Another Siscia VLPP

[Heliodromus]

Just bought this today for the unusual altar decoration. I've only seen this before on a London VLPP where the same dot-in-circle motif was inside of the diamond on altar design.

Has anyone seen this dot-in-circle on other VLPPs ?

I'd spotted this coin peeking out of a 33-coin group lot in Naville 66.747, but wasn't about to buy the lot just for one coin, so was happy to find it up for resale so quickly.

 

[Victor]

Nice example...I posted this one last year; which looks like a die match.

[Heliodromus]

Yes - seems to be double die match! I wonder if this is the only die with this altar decoration?

A few of these altar designs might reflect real altars.

Here's one from an Ostia mithraeum that has a similar circular design (meant to represent the sun, or globe, perhaps?), and another (also from a mithraeum) with a Luna crescent that we also see on the VLPPs.

 

 

[Victor]

I'm sure some of them are modeled on real altars, for instance stars; but others, epsecially S and I, do not seem real. I have had Siscian coins with many different altar designs (which is one of the things I note and collect by) and expect that it was the engravers whims, or perhaps some served an internal control function.

That altar from Ostia looks more like a hole with a wreath carved around it, like it was meant to hold something, like scrolls. Maybe a PO box to the gods.

[Heliodromus]

That altar from Ostia looks more like a hole with a wreath carved around it, like it was meant to hold something, like scrolls. Maybe a PO box to the gods.

Yes, or maybe just a cubbie-hole to store the booze. 

So, after doing a little research, I've got a better considered idea...

The "dot in circle" on the VLPP altar may be a libation bowl (a patera without a handle) used to make offerings. The "dot" would be the raised (hollow on reverse) center of the bowl, that was apparently there to make it easier to hold.

Here's one from 1st-2ndC AD sold by HJB where the raised center is a decorative frog, and another much earlier plain one from 7thC BC in the Met museum.

 

 

And here's a Nero aureus (RIC 76, from BM) showing how this "dot in circle" was used to depict one of these.

 

So, apparently altars were sometimes decorated to depict sacrificial implements, such as this 3rd C AD one from Niederbreg castle:

 

And here's a remarkably similar patera and knife in the BM:

 

And finally a 2ndC AD altar in the Ashmolean museum with a libation jug on one side and a libation plate/bowl on the other:

 

 

[Victor]

nice sleuthing...it seems like it's probably a libation bowl.

[Heliodromus]

I've found a couple more with this altar design (not my coins), from different dies. I see RIC VII Siscia does list this as a known design, although it's certainly one of the less common ones. This "ASIS." issue seems to have the greatest variety of altar designs.

 

 

[Victor]

I just got another example of this type.

[Heliodromus]

Nice specimen - I was watching that one too.

Seems like different reverse die than the others (e.g. top of right victory's wing alignment with "P" of "PRINC"), as well as different obverse.