Roman Imperial Mint Specification Before 250 C.E.

[Craig S2]

Hello,

I have read that Roman Imperial coins did not start to bear mint marks until the late 3rd century C.E. and yet I see that auction houses are specifying mints for Roman Imperial coins from long before that time.  Are earlier Roman places of minting known from the designs on the coins after doing research, even though the coins  do not bear mint marks?  If not, how are these mints known and with how much certainty are they known?  This seems important, since prices seem to be at least partly dependent on where the coins were minted. 

[SC]

I will take a stab at answering, and there are several other posts that address this if you search.

The short answer is academic/numismatic research, especially of the pattern of the location of finds - both hoards and random finds.

The long answer...

For the later period it is easier.  From the 290s on you get the first unambiguous mint marks - with clues like SIS for Siscia and LVG for Lugdunum.  But even these are not always clear and simple.  The coins with T in the mint mark (i.e. TT or P T) were believed up to the early 20th century to be from Tarraco (Tarragona, Spain), but are now known to be from Ticinum (Pavia, Italy).  It was careful analysis of the find locations of these coins - their distribution pattern - that finally settled this argument.

From the 270s - 290s there were marks that were less clear but that were at least distinguishable (i.e. P / XXI, SXXI, XXIT).  These also required distribution studies to crack the code.  But again things are not perfect.  If you look a the coinage of Aurelian (270 - 275) you get different interpretations of mint location in the print version of RIC-V part I, in Gobl's volume of MIR, in Estiot's work on the Venera hoard, and in Estiot's online work on an updated version of RIC-V part I.  Each newer work can use the results of more research, more hoard studies, etc.  It is usually safest to go with the most recent work - though only if it is by a knowledgeable scholar who has taken all previous work into account.  You have to be careful of recycled information.  For example I could make a new website or book that simply recycles the 50-year old information in the old version of RIC-V part I.  It might be the newest work in town, but it would be recycled out-of date information and people would be foolish to trust it over Estiot's work.

The most difficult were the coins struck before there were any mint marks, so before the 260s.  There the main guide is style, especially bust style for denarii and antoniniani from the eastern mints like Antioch.  Of course in this period the rule is the main mints of Rome, and for part of the 1st century Lugdunum/Lyons.

Shawn

[SC]

I will add one more thing.

You say prices depend on mint.

In most cases though I think that the type - the reverse design - might be unique.  So whether or not a coin is from the mint that they say, it is the type that is rare.

The one time you would have to be really careful is where there are apparently identical coins (type and legend) that only differ in style.  In these cases I would not pay more for one said to be from a different mint without knowing a lot about the subject.

Shawn

[Carausius]

Hi Craig S2,

Welcome to the Forum. That was an excellent first post question, which Shawn has answered well, and I hope we hear more from you.  I wanted to direct you and others to an online source by the ANS explaining numismatic terms and methods which I happened to stumble upon yesterday during a completely unrelated search:

http://numismatics.org/seminar/termsmethods/

It's a very well-written and informative guide. I hope you and others find it useful.

[peterpil19]

Hi Craig,

Welcome to the forum and if new to ancient coins, welcome to the hobby!

Concur with the above that is is an excellent question.

It is easy for us to take for granted what/who the symbols, deities and people on our coins are and where they were minted. We consult online and physical references where the information is laid out in an easy to read manner perhaps not appreciating enough the hard work and countless hours that has gone into researching every aspect of every coin over many many years.

Peter

[dougsmit]

http://numismatics.org/seminar/termsmethods/

It's a very well-written and informative guide. I hope you and others find it useful.

That is a very good overview of many subjects we face in the hobby.  I'd like to emphasize one point.  Numismatics is a science and, like the other sciences, it is a work in progress developing old ideas and, ocassionally, realizing that old ideas just don't work and need to be reevaluated or trashed.  We do not have written history and records of the how, what, when and where these coins were made so we have to develop what we know and what we think might be the case from the coins themselves.  Scholars and hobbyists have been working on this study for longer than collectors of modern coins can imagine and we have our share of opinion differences along the way.  Recently here on Forvm we have seen threads discussing new theories on mint locations or even just the number of different mints there were.  We try to keep up but, again like other sciences, we rely on specialists to help us along with their areas of interest.  There is too much for one mind to grasp.  This is a poor hobby for those who require certain answers to every question.  It may seem that we state things like mint attributions as if they were set in stone but in some cases it is just easier to say "Emesa" than "that mint assigned to the city of Emesa by scholars of the last century for reasons that may or may not be based on fact and which may or may not have been located there or even in one fixed location separate from the other mints proposed in our current scholarship."  How deeply each of us get into these things is entirely a matter of choice.  It is possible to ride in a car, drive a car, sell used cars, design new cars, buy auto maker stock etc. etc. etc.  Similarly the hobby of ancient coins welcomes your participation as you find most pleasing. 

[Craig S2]

Thanks very much for all of the helpful replies so far.

 I guess the best I can hope for is that auction houses are providing reasonably certain mint location specifications based on research and accumulated knowledge. 

  I'd welcome any more discussion or information on this and will try to check out some of the related discussions.