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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Themes & Provenance| ▸ |Numismatics| ▸ |Countermarked||View Options:   | | | A countermark is a stamped or punched impression adding elements of design to a coin after it was originally struck. The practice of countermarking coins was widespread throughout antiquity. It was particularly common in the provinces of the Roman Empire. Countermarks were applied to coins for many reasons, including revalidation, revaluation, devaluation, and propaganda. Exactly when and why any individual countermark was applied is often uncertain. |
A primary reference for countermarks on Roman imperial coins. Essential for dealers and countermark collectors.BK43206. Collezione Pangerl: Contromarche Imperiali Romane (Augustus - Vespasian) by Rodolfo Martini, Nomismata 6, (The Pangerl Collection: Catalog and Commentary on the Countermarked Roman Imperial Coins), hard-bound, Milan, 2003, large format, 352 countermarks, 348 pages, 19 plates, Italian text with English translation; SOLD
Judaea, Valerius Gratus, Roman Prefect Under Tiberius, 15 - 26 A.D., Cohors II Italica Civium Romanorum Countermark
Now there was a certain man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort...(Acts 10:1).
Spijkermann was the first to publish a countermarked prutah, also a Valerius Gratus coin, in 1963. Lönnqvist published the first detailed study, "New Vistas on the Countermarked Coins of the Roman Prefects of Judaea" in INJ 12. Kogon published an update, "Countermarks on Small Judean Coins" in INR 7, identifying 47 known specimens of countermarked prutah of all types. Both papers are available online. Lönnqvist interpreted CΠ in the countermark as an abbreviation for the Greek word ΣΠΕIPA, referring to a Roman legionary tactical unit, a cohors. The use of CΠ referring to a cohors is also known from an inscription. He suggested that the countermarks were applied in 36 - 37 A.D. in Jerusalem to mark the coins as pay for the soldiers of the cohors II Italica civium Romanorum.JD111613. Bronze prutah, Hendin 6369a (same c/m); RPC I 4966.8-11 (same); Meshorer TJC 330 (same); countermark: Kogon 3b, Howgego GIC 386, coin: Fair, countermark: VF, weight 2.195 g, maximum diameter 17.7 mm, die axis 0o, Jerusalem mint, 24 - 25 A.D., c/m: 36 - 37/41 A.D.; obverse TIB / KAI/CAP (Greek: Tiberius Caesar) in three lines within wreath tied at base with an X; reverse palm branch curving right, flanked by IOY-ΛIA (Greek: Julia = Tiberius' mother Livia) above L - IA (year 11 of Tiberius) in two lines across field; countermark: palm frond flanked by C-Π within 8mm circular punch; from the collection of a Texas clergyman, ex J. P. Fontanille Collection (2016); rare countermark; SOLD
Aegina, Saronic Islands, Greece, c. 456 or 445 - 431 B.C.
Kraay, Archaic and Classical Greek Coins, 1976, p. 47, says the tortoise coins with segmented shell were probably introduced c. 456 BC, perhaps connected with the capture of Aegina by the Athenians in 457/456, or maybe in 445, when the Thirty Years Peace guaranteed Aegina's autonomy.GA28049. Silver stater, HGC 6 437 (S); SNG Delepierre 1787; SNG Cop 516; SNG Munchen 561; BMC Attica p. 137, 146; Kraay 127; Dewing 1683; Milbank pl. 2, 12, Choice gVF, well struck with high relief, nice metal, toned, edge cracks, weight 12.338 g, maximum diameter 21.7 mm, Aigina (Aegina) mint, c. 456 or 445 - 431 B.C.; obverse land tortoise (Testudo marginata), shell segmented into 13 plates, seen from above, small countermark; reverse incuse square divided into five compartments by bands in a skew pattern; SOLD
Claudius, 25 January 41 - 13 October 54 A.D.
