Antoninianus - Probus Cuirassed, right; FIDES MILITVM; Fides

Reverse

Fides, draped, standing left, holding ensign in each hand.
In exergue: Mintmark (R) followed by wreath (Ჲ) and officina mark (Є).

Script: Latin

Lettering: FIDES MILITVM

Unabridged legend: Fides Militum.

Translation: Loyalty of the soldiers.

Comment

RIC 169 and 170 were minted by the Rome mint, by the 5^th officina (the letter ‘Є’). Both have the same reverse, depicting ‘Fides stg. l., holding two ensigns’ and with reverse legend ‘FIDES MILITVM’. There is no other antoninian for the Rome mint with the same reverse in RIC. RIC 169 and 170 only differ in obverse legend and, in part, in exergue mark/emission. The obverse legend of RIC 170 is ‘PROBVS PF AVG’ (Nr. 7 in RIC). See Numista #293962. RIC 169 (and therefore also OCRE) mistakenly lists as obverse legend: ‘PROBVS AVG’ (Nr. 8 in RIC), while in fact it should be ‘IMP PROBVS PF AVG’ (Nr. 4 in RIC). This is corrected by RIC itself on the ’Corrigenda and addenda’-page: “169, for obverse legend 8 read 4” and this correction has been incorporated into Numista.

It is also clear from Pink and Guillemain that there is no antoninianus from the Rome mint with the aforementioned reverse depiction/legend with the obverse legend ‘PROBVS AVG’. See: Karl Pink, Der Aufbau der römischen Münzprägung in der Kaiserzeit VI/I, Wien, 1949, p. 42-47 and Jean Guillemain, La Monetazione di Probo a Roma (276-282), Ripostiglio della Venèra-Nuovo Catalogo Illustrato Vol III/1, 2009. 

Secondly, RIC 169 mistakenly lists exergue mark R✶Є (the ✶ = ‘star’). As is clear from Pink, R✶Є was used for the 5^th officina in the 3^rd emission (year 278), while ‘FIDES MILITVM’, with the above mentioned depiction, was only first used in the 5^th emission (year 280) of the Rome mint. This is also evident from Guillemain, as well as that the letter ‘E’ from exergue mark ‘RᲲE’ (the Ჲ = ‘wreath’) listed by RIC, is of course an Epsilon (‘Є’) equal to the exergue mark ‘RЖЄ’ (the Ж = ‘winged thunderbolt’) and ‘RIЄ’ (the letter ‘I’) listed for the 5^th officina. 

There is in fact one true variant obverse legend for the aforementioned reverse depiction/legend not in RIC. Both Pink (p. 45) and Guillemain (#394) list: ‘IMP PROBVS AVG’ (Nr. 6 in RIC). See for an example: probuscoins.fr #4229. Because it is listed as a variant of RIC 169 by Guillemain, it is listed as such in Numista as well. See Numista #293961.

The original RIC text for both RIC 169 and 170 mentions 1 variation/bust type as mentioned below (bust types according to Pierre Bastiens grouping of bust types; see illustrated: probvs.net).

• RIC 169 - IMP PROBVS PF AVG

Exergue mark(s): -/-//RᲲЄ | -/-//RЖЄ

1. Radiate, cuirassed, right (B bust, Guillemain #445 (-/-//RᲲЄ), #475 (-/-//RЖЄ)), example: probuscoins.fr #1711, Numista #64263);

• RIC 169var - IMP PROBVS AVG

Exergue mark(s): -/-//RᲲЄ 

1. [var] Radiate, cuirassed, right (B bust, Guillemain #394 (-/-//RᲲЄ)), example: probuscoins.fr #4229, Numista #293961);

• RIC 170 - PROBVS PF AVG

Exergue mark(s): -/-//RЖЄ | -/-//RIЄ

1. Radiate, cuirassed, right (B bust, Guillemain #485 (-/-//RЖЄ), #496 (-/-//RIЄ)), example: probuscoins.fr #245, Numista #293962);

Pink lists exergue mark ‘RЖЄ’ as part of the 5^th emission (year 280), ‘RᲲЄ’ as part of the 6^th emission (year 281) and ‘RIЄ’ as part of the 7^th emission (year 282). Guillemain has a different categorisation of the emissions: Pinks 5^th emission in the spring of 281; Pinks 6^th emission from summer 281 through early 282 and; Pinks 7^th emission in 282. Guillemain is not usually followed in his dating. 

RIC 170, with exergue mark ‘RIЄ’, is part of the AEQVITI series of Rome, in which the 5^th officina represents the letter I in the exergue. See on these coded series: Gert Boersema, The Translation of the Codewords AEQVITI, IOBI and HPKOY, Forumancientcoins.com, 2007.

Interesting fact