The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal ... - IndianCoins.org

88 E. A. SYDENHAM.it appears practically certain that no brass or coppercoins were struck at either Borne or Lugdunum. Tothis period, however, belongs a fairly extensive issueof dated aurei and denarii with the reverse type of thecivic crown and legend PONTIF MAX TR P (TR P-VII-COS-IIII PP), continued between A.D. 60 and 63by the Ceres, Mars, and Roma types. Both mints seemto have been employed in the production of thesecoins, and as they show two different renderings ofNero's portrait, we are probably right in assigningthose of the cruder style [PL VI. 30] to Lugdunum,and the more artistic to Rome [PI. VI. 29].During the last eight years of the reign (A.D. 60-8)the activity of the Lugdunum mint increased enormously,particularly with regard to the issue of brassand copper. Fortunately in the question of attributionwe have one or two fairly defined landmarks toguide us.At the beginning of the perioda group of copper asses with stylisticto those noticed in the Lugdunum(A.D. 60-3) we findfeatures similarcoins of Tiberiusand Claudius [PI. VI. 3l].That is to say, the formationof the letters is irregular, and the portrait has aflat appearance, although the profile is less harsh thanon the coins of Claudius. The somewhat untidyarrangement of the hair is characteristic, and there isa tendency to make the head rather large and outspread,in marked contrast to the more compactRoman style.Thus there seems good reason for believing that theybelong to Lugdunum and form a continuation of thesenatorial copperseries of Claudius. At the end ofthe reign we find the following denarius :