1.
Trajan 98-117 AD
AR
Denarius, 16mm.
Rome mint.
RIC 318
O:
IMP CAES NER TRAIANO
OPTIMO AVG
GERM DAC, laureate and draped
bust right.
R:
P M TR P COS VI P P
S P Q R,
Fortuna seated left holding rudder and
cornucopia,
FORT RED in exe.
Mayadigger’s ammonia and distilled water treatment worked quite effectively on the uneven black patches. After comparing it to examples on
Wildwinds and the
FORVM catalog, I believe it to be
RIC 318. Incidentally, this was my first ancient silver coin.
2.
Probus 276-282 AD
AE
Antoninianus, 22mm.
Siscia mint.
RIC 810
O:
IMP C M AVR PROBVS
P F AVG;
Radiate,
cuirassed bust left, with spear and
shield.
R:
VIRTVS PROBI AVG,
Mars advancing right with
trophy & spear, symbol resembling a “6” in right
field,
XXI in
exe.
The
obverse didn’t clean up as well as I’d hoped, but does show a left facing
bust with hints of a
radiate crown and a spear. The
reverse was in much better shape, and the
type was easier to pin down. However, I didn’t find any example coins with the same symbol in the right
field.
3.
Carinus 283-285 AD
AE
Antoninianus, 21mm.
Rome mint.
Van Meter p. 265
O:
IMP C M AVR CARINVS AVG;
radiate, draped &
cuirassed bust right.
R:
GENIVS EXERCITI;
Genius standing left, holding
patera and
cornucopia, KAA in exe.
The four examples of this
reverse type on
Wildwinds (
RIC 254, 255, 256) -- along with the example from
FORVM (
RIC 256) -- all include PF in the
obverse inscription. I found two photos on the internet with the same
inscription as my coin. The first was identified as an
RIC 254, but the author mistakenly included the PF in
his attribution. The other
had the
inscription correct, but did not give an
RIC reference. However,
Van Meter does list this
type with this
obverse legend.
4. Unattributed
Roman Bronze
AE 23mm.
O:
Bust right;
inscription worn flat
R: Quadruped standing left; remaining
inscription looks like ED-TVALO
I give up. There’s enough detail left here to keep me thinking that I should be able to get it; but I’ve been looking for several weeks with no progress.
5.
Constantius II 337-361 AD
AE 18mm.
Sirmium mint.
RIC 69
O: DN CONSTAN-TIVS PF AVG; pearl diademed, draped, and
cuirassed bust right.
R:
FEL TEMP-REPARATIO; Soldier spearing fallen horseman. [A]
SIRM dot in exe.
This was a strait-forward ID from Helvetica’s
RIC tables.
