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Author Topic: RIC VII and Lyon mint  (Read 398 times)

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Offline Flav V

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RIC VII and Lyon mint
« on: October 25, 2020, 05:05:13 pm »
Dear members,

Reading the RIC VII for Lyon i saw two RIC numbers: 242 and 275. Is it an error or i missed something? The coins coins described are exactly same. VRBS ROMA type, same bust obviously.. same mark PLG at exergue.

For the rest, i try to understand the meaning of issue marks. If we follow the RIC, the order is (ill only inscribe the first officina as example):

PLG used in 323 ... then in 324-5  ... 330-1 ... 335

Since 324 there seems to be an logical order:
PLG (324-5) PLG and  :dot: PLG (330-1)  :crescent: PLG and  :crescentdot: PLG (332)  :<a href='../numiswiki/view.asp?key=wreath' target='_blank'>wreath</a>2: PLG (333)  :<a href='../numiswiki/view.asp?key=star' target='_blank'>star</a>: PLG and  :branchleft: PLG (333-4)

After that, we restart with PLG without any symbol. Here is the new order:

PLG (335)  :crescent: PLG and  :<a href='../numiswiki/view.asp?key=star' target='_blank'>star</a>: PLG (336)  :branchleft: PLG (337)


On the first ''phasis'' of strike  PLG is followed by :dot:PLG then  :crescent:PLG. But after 335 PLG is directly followed by  :crescent:PLG    
My first idea was that there is 1 year before PLG and  :crescent: PLG. While PLG and  :dot: PLG were in the same year. The problem is that in 336 we can think about a same logic:  :crescent: PLG and  :crescentdot: PLG.. It is not the case! It is:  :crescent: then  :<a href='../numiswiki/view.asp?key=star' target='_blank'>star</a>:.

I did not obtained any information about they ranked the issues. Obviously it is logical to think that they worked with the legends to date the coins. Then the marks come easier to rank. If you have any other information ill be glad to read it! I dont own the Bastien which is impossible to find.  

Offline Heliodromus

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Re: RIC VII and Lyon mint
« Reply #1 on: October 25, 2020, 06:16:40 pm »
There was a weight reduction at all of Constantine's mints in 335, at the same time the Gloria Exercitvs type changed from "2 standards" to "1 standard" type (presumably because it was easier to fit the 1 standard design on the reduced size coins).

RIC 242 dates to 330-331 before the size/weight reduction (when Gloria Ex. 2 standards was being issued).

RIC 275 dates to 335 after the size/weight reduction (when Gloria Ex. 1 standard1 was being issued).

The only way to distinguish RIC 242 vs RIC 275 will be based on size (weight is unreliable) unless there also happened to be any noticeable obverse style change (I don't know - I havn't really studied these in detail).

There is a general trend for mintmarks to evolve from simple to more complex, or in "logical" order, but you can't rely on this. Somtimes issues can be clearly dated based on who's on the obverse, titles, etc, but othertimes all we can do is extrapolate between known dates - e.g. if there are five issues in a five year period without any known date landmarks, then we might guess they were spread out one per year. If one issue is more common than another then we might guess it was a longer lasting issue than a rarer one. There doesn't seem to have been any general pattern for how long each issue mark lasted - in some cases they may have been very brief - perhaps only a week or so, but in other cases the same mark was used over a period of years.

Ben

Offline Flav V

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Re: RIC VII and Lyon mint
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2020, 06:42:08 pm »
Thanks! I remember now this size reduction but its not mentionned in the RIC.. or is it in general introduction? Where can we read more about it in the RIC?


 

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