A SINGULAR GROUP OF PONTIANUS DIES FOR MACRINUS & DIADUMENIAN AT MARCIANOPOLIS
A coherent group of obverse dies almost all with confronted heads of Macrinus and Diadumenian seems significant because, though they are very similar to one another, there are many of them. The die-engraver’s style is assured, but some of the engraving is very hasty. They are the only Marcianopolis dies where the son’s head not infrequently faces right, his father’s left, and neither of them in that case is a draped bust. They all have two or more lines completing the obverse legend underneath the confronted heads. Finally, they are the only Marcianopolis obverse dies for Macrinus and Diadumenian some of which look as if they could be contemporary with the dies made for reverses signed by Pontianus at Nicopolis ad Istrum.
The obverse with confronted portraits, of course, always invited using the space below them to complete the second name, of an empress or of a Caesar (as of Geta to l. facing Caracalla to r.). The Macrinus and Diadumenian group, however, stand out, not only because they drastically affect the typography of page after page in AMNG I, 1 , pp. 236–248, but for their other peculiarities. The alternative die links, with otherwise known dies (not purpose made for these issues), cannot be fully accounted for here; there are many, and my own amassment overlaps but does not fully correspond to that of Hristova and Jekov, Marcianopolis, revised edition, 2006, or that illustrated in Varbanov Gr. Imp. Coins, Engl. ed., 2005. Each includes some coins not listed by Behrendt Pick, in Die antiken Münzen Nord-Griechenlands, I, 1, 1898, and all of us lack some that he knew. AMNG and my collected specimens and Marcianopolis, however, all tell the same tale—however that should be interpreted.
For these reasons, they need to be set forth systematically. First the dies with the Emperor facing right (as usual) are listed according to the content of the legends, then the dies with Diadumenian facing right. The reverse dies (not just the subjects but, so far as possible, the specific dies) used with those obverse dies will be subsumed, with their own reverse legends.
The intent is to discover whether the impression of a real flurry of perhaps intense production of pentassaria is evidenced by these dies and then to compare them, where their character seems to require, with some die pairs issued by Pontianus at Nicopolis. It is not expected that any actual reconstruction of what was going on can be made, but (as always in these fourteen months with three governors) to understand that any more exact picture of the minting production is important. In AMNG I, 1, as well as in Hristova and Jekov’s Markianopolis, the listing is by the subject of the reverse die, so that (useful as that may be) they scatter these dies throughout.
I. MACRINUS TO RIGHT, CONFRONTED BUSTS, DIADUMENIAN NAMED ONLY ANTONINUS.
AV K OPEL SEVÊ MAKREINO S K M OPEL and below ANTÔNEI / NO S, the RE in Makreinos a ligature. This obverse, Pick 718, Æ29, ex Löbbecke, is also that, as he noted, of nos. 725 and 743.
1. Æ27. Zeus, half draped, stg. to l., making a libation over a burning altar. This is Pick 718, but the same reverse description is given for no. 717; see the Zeus reverses HrJ6.24.1.14. http://www.diadumenian.com/Marcianopolis%20mac%20dia%20zeus%20altar.html , no. 5.94, or http://www.forumancientcoins.com/bacchus/index.html, where it is no. 5.83. Private collection, N. Ireland..
2. Æ27 Demeter, stg., holding scepter but with grain ears in her l. hand. Notice the fringed, or blanket-stitched, edge to her garment. Pick 725, HrJ 6.24.5.1. For a good image of a better preserved reverse, http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=11157&AucID=10&Lot=606
3. Æ27-8 Apollo stg. l., holding bow in his l. hand, making libation over an altar with his r., with hair, stance, and body proportions in the descent from the Kassel Apollo. Square E for the value mark at r. in field. Not in Pick or HrJ with this reverse die.
4. With frontal Apollo (or Bonus Eventus), head to l.. http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=12413&AucID=11&Lot=878And, in a later auction, one with a ‘normal’ obverse and a variant reverse, with the value mark, square E, in r. field, HrJ 6.24.7.5, see http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=33769&AucID=37&Lot=542 A variant of this reverse die (without –TÔN in the exergue) is used with the draped busts of the present heading, HrJ 6.24.7.8. Consideration of these Apollo coins, where he is in the pose similar to Bonus Eventus but has the laurel twig and the chignon of Apollo, in their multiple reverse variant dies and pairings, serves to illustrate why this list cannot include all the combinations that may exist, at this time.
Malcolm Megaw has a nice HrJ 6.24.7.8 on his Diadumenian site: http://www.diadumenian.com/marcianopolis5.html, no. 5.9, or to http://www.forumancientcoins.com/bacchus/index.html, where it is no. 5.8, citing HrJ 7.11, the latterr with a different obv. die. The common Apollos are not easy to distinguish in small images.
