Antonia: Official Mule or Barbarous?

[Jay GT4]

Purchased this interesting coin a few days ago.  It's Antonia by Claudius.  The obverse ANTONIA AVGVSTA with Claudius' CERES AVGVSTA reverse.  From what I can see the style looks official to me.  Both types were struck in 42 AD so the chance of mixing up dies is a possibility. Perhaps another pair of eyes could confirm.  Either way it's a very interesting coin. 

[curtislclay]

I'd say definitely not Rome or one of the better provincial branch mints, but one of the second-level provincial branch mints, which were apparently trying to produce legitimate coins for circulation, but about whose official status it's hard to be certain.

Such mints usually got the type combinations right, so this is an interesting and rare mistake, that I can't recall having seen before!

Can you give diameter, weight, and die axis?

[Jay GT4]

Thanks Curtis, it's still in the mail but the dealer says it's 10.9g and 29mm wide.  I will give die axis when it arrives in hand.

[Jay GT4]

Hi Curtis, the die axis is 180 degrees.  10.93g.  Die axis is something I've never noted on any of my coins.  Out of curiosity what does die axis tell us?

It's a pitty about the encrustations...it looks like there was a really nice portrait there at one time.

[ancientdave]

That's a very interesting mule indeed, Jay. Thanks for sharing!

[Jay GT4]

Thanks, the coin is much better in hand.  I will try and get a better photo of it.  Some of the detail in Antonia's face is not showing up.

[curtislclay]

Hi Curtis, the die axis is 180 degrees.  10.93g.  Die axis is something I've never noted on any of my coins.  Out of curiosity what does die axis tell us?

Jay,

Die axis can be an attribution criterion, because sometimes different mints used different axes, or the axis changed over time, so that coins showing a certain axis must have been struck before or after a certain date.

An example, apparently first noticed by Anne Robertson in her Glasgow catalogue: Tiberius' bronze coins have either an upright or an inverted die axis, whereas Caligula's always have an inverted axis. The anonymous asses of Agrippa always have an inverted axis, therefore they must have been issued under Caligula not Tiberius.

[Jay GT4]

Excellent, thanks Curtis.  So all my other Claudius coins are the same 180 degree die axis like this one.  Can we deduce then that it is from an official mint...or at least lend weight to that theory?

[curtislclay]

No, mint attribution has to depend on style. Nothing prevented an imitative mint from getting the die axis right!

[Joe Geranio]

Very unique Jay, thanks for sharing/