Antoninianus - Probus Helmeted, cuirassed, left, spear and shield; SOLI INVICTO; Sol

Reverse

Sol, radiate, in quadriga, galloping left, raising right hand and holding whip in left hand.

Script: Latin

Lettering:
SOLI INVICTO
In exergue XXI followed by officina mark

Unabridged legend: Soli Invicto.

Translation: The undefeated Sol.

Comment

RIC 770 was minted by the first to the seventh officina of the Siscia mint. The original RIC text mentions 4 different variations/different bust types (bust types according to Pierre Bastiens grouping of bust types; see illustrated: probvs.net), and there are also multiple variants known:

1. radiate, draped, right (A bust, Alföldi 076.037 (*) (**) (example: probuscoins.fr #1494, Numista #293126);
2. radiate, cuirassed, right (B bust, Alföldi 076.038-045 (example: probuscoins.fr #4839), Numista #293818);
3. helmeted, radiate, cuirassed, left, holding spear in right hand and shield in left hand (E1 bust, Alföldi 076.048-055 (example: probuscoins.fr #4664), this coin);
4. radiate, cuirassed, left, holding spear in right hand and shield in left hand (F1 bust, Alföldi - (no example on probuscoins.fr), Numista #293820);
5. [var] radiate, wearing imperial mantle, left, holding sceptre surmounted by eagle in right hand (H2 bust, Alföldi 076.023-029 (example: probuscoins.fr #4591), Numista #411384);
6. [var] radiate, wearing imperial mantle, left (H bust, Alföldi 076.017-022 (example: probuscoins.fr #1481), not in Numista);
7. [var] radiate, draped and cuirassed, right (A2 bust, Alföldi 076.030-036 (example: probuscoins.fr #2065), not in Numista);
8. [var] radiate, cuirassed, left, holding spear (F5 bust, Alföldi 076.038-045 (example: probuscoins.fr #4448), not in Numista);
9. [var] helmeted, radiate, cuirassed, left, holding spear in right hand and shield in left hand, from behind (E2 bust, Alföldi 076.057 (example: probuscoins.fr #4492), not in Numista);
10. [var] helmeted, radiate, cuirassed, left, holding globe with Victory in right hand and spear and shield in left hand (E10 bust, Alföldi 076.056 (example: probuscoins.fr #4580), not in Numista);
11. [var] radiate, cuirassed, left (B1 bust, Alföldi 076.046 (no example on probuscoins.fr), not in Numista);

(*) RIC does not list the A2 bust (Probus, draped and cuirassed, right) but only the A bust (Probus, draped, right). See for example RIC 651 where the A2 and A bust are separately listed. There are few published examples of the A bust. Fewer examples of the A bust have been published than of A2 bust (see for example the list of Alföldi: A bust - 076.037 versus the A2 bust - 076.030-036 in (**) Andreas Alföldi, Vorarbeiten zu einem Corpus der in Siscia geprägten römischen Kaisermünzen. Heft V. Verzeichnis der Antoniniane des Kaisers Probus, Budapest, 1939).

According to Pink, RIC 770, with its obverse legend nr. 8 ('IMP PROBVS P F AVG') is part of the 6th (exergue-/mint mark style: -/-//XXIP) emission, which was in the year 279 (Karl Pink, Der Aufbau der römischen Münzprägung in der Kaiserzeit VI/I, Wien, 1949, p. 52).

Interesting fact