5. Mkt Gorny122, 1664 http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=46275&AucID=50&Lot=1664 This is not a “var” of Pick 745’s obverse (a ‘normal’ confronted busts, with continuous legend), but it is exactly the reverse of Pick 745 = reverse of HrJ 6.24.20.5 (which, however, has a Diadumenian facing right and three lines below heads for its obverse). Here, again, the important fact is that this particular Asklepios reverse may be used with the present obverse.
6. Æ 26 Hygieia stg. r. with a muscular snake diagonally across her body, holding a ‘spilling’ patera in her l. hand. This reverse is not in Pick or HrJ, but the HrJ 6.24.21. 2 has a different Hygieia, to l., with the present obverse.
II. MACRINUS TO RIGHT, CONFRONTED HEADS, DIADUMENIAN GIVEN BOTH HIS NAMES.
AV K OPPEL SEVÊ MAKRINOS K M and below OPPEL ANTÔ / NINOS DIA / DOVME[N?]
7. Æ26 [AV K OPPEL] SEVÊ MAKRINOS K M and below OPPEL ANTÔ / [N]INOS DIA / [D]OVME[N?]. The obv. die of Pick 738 and 744, letter for letter. Rev., Zeus std. l., half draped, short beard; no eagle. HrJ 6.24.1.5. Cf. Pick 714–6.
8. Æ26 (same obv. die as the last, with complementary gaps). Rev., Homonoia stg. l, wearing kalathos; she pours a libation over a flaming, garlanded altar. HrJ 6.24.36.2.
9. Æ28 AV [K M] OPPEL SEVÊ MAKREINOS K M and below OPPE ANTÔN / INOS DIADO / VMEN. This is the obv. die of Pick 748, which has an Asklepios reverse. Note the split -OV- disphthong. Rev., Homonoia stg. l., but in different style from the last, a slender and plain altar, and the rounded E in right field. This is the reverse of Pick 764, Taf. XVIII, 34, and the die pair is HrJ 6.24.36.3. A closely similar alt. rev. die Busso Peus Auction 378, 987.
10. Æ27 AV K OPPEL SEVÊ MAKREINOS K and below M OPPEL ANTÔ / NINOS DIADO / MENIA (note the K included in the circumference legend, so this is the only obv. legend that gets as far as -MENIA). Note that this is not the obv. legend of Pick 746. Rev., Beardless Asklepios, head to l., himation covering his l. shoulder, leaning with his r. on his snake staff; in the rev. exergue, only -ÔN (Pick 745 and 746 have -LITÔN there). HrJ 6.24.20.6.
III. DIADUMENIAN TO RIGHT, CONFRONTED HEADS, DIADUMENIAN GIVEN BOTH HIS NAMES.
AV K OPPEL SEVÊ MAKREINOS and below K M OPPEL AN / TÔNINOS DI / ADOVME
For the principal die, that of nos. 12–14, note the V at exactly 12h ; on most of them a ding in the die just below the V appears in relief on the coins. Those that may end in ADOVMEN are listed here, following.
11. Æ27 AV K OPPEL SEVÊ MAKREINOS (the mu and alpha unclear) and below K M OPPEL AN / TÔNINOS DI / ADOVME. Rev., Youthful Zeus, half draped in himation, to l. making libation over a burning altar. -ÔN in exergue.
12. Æ27 AV K OPPEL SEVÊ MAKRE[INOS] and below K M OPPEL AN / TÔNINOS D[I] / ADOVME. Rev., Tyche with rudder and cornucopiae, seated l., -TÔN in exergue.
13. Æ27. Rev., Cybele, wearing kalathos, seated leaning her l. elbow on tympanum and, in her r. hand, holding patera, on throne flanked by lions, to l. Private collection, New Mexico
14. 16 07 03 Æ27 (11.85g) [AV K OPPEL] SEVÊ MAKREINOS and below K M OPPEL AN / TÔNINOS DI / ADOVME (almost certainly without -N). Rev., Bearded, half draped river god (his right arm on a prow or holding a twig, as Pick suggests from the Löbbecke specimen), leaning on rocks or the like and holding a reed in his l. Pick notes this obv. die, also, with his no. 746, on which, however, the obv. legend ends in -N, as it does also with the female personification, identified in Forvm Discussion as Moesia, Pick 755: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=25011.0 , a superb coin of this kind). Pick 754, Taf. XVIII, 6; rev. only HrJ 6.24.32.1.
