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 Replies: 10 / Views: 1,856 |
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Pillar of the Community
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Flavius Julius Valens has gone down in history as the loser of the Battle of Adrianople, a profound catastrophe, and his death there marked a turning point for the fortunes of the entire empire. While I don't normally bother too much with Roman coinage from these later periods, I thought this specimen more attractive than most. I have it as RIC IX 5b (Sear 19745).   Colligo ergo sum
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
Super detail, nice even patina, no blemishes, and a great reverse. Well done.
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Moderator
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Pillar of the Community
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4883 Posts |
Came across another Valens bronze today, this one struck at the Aquileia mint.   What's interesting is that on the reverse atop the labarum is pretty obviously a chi-rho symbol (or, if you prefer, specifically a chrisnon or sigla, and more generally a christogram). Also, to the right of the labarum pole is another symbol, which perhaps is supposed to be a tau-rho (or staurogram, considered to constitute a rudimentary form of the crucifix). It's most certainly not a dot within a crescent.  On account of the discrepancy with regard to this second marking, it's not clear to me how well this specimen conforms to RIC IX 7b, which otherwise seems to be the closest match. Looking more closely at the specimen with which I started this topic, it may also be that the labatum bears the chi-rho, albeit not so well formed nor consequently as readily recognizable. Colligo ergo sum
Edited by Lucky Cuss
07/30/2019 01:38 am
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
7958 Posts |
Nice coins.
I'm pretty ignorant about ancients, but am curious what was the earliest use of the chi rho symbol on coins.
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Pillar of the Community
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Pillar of the Community
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1120 Posts |
That is a great example - I once had an excellent one and over cleaned it. Did one of my experiments and buried it. A year later I couldn't find it. Busted out the metal detector and everything it's still missing. The search is still on  |
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Pillar of the Community
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4883 Posts |
Here's one more Valens I picked up today, once again struck at the Aquileia mint. A very ordinary type with lots of minor variations. I'm not sure if this one'd slot in as RIC IX 9 or RIC IX 12. Although the Victory goddess/personification was a longstanding pagan motif, some of these did add a chi-rho in the reverse field. This specimen, with plain fields and the SMAQP mint mark isn't represented precisely on Wildwinds.   Colligo ergo sum
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Pillar of the Community
United States
905 Posts |
Quote:
Also, to the right of the labarum pole is another symbol, which perhaps is supposed to be a tau-rho (or staurogram, considered to constitute a rudimentary form of the crucifix). It's most certainly not a dot within a crescent. To the right of the labarum is B over  |
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Pillar of the Community
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4883 Posts |
Quote:
To the right of the labarum is B over The incompleteness of the "B" threw me, but now I can see that it is indeed that and not a tau-rho. RIC IX 9b, type iii exhibits a "B" over a dot but with the mint mark SMAQS. RIC IX 9b, type ii(a) has the correct mint mark, but no mention of the dot below the "B". My specimen clearly falls in somewhere amongst these minor variations. Colligo ergo sum
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Pillar of the Community
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905 Posts |
Quote:
I'm not sure if this one'd slot in as RIC IX 9 or RIC IX 12 RIC 9 and 12 are exactly the same. The only distinction is that RIC 9 was issued before the elevation of Gratian and RIC 12 after. |
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Replies: 10 / Views: 1,856 |
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Posted 07/24/2019 6:39 pm