R. F. Kenyon in "The countermark PROB on coins of Claudius from Britain" (NC 148, 1988) writes that the PROB countermark, which was applied only to sestertii of Claudius, can be expanded to PROBatum, meaning "approved." The Claudian sestertii bearing this countermark are found almost exclusively in Britain and Italy. His study did not find shared punches between any coins with known provenances from Britain and Italy, suggesting that the Claudian sestertii circulating in Britain were countermarked there. The countermarks were carefully applied, always in the right obverse field and never overlapping the imperial portrait. Coins were countermarked before they had seen much, if any, circulation.SH85461. Orichalcum sestertius, RIC I 99; BMCRE I 124; SRCV I 1853; Cohen I 85; c/m: Kenyon 1 - 7 (same coin type, same placement), Pangerl 23 (Gallia), Martini 40, Choice VF, c/m: EF; Tiber toning, bumps and scratches, light corrosion, reverse double struck, weight 25.951 g, maximum diameter 36.4 mm, die axis 180o, Rome mint, 42 A.D.; obverse TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP, laureate head right, countermark: PROB in a rectangular punch; reverse SPES AVGVSTA, Spes walking left, flower in right hand, raising skirt with left hand, S C (senatus consulto) in exergue; rare countermark; SOLD
Pergamon, Mysia, c. 134 A.D.
Eurypylos was a Mysian hero of the Trojan War. His image is otherwise unknown on coinage. Like Bellerophon at Corinth and Dionysos at Tium, this image of a local hero appears modeled on Antinous. Homer (Odyssey 11.522) has Odysseus say that Eurypylus was, next to Memnon, the most beautiful man he had ever seen.
The strategos I. Pollion is named on several coin types of Pergamon during the reign of Hadrian, including one for Sabina (RPC III 1737) and another for Antinous (RPC III, 1738).
The link between Pergamon and Paphos, evidenced by this coin, is not well understood. However, the same reverse was used, from Hadrian to Philip I, on coins struck to honor an alliance between Sardes and Paphos.RP96071. Orichalcum dupondius, RPC Online III 1740 (4 spec.), SNG BnF 1897, Weber 5206, SNG Cop -, BMC Mysia -, F, porous, reverse off center, countermark obscure, weight 11.652 g, maximum diameter 26.5 mm, die axis 0o, Pergamon (Bergama, Turkey) mint, time of Hadrian, c. 134 A.D.; obverse HPΩC EYPYΠYΛOC (Hero Eurypylos), head of hero Eurypylos (with the features of Antinous) right, flowing hair, uncertain oval countermark; reverse ΠEPΓAMHNΩN EΠI CTP ΠΩΛΛIΩNOC (Pergamon, struck under strategos Pollion), temple of Aphrodite at Paphos, in which conical xoanon, semicircular walled courtyard, ΠAΦIA (of Paphos) across the courtyard; extremely rare, the 5th known; SOLD
Augustus, 16 January 27 B.C. - 19 August 14 A.D., VAR Quinctillus Varus Countermark
The Altar of Lugdunum and the Sanctuary of the Three Gauls was dedicated by Augustus on 1 August 10 B.C., the very same day Drusus' son, the future emperor Claudius, was born in Lugdunum. All the notable men of Gaul were invited. Caius Julius Vercondaridubnus, a member of the Aedui tribe, was the first priest of the new imperial cult. The altar, which was engraved with the names of 60 Gallic tribes, was featured prominently on coins from the Lugdunum mint for many years.CM84471. Copper as, BnF I 1485 (with c/m), RIC I 230, BMCRE I 549, SRCV I 1690, Cohen I 240; countermark: Pangerl 52e (Publius Quinctilius Varus), aF, rough, edge crack, c/m: aF, weight 8.852 g, maximum diameter 27.0 mm, die axis 180o, Lugdunum (Lyon, France) mint, c. 10 - 6 B.C.; obverse CAESAR PONT MAX, laureate head right; countermark: VAR ligature (Varus) in a rectangular punch; reverse ROM ET AVG (in exergue), the Altar of Lugdunum, the front decorated with the corona civica between laurels and figures; flanked on each side by a Victory on a column standing facing center, raising a wreath and holding a palm frond; SOLD
Byzantine Empire, Duchy of Chaldia, Gregorios Taronites, c. 1103 - 1106 A.D., Reign of Alexius I Comnenus
