Nice example of a Constantine II military type Ae. This one has his bust to right and the obv. legend `Constantinus Iun Nob C'. Reverse is two soldiers standing either side of two standards and the legend `Gloria Exercitus'. In the exergue is what appears to be `SHTSB'. I haven't a clue what these letters signify, and i've been unable to track it down precisely other than it seems similar (apart from the exergue) to RIC 328. Any data leading to precise attribution would (as always) be much appreciated.

The only mint marks I can find are
HT - Heraclea (Turkey) & SMTS - Thessalonica (Greece)
Take your pick! Sometimes there are initial and terminal decorative characters in the excurge?

Thanks for your input Geordie.

Isn't it just damnably annoying when what you have in front of you just refuses to fit in nicely with the information.

If the H was less of an H and more of an M, I would go with Thessalonica ......but it isn't. It's definitely an H.

If it's Heraclea, then the coin has three superfluous characters in the exergue.....or they mean something else deeply significant...like the monayers mother in laws initials. I'm going to go with Heraclea.

I'd agree - until another forum reader inputs something different!

I'd agree - until another forum reader inputs something different!

Sorry! Click bounce!

This is an old topic that I just saw and I figured I would post.

This coin is definitely from Thessalonica. The first two letters in the exergue are SM and are not the initials of a city but rather stand for Sacra Moneta (sacred mint ). You see this used frequently...SMANT (sacred mint of Antioch) SMAL (sacred mint of Alexandria) and so on. The exergue of this coin means sacred mint of Thessalonica, officina B (second office). Your coin is either RIC VII Thessalonica 184 or RIC VII Thessalonica 199...RIC does not differentiate between these two issues.

Thanks for that, Victor. Another pearl to add to my bucket of wisdom!

Thanks. I'ts good to learn something new The data provided is very much appreciated.