15. Æ27 AV K OPPEL SEVÊ MAKRINOS and below K M OPPEL AN / TÔNINOS DI / ADOVME. Rev., Dikaiosyne with cornucopiae and scales, to l. The obv. is that of the foregoing, and the legend matches, also, that of the Hera, below, and Pick 723, but seems to be a closely similar, different die. Courtesy of Warren Esty collection. Another specimen, http://www.vcoins.com/ancient/nemesis/store/viewItem.asp?idProduct=4409&large=0 .
The Dikaiosyne is Pick 761, which has, as Pick says, the same obverse die as no. 757 (the Cybele on lion reverse, below). HrJ 6.24.35.5.
16. Forvm Ancient Coins, Hygieia to r. Obv. appareantly as the last. .http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/zoompgsold.asp?param=01033z00.jpg
&vpar=904&zpg=2061
Possibly also the next:
17. Æ27. This seems to be to be the same die as the foregoing, with a ding below the V at 12h, but it may well be that which ends in ADOVMEN at the bottom, which is Pick 746. The rev., Askelpios, of fine, Late Classical type, neither leaning nor playing with the snake on its staff, has a square E in left field and a void exergue. The continuous reverse legend, without ligatures and very regularly spaced, emphasizes the serious artistic character of the figure. It is not in Pick, and only possibly is represented by the worn reverse of HrJ 6.24.20.4. The Asklepios on http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=29028&AucID=30&Lot=1242 has the reverse legend interrupted over the head, besides having a ‘normal’ obverse.
18. Æ27. AV K OPPEL SEVÊ MAKREINOS and below K M OPPEL AN / TÔNINOS DI / ADOVMEN(?). Rev., Cybele wearing polos, carrying scepter and, with her r. hand, balancing her tympanum on the animal’s rump, riding her lion, which leaps to r.; over his head the round epsilon in the field. Of the ethnic, -OLITÔN is in the exergue on all specimens. Pick 757 (both dies), as also HrJ 6.24.34.1 and Varbanov I (Engl.) 1259. As on the following two, the V of SEVÊ is slightly to the right of 12h, and there are other subtle differences (as in the ties of the laurel) in the portraits. Private collection.
19. Æ27. This seems to be Pick 723, both dies, which has the V to the right of 12h. An unassuming coin, but rare; Pick knew only “Paris Vaillant num gr 122”, and it is in neither HrJ nor Varbanov. Hera is bareheaded, leans on scepter in her left, holds patera in her r. hand; note the round epsilon in the r. field, her beaded tress, and the fringe or blanket stitching on the vertical edge of her garment, by which she is related to other figures that have it. The only reason for regarding it possibly as blanket stitching is that Classical art, as on the Parthenon frieze, uses it for woolen edges, whence it may have been adopted as sheer decoration here. The ethnic ends with -ITÔN in the exergue.
20a-b. Æ27, Æ25. Since this obverse does end with -ADOVMEN, it may be the same obv. die as Pick 731 and several others. In any case, the die pair is HrJ 6.24.4.1. Rev., Athena, leaning on spear in her l., faces l. and makes a libation over a burning, garlanded altar. The round epsilon is in the upper l. field, leaving the r. field empty; the ethnic ends with -TÔN in the exergue. Two specimens are given to show relevant details as well as possible.
IV. DIADUMENIAN TO RIGHT, CONFRONTED HEADS, DIADUMENIAN NAMED ONLY ANTONINUS.
Three from the same obverse die, AV K OPPEL SEVÊ MAKRINOS and below K M OPPELI / ANTÔNIN / OS. This is the obverse die of Pick no. 716 (and, with Liberalitas, no. 773 which has the same reverse as no. 770).
21. Æ26+ Rev., Homonoia, bare-headed, with cornucopiae and patera, pouring libation on a burning garlanded altar; notice her beaded tress and the fringed or blanket-stitched vertical edge on her garment. The end of the ethnic, -LITÔN, is in the rev. exergue. HrJ 6.24.36.1.
22. Æ27 Rev., Young Zeus, resting on scepter and pouring libation; at his feet an eagle, its head turned to look back at him; in the exergue, only -POLI by way of completing the ethnic. This is Pick no. 716, both dies, known to Pick only from Imhoof-Blumer’s cast, though the reverse is documented in several other places. Not in HrJ.
23. Æ27 Rev., Young Asklepios, half draped in himation, looking l., offering a bun to his lively snake; in the exergue -OLITÔ / N. This reverse die is Pick no. 746, there listed with a different obverse die. Also, this is not the same Asklepios die as above in the group with confronted busts.
