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Can A Billon Antoninianus Have The Same Ric #as A Bronze One

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Topcat7's Avatar
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 Posted 09/19/2015  01:31 am Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add Topcat7 to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers

I have attributed this coin as RIC.V.157 but all of those on Wildwinds are Bronze and mine is Billon. Can the same RIC number be used for both, or do they have different numbers?

GALLIENUS, 265-267A.D., Sole Reign, Billon Antoninianus. AR20 mm, 1.9 gm,
Obv: GALLIENVS AVG, Radiate head right.
Rev: ABVNDANTIA AVG,Abundantia standing right, emptying cornucopia;
'B' in left field.
Rome mint,
RIC.V.157; MIR 36, 574a;RSC 5a.Gobl 573d





Can-A-Billon-Antoninianus-Have-The-Same-Ric-#as-A-Bronze-One

Can-A-Billon-Antoninianus-Have-The-Same-Ric-#as-A-Bronze-One

Can-A-Billon-Antoninianus-Have-The-Same-Ric-#as-A-Bronze-One
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echizento's Avatar
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 Posted 09/19/2015  02:51 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add echizento to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
As far as I know they are one in the same. The coins are not billon but are bronze or a base metal with a silver wash.
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 Posted 09/19/2015  04:36 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Topcat7 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

This coin does not show any signs of being 'Bronze' with a silver 'wash' as some 'Silvered' Antoninianus' do. Even where this coin is damaged the 'metal' appears to be the same Billon (AR) and there is no 'flaking' of the silver as some 'Silvered' coins and Fourrees show.
Indeed, on Acsearch there are some examples of the same coin described as 'Billon' but given the same RIC number of 157 as the Bronze coins, hence the question "Can a billon coin have the same RIC number as it's Bronze counterpart?" See Acsearch coin below.


Can-A-Billon-Antoninianus-Have-The-Same-Ric-#as-A-Bronze-One
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lrbguy's Avatar
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 Posted 09/19/2015  07:49 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add lrbguy to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Short answer: if you could find an issue in both billon and bronze they would have the same RIC number.

The problem you are raising has to do with the so-called "fabric" of the coins. The alloy from which they have been made. The antoniniani of Gallienus, like their predecessors and successors, are all regarded as silver coins regardless of the changes in fabric due to debasement. RIC V only lists by obverse, reverse, and date, providing citations to a published authority for any special features (including the date). Typically even the most debased coins were issued with a silver wash to give the appearance, no matter how fleeting, of being a silver coin. But the fabric is useful in dating the coins, so a specialist might attempt to arrange the coins of Gallienus by their silver content as an indication of relative dating.

During the reign of Gallienus the antoninianus underwent an accelerated rate of debasement, and by degrees the amount of silver in the coin was reduced until the coins consisted of a bronze core with a light silver wash. Silver coins of the US were similarly debased in the decade of the 1960s, so that by the end of the decade a cupro-nickel "clad" coin had replaced what had been made of a silver alloy. But the new coins were tariffed at the same rate as before.
Edited by lrbguy
09/19/2015 08:02 am
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 Posted 09/19/2015  1:37 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Topcat7 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Thank-you. The answer is yes, and I will happily record RIC V 157 for my coin.
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