There are several rare types of Anonymous Pagan coins which will not be discussed here. There are two relatively common types including my featured coin. The obverse shows the Genius of Antioch with a swimmer below while the reverse shows Apollo standing wearing a fancy robe. To the right of Apollo is the workshop ID Greek numeral one through ten (A-I). My coin is shop 9 which should be numeral theta but that was considered bad luck in the day so we get 5 (epsilon) and 4 (delta) which adds up to 9. One strong argument against the Julian II attribution was that the unlucky theta replacement stopped being observed under Constantine I and other coins of Julian bear the theta. Whether or not the Maximinus II attribution is correct, the coins certainly date before theta became acceptable.

When I say I can not swear it is a coin, there have been some suggestions that these may have been issued with some connection to the Great Christian Persecution of c. 311 AD. Is it possible that they were tokens of compliance with the requirement for making a Pagan sacrifice? I can not see great merit in this theory (or understand it well enough to explain the though properly). For one thing, the types are hardly strong statements of Pagan positions as one might expect if the coin had been intended to be offensive to those who could not sacrifice to the emperor. I just do not know!

The common types were issued from Antioch (mintmark SMA - some of the rare ones came from other Eastern mints). We do not have a certain knowledge of the denomination represented by the coin. We see suggestions like 1/4 nummus but I have not seen convincing arguments for any possibility. There is just too much about this coin we do not know. Why did I select this coin as a favorite? I like the story about why it is not in RIC showing us that experts sometimes make mistakes just like the rest of us. I like the fact that the coin does not have a portrait obverse. I have a fondness for coins with 9 (did you see question group 6 on my quiz?).

This example is rather nice for the type and has a much better than average strike of Apollo's robe details. Of my Anonymous Pagan coins, this is the best condition and is just plain pretty. I like the possible connection to the Great Persecution or the mystery as to why it was issued. Finally, I bought the coin from a $6 pickout junk box making this the cheapest coin on my list. No single one of these reasons could make a coin climb high up the list but when we all work together, great things are possible.

For the record, the other common Pagan type is Jupiter and Victory as shown below. Included in its mysteries is why the two common types from Antioch differ in the mintmark used. Here we see ANT while Apollo had SMA (sacred money of Antioch). We do not know which came first. We do not know why the other types are so much more scarce than these two. We do not know for certain even that these are coins made for spending. It is a wonderful mystery.