when I get back. Especially like that long discussion that benhur pointed me to.
