RIC V Online 847* (officina mark variant)

Roman Empire, Claudius II (268-270), Antoninianus, Smyrna mint, 1st emission, 2nd officina.

Obverse: IMP C M AVR CLAVDIVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind, •• below;

Reverse: VIRTV-TI AVG, Mars standing left, holding spear pointing up in left hand and resting right hand on shield on the ground, SPQR in exergue;

Notes: There have been many debates surrounding the location of the SPQR mint that struck antoniniani for Gallienus and Claudius II; while the last few emissions certainly belong to Cyzicus, the earlier ones have enough differences in style and metal composition to suggest that they were struck somewhere else. Gysen, Mairat and Doyen, amongst others, all support the idea that it was in Smyrna, and I personally agree. This mint struck four different VIRTVTI AVG coins for Claudius II, the most common one showing a trophy and the three rarer others a figure in military attire with spear and shield; while RIC V Online identifies it as Virtus, and while the coins of this issue are usually too poorly preserved to tell the difference between the two, I believe that it's Mars, instead, for two reasons: first of all, the same exact reverse type, but with the reverse legend MARS AVG, had been used by Gallienus in his Smyrna issues; secondly, the rarest of the VIRTVTI AVG types (known from only one example) shows the same figure advancing to the right while holding spear and shield, and this is a posture associated with Mars Propugnator, not Virtus.

Riferimento : RIC V - (c.f. RIC V 255 - unlisted reverse legend and type); RIC V Online - (c.f. RIC V Online 847 - unlisted officina marks);

Collezione : Claudius II - Smyrna