Background information
The coin shown is another coin of Antoninus Pius, this time from Alexandria in Egypt. Its reverse depicts Isis Pharia. Between the figure of Isis and her sail one can clearly see the Greek numeral Ε (for 5), indicating that this coin was issued during the fifth year of Pius’ reign (= AD 141/2). In order to identify this coin it is necessary to use the “Advanced search”.
Searching the database
Select menu “Coin Database”
Choose the fourth option called “Advanced search”
Under the section “Date” change “Mint” from “All mints” to “Alexandria in Egypt”
Press the “List” button next to “Regnal year”
Tick the box next to “Antoninus Pius, year 5 = 141/2”
Press on the “Continue” button
Under section “Design & inscriptions” press the “List” button next to “Reverse design” in order to get a list of common reverse designs
Under the section “Filter the list”, either:
- change the “First letter” from “A” to “I” and press the “Filter” button; or
- change the “First letter” from “A” to “Any” and type into the “Search” field “Pharia”, then press the “Filter” button
In both cases you should get a list containing the entry “Isis Pharia (with sail)”
Tick the box next to the entry “Isis Pharia (with sail)” and press the “Continue” button
Press the “Search” button
The search should return a number of matching coin types, including the one we are currently looking for, namely type number 15953. (Please be aware of the fact that, by default, only coin types are shown for which there are images in the database.)
The matching coin types differ in their obverse design (radiate vs laureate and head vs bust with cuirass and paludamentum) and obverse legends. The easiest way to find these differences would be to:
- Switch to the “Tabulated view”
- Follow the “Add/remove columns” link in the top right corner
- Under the section “Columns” tick the box next to “Obverse inscription”
- Press the “Save” button
Now you can see the differences between the matching coin types in obverse design and legends on one screen.