24. Probably the same obverse die, much worn. Rev., Young Asklepios, as the last, but apparently an alternate die.
25. Æ26.The same obv. die, almost certainly, as above, paired with a truly exceptional rev. die, in a type also known for Gordian III (issued by Menophilus, Pick ). A young, relatively fleshy Hermes in ¾ rear view, with a chlamys over his l. shoulder, holding his kerykeion forward like a wand, almost, over a stele at the right; square epsilon in field. Obviously from a statuary or pictorial prototype (which is used variously also at other mints). Pick no. 739 (with a different, ‘normal’ obverse). Private collection, NewMexico.
V. DIADUMENIAN TO RIGHT, CONFRONTED HEADS, MACRINUS NAMED SECOND, BELOW THE HEADS.
K M OP | PEL ANTÔNEINOS and below AV K OPPEL / SEVÊ MAKR / INOS. Pick no. 772 (Mandl specimen for Liberalitas).
26. Æ26 Rev., Artemis Huntress, drawing arrow from quiver with her r. hand, bow held in her l., running hound at her feet, to r.
27. Æ28+ Rev., Four-coil snake, its head to r., on exergue line; square epsilon in r. field by its tongue; this obv.die was known to Pick, but not the snake with the E in the right field; also distinctive, the N by itself in the exergue.
28. Æ26 (the same obv. die, only burred by corrosion). Rev., Apollo (or Bonus Eventus), head facing r., holding grain or laurel (lost) in his l. and patera in his r. over a flaming altar. This exact combination of dies not located in Pick or HrJ or Varbanov (with -TÔN in rev. exergue).
The following obv. die, though similar in style to the foregoing, is unique, and apparently so is the reverse:
29. Gorny&M 134, no. 1786. K M OP | PEL | ANTÔNINoS (the omicron extremely small) and below AV K OPPEL / SEVÊ MA / KRINOS. Rev., Nike with wreath and palm driving a galloping biga; two bound captives are beneath the horses. Now also Varbanov I (Engl.) no. 1246.
AN AFTERWORD:
In Coin Archives I found this remarkable tetrassarion for Macrinus, issued by Pontianus. The reverse type resembles no. 15, above, but it is the obverse that is in a style unique among the Marcianopolis tetrassaria for Macrinus. Like many of the heads in Groups III–V, above, it resembles a die introduced by Pontianus at Nicopolis ad Istrum, and it is the only single head at Marcianopolis that does. The other single heads on tetrassaria issued here by Pontianus are in several remarkably realistic, emphatically not hieratic manners. This die, however, seems to me to be the initial portrait die of Macrinus by the artist of the Nicopolis portrait head, earlier (by a month or two). As usual, attribution to a particular engraver would be frivolous if there weren't so much else that went with it.
http://www.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=112417&AucID=128&Lot=1816
For example, the Asklepios, as well as the hieratic head of Macrinus, on no. 23, above, is exactly in the same style and manner as that on this Pontianus issue for Macrinus at Nicopolis ad Istrum, though the two mints quite generally seem to be remarkably independent of each other.
The Nicopolis die seems to have been highly regarded, since it continued to be used on coins signed by Agrippa, not only initially but till the die was quite worn out. Here we see a specimen, with Hygieia, that shows almost no wear, though the letters show that the die was no longer quite so new as for the Asklepios coin.
These dies will be studied systematically in a page of their own, but they are one of the reasons for presenting the 'singular' two-headed dies here; it is in the 'singular' dies that, over and over, 'crossover', mint-to-mint, characteristics are noticeable that, especially taken all together, cannot be chance resemblances of common repertory. These include the female personification, probably Moesia, the lively, pictorial young Asklepios, and among significant details the decorative use of 'fringe' or blanket-stitching along the vertical edge of a female deity's garment, including that of the Hygieia, above.
There may not be any grounds on which to decide whether the Pontianus dies at Nicopolis are concurrent with some at Marcianopolis (perhaps this group of 'singluar' double-headed dies) or subsequent to them. In either case, very little time is involved, since it is not the Agrippa dies that link to Pontianus but those that have departed from the Pontianus model that represent the end of minting for Macrinus in Moesia Inferior.
Numerous ideas concerning these and related dies have been worked on in Forvm Discussion threads; searching merely 'Pontianus' yields the following that contain something relevant here, and heartfelt thanks are due to all who contributed. It will be seen that the coins illustrated here are only a representative selection of this obverse design.
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=27260.0
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=37558.msg238297
#msg238297
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=26838.msg181779
#msg181779
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=31852.0#top
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=28138.0
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=28138.0 (includes the Kassel-type Apollo)
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=25011.0 (my favorite thread in all Forvm)
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=27381.0
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=24588.0
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=21321.0 (cf. for style of Artemis, no. 26, above)
Patricia Lawrence 15 July 2007