Etruscilla from Antioch: very late into the reign of Decius and after.

[seth77]

These coins of Herennia Etruscilla from Antioch are mentioned briefly in RIC IV-3, for both regimes of Traianus Decius and Trebonianus Gallus. There is not much detail on how to separate the coins minted under Decius from those minted under Gallus, so perhaps this post might help a bit in this problem:

AR24mm 5.03g antoninianus minted at Antioch ca. mid 251 to later.
HER ETRVSCILLA AVG; draped bust right, wearing stephane, set on crescent; hairstyle arranged vertically
PVDICITIA AVG, Pudicitia seated left, drawing veil from face and holding transverse scepter.
Dot in exergue
cf. RIC IV-3 65a (Antioch)

 

At a certain point, probably around 250, the Imperial mint at Antioch starts marking the officinae involved in the production of silver-billon antoninianii. There are two types of markings recorded -- either by Roman numerals or dots, but both usually positioned on the obverse under the bust during that last part of the reign of Decius.

This specimen has a dot on the reverse in the exergue, a highly unusual position for an officina marking on Decian coinage. The marking in the exergue on the reverse would become more prominent during the reigns of Trebonianus Gallus and Volusian (in 252?) -- which indicates that this 'experimental' issue for Etruscilla is at the very least very late in the reign of Decius, possibly past mid 251 (so after the death of Decius), since Gallus did not discontinue the coinage minted for neither Etruscilla nor Hostilian at Antioch (see RIC IV-3 pp.113-119 pp. 155-6). In the case of Etruscilla the coinage might have continued for the rest of the year, even if in small quantities.

RIC has all Etruscilla coinage under Decius (including the coins struck after mid 251) and even so the type is quoted as R(are) -- certainly not rare anymore, but not very common either.

A similar die, with what looks like at least one dot in the exergue was used for a rare coinage for Volusian at Antioch (RIC 233b), dated late 252 to mid 253.

So if one wanted to separate the coinage for Etruscilla minted at Antioch under Decius (perhaps late 250/early 251 to mid 251) from the continuation of the same coinage under the new regime of Trebonianus Gallus (later in 251 to very early 252?), looking for the position of officina markings might be a good starting point.

 

Edited March 3 by seth77

[Roman Collector]

There are several reverse types of Antoniniani known only from Antioch: ADVENTVS AVG, AEQVITAS AVG, AEQVITAS AVGG, ROMAE AETERNAE AVG, SAECVLVM NOVVM, VBERITAS AVG, VERITAS AVG, AND VICTORIA AVG. Moreover, there are a variety of hybrid types from this mint which bear reverses of Philip I (SECVRIT ORBIS), Otacilia Severa (CONCORDIA AVGG), Decius (ABVNDANTIA AVG), and Herennius Etruscus (VICTORIA GERMANICA). All are uncommonly encountered. Here are some examples from Antioch from my collection.

This AEQVITAS type bears the empress's straight hair coiffure with a long plait carried up the back of the head. The bust is different in style from the Rome mint style in the details of the coiffure. In particular, the plait is much less prominent on the Antioch coin. Note, however, that there are no officina markings on the coin; the reverse type alone identifies it as an Antioch issue.


Herennia Etruscilla, 249-253 CE.
Roman AR Antoninianus; 4.10 g, 23.3 mm, 5 h.
Antioch, 250-251 CE.
Obv: HER ETRVSCILLA AVG, diademed and draped bust right on crescent, hair smooth and with a long plait carried up the back of the head (Sear type b; Temeryazev and Makarenko type 2).
Rev: AEQVITAS AVGG, Aequitas standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae.
Refs: RIC 64; RSC 3d; RCV 9491; CRE 540; Hunter p. xcix.

This one features the empress with her later "wavy hair" coiffure. It, too, differs in artistic style from the Rome mint issues with Etruscilla's wavy hairstyle. Note also the use of officina marks in the form of dots or numerals below the obverse bust, though they are absent on the reverse.


Herennia Etruscilla, 249-253 CE.
Roman AR Antoninianus; 4.18 g, 23.2 mm, 12 h.
Antioch, 251 CE or later.
Obv: HER ETRVSCILLA AVG, diademed and draped bust right on crescent, hair with horizontal waves and with a long plait carried up the back of the head (Sear type a; Temeryazev and Makarenko type 1); •• below bust.
Rev: VBERITAS AVG, Uberitas standing left, holding marsupium (?) and cornucopiae.
Refs: RIC 68b; RCV 9499.

These control marks, along with the way the hair is rendered on the back of the head above the neck and the way the hair has a pleat carried up to the top of the head, allows one to distinguish the PVDICITIA AVG seated issues of the Antioch mint from those produced in Rome:


Antioch mint antoninianus from the CNG archives. Note the presence of two dots below the bust.

Rome mint example from my collection:

[seth77]

It seems like the hairstyle is not really helpful for a chronology of Etruscilla coinage at Antioch, unlike in the case of the coinage for Faustina. And by recycling older types and copying the current coinage of Rome, Antioch seems to not have had an individual and coherent Imperial coinage. At the same time the city was also minting the S-C D-E Greek Imperial coinage: the billon tetradrachms and AEs.

[expat]

What a fascinating thread. It now has me wondering what the marks are under the bust of this one. Until I read your post I didn´t realise they might have significance. Any insight will be very welcome.

Herrenia Etruscilla, wife of Trajan Decius. 249-251 AD.
AR Antoninianus
Obverse: HER ETRVSCILLA AVG. Diademed and draped bust right on crescent.
Reverse: PVDICITIA AVG. Pudicitia seated left holding transverse sceptre and drawing veil from her face.
RIC IV 59b. Hunter 5; RSC 19
 Rome mint, A.D. 250.  3,8 g – 20,5 mm

 

[seth77]

32 minutes ago, expat said:

What a fascinating thread. It now has me wondering what the marks are under the bust of this one. Until I read your post I didn´t realise they might have significance. Any insight will be very welcome.

Herrenia Etruscilla, wife of Trajan Decius. 249-251 AD.
AR Antoninianus
Obverse: HER ETRVSCILLA AVG. Diademed and draped bust right on crescent.
Reverse: PVDICITIA AVG. Pudicitia seated left holding transverse sceptre and drawing veil from her face.
RIC IV 59b. Hunter 5; RSC 19
 Rome mint, A.D. 250.  3,8 g – 20,5 mm

 

Is that a shadowy dot there, that is what you mean?

If Rome mint, the dot is probably an optical illusion, since Rome did not use this marking system.

[Roman Collector]

1 hour ago, expat said:

What a fascinating thread. It now has me wondering what the marks are under the bust of this one. Until I read your post I didn´t realise they might have significance. Any insight will be very welcome.

Herrenia Etruscilla, wife of Trajan Decius. 249-251 AD.
AR Antoninianus
Obverse: HER ETRVSCILLA AVG. Diademed and draped bust right on crescent.
Reverse: PVDICITIA AVG. Pudicitia seated left holding transverse sceptre and drawing veil from her face.
RIC IV 59b. Hunter 5; RSC 19
 Rome mint, A.D. 250.  3,8 g – 20,5 mm

 

On the basis of style, I'd say that was a Rome mint product. 

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

It is a very interesting thread.  Did Etruscilla's Antioch tetradrachm coinage also continue?

I only have a couple of Treb. tets, but they're significantly more coppery than Philip's.

The only coin of said empress that I have is a sestertius, unless I have a Viminacium 'sestertius' hiding somewhere, from the 1990's set.  I didn't collect the empresses until recently.