Gregorios Taronites was made Dux of Trebizond by Alexius I after military successes against the Seljuks. He almost immediately rebelled. While the emperor sought a diplomatic solution, Taronites went so far as to publicly insult the imperial family. Captured, Alexius intended to have him blinded but he was granted clemency and instead paraded through the streets of Constantinople and then thrown into the Prison of Anemas. At first, Gregory remained obstinate and continued to hurl abuse on the emperor from his cell, but was persuaded to recant and beseech the emperor's pardon. In the end, he was not only released and pardoned, but accorded even higher honors.BZ95867. Bronze follis, Bendall Trebizond p. 133, 13B & pl. 7, 19; DOC IV-1 p. 433, 13b; Schlumberger pl. ii, 5; Hendy -; Wroth BMC -; Ratto -, gF, overstruck on Michael IV follis, dark brown patina, obverse off center, light marks, weight 6.735 g, maximum diameter 26.3 mm, die axis 180o, Trebizond (Trabzon, Turkey) mint, reign of Alexius I Comnenus, c. 1103 - 1106 A.D.; obverse facing bust of Christ, bearded and nimbate, wearing tunic and himation, Gospels in right hand, IC - XC (Greek abbreviation: Ihsoús Xristós - Jesus Christ) across field; reverse Latin cross on three steps, globule at end of each arm, A-Λ / B - P (Greek abbreviation: Αλεξιο Βασιλευς Ρωμαιων - Alexius king of the Romans) in angles, Arab countermark 'Lillah" (For Allah); rare; SOLD
Vespasian, 1 July 69 - 24 June 79 A.D., Legio X Fretensis Countermark
In 72 A.D. the Roman governor Lucius Flavius Silva laid siege to Masada, a desert fortress, the last outpost of the Jewish rebels following the end in 70 of the First Jewish Revolt. The Legio X Fretensis surrounded the mountain fortress with a 7-mile long siege wall and built a rampart of stones and beaten earth against the western approach. In the Spring of 73 A.D., 960 Zealots under the leadership of Eleazar ben Ya'ir committed mass suicide when defeat became imminent.SL89795. Orichalcum dupondius, RIC II 1156, Lyon 41, BMCRE II, Cohen I, SRCV I; countermark: Howgego 733 (reign of Domitian, 84-96 A.D.), NGC G, strike 4/5, surface 3/5, countermark LXF [=Legio X Fretensis] (2490386-006), weight 10.912 g, maximum diameter 27.9 mm, die axis 180o, Lugdunum (Lyon, France) mint, 71 A.D.; obverse IMP CAESAR VESPASIAN AVG COS III (or IIII), radiate head right, globe at point of bust; countermark: LXF (Legio X Fretensis) in a rectangular punch; reverse SECVRITAS AVGVSTI, Securitas seated right, resting head on raised hand, long scepter vertical in left hand, flaming altar to right, S C (senatus consulto) in exergue; NGC| Lookup; SOLD
Antioch, Roman Provincial Syria, Fall 48 - Spring 47 B.C., Cleopatra Countermark
From McAlee, The Coins of Roman Antioch, p. 74, note 25: "The coins of this year (Pompeian Era 19 = 48/7 BC) and of Year 3 of the Caesarean Era are frequently seen with a countermark on the obverse, which was previously described as "head of Apollo r." in an oval. As discussed in the text, it now seems likely that the countermark portrays Cleopatra, and was used to mark coins circulating in the Syro-Phoenician territories, which were given to her by Mark Antony."CM25063. Bronze tetrachalkon, McAlee 43; RPC I 4216; BMC Galatia p. 155, 35; Cohen DCA 384; HGC 9 1366; SNG Cop -; countermark: McAlee p. 74, note 25, VF/F, countermark VF, weight 14.149 g, maximum diameter 24.8 mm, die axis 0o, Antioch (Antakya, Turkey) mint, fall 48 - spring 47 B.C.; c/m: c. 36 - 30 B.C.; obverse laureate head of Zeus right; countermark: bust of Cleopatra right in an incuse oval; reverse ANTIOXEΩN THΣ MHTPOΠOΛEΩΣ, Zeus Nicephorus enthroned left, chest bare, himation around hips and legs, Nike offering wreath in his extended right hand, long scepter vertical in left hand, fulmen (thunderbolt) above, cornucopia (control symbol) inner left, IΘ (Pompeian Era year 19) below, all within laurel wreath; SOLD
Eastern Celts, Audoleon Imitative, Honter type, 2nd Century B.C.
CE40505. Silver tetradrachm, Lanz 690, Göbl OTA 381/8, gVF, weight 13.580 g, maximum diameter 24.3 mm, die axis 225o, obverse laureate head of Zeus right; reverse rider trotting right, MT above, ΛΕ in front, Δ below, square countermark and test cut; SOLD
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