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Vabalathus and Aurelian Antioch 7th Officina Inverse Z
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Vabalathus: 270 - 272 AD; Aurelian: 270 - 275 AD
Julius Aurelius Septimius Vabalathus Athenodorus (Wahb Allat), son of Septimius Odaenathus and Septimia Zenobia. Palmyrene Empire.
Obv: VABALATHVS V C R IM D R1; Bust of Vabalathus, laureate, diademed, draped, and curiassed, facing right, seen from behind.
Rev: IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG; Bust of Aurelian, radiate and curiassed, facing right, inverse Z in exergue2.
Denomination: billon antoninianus; Mint: Antioch; Officina: 7th; Issue: 1st; Date: Nov. 270 - Mar. 272; Weight: 3.62g; Diameter: 20mm; Die axis: 180º; References, for example: RIC V v.1 381 correc, var. no inverse Z; MER - RIC 3111; SRCV III 11718 var. no inverse Z.
Notes:
1VABALATHVS V[IR] C[LARISSIMUS] R[EX] IM[PERATOR] D[UX] R[OMANORUM]. See for example, Bland (2011), pp. 135, 141 and Estiot (2004, v1), p. 118, esp. note 462.
2Sylviane Estiot refers to this mint mark as an inverse Z and thus assigns these to the seventh officina (BnF XII, vol. I p. 223, vol. II p. 431, and pl. 41 no. 1257). Roger Bland, conversely, views this mint mark as a square S and therefore assigns these to the sixth officina (Bland, "The Coinage of Vabalathus and Zenobia from Antioch and Alexandria'', NC 171 (2011), p. 163 no. 9, pl. 16 no. 9n).
Provenance: Ex Athena Numismatics March 4, 2021.
Photo credits: Athena Numismatics
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