Hi everyone,
I recently acquired a group of silver
denarii, and one has given me some trouble. I'm not really struggling to ID it, so much as I can't make sense of the
reverse - it doesn't seem to match anything I can find in
ERIC,
Wildwinds, or the web in general.
Here is my
attribution at this point: [L V]ERVS
AVG ARM PARTH
MAX, laureate
head right / TR P
VIII IMP V [or II]
COS III,
Pax standing left holding olive-branch and
cornucopiae.
Weight: 2.832 g
18.0 mm
max diameter, 16.5 mm
min diameter180 degree
axis"
IMP II" for the
reverse wouldn't make much sense here, and yet that is generally what it looks like. Plus, there are no reverses of this
legend or a similar
legend with
Pax. My working assumption is that this is an engraver's error off of
RIC 561 or 586, but the differences are substantial. Another possibility is that this coin is modern, which would be unfortunate. What looks a little like a pearl on the lower left of the
reverse seems to just be
part of the R upon close inspection, and I've taken a picture of the coin edge near the third I on the
reverse.
I would appreciate any thoughts you all have about the
denarius.
-Thank you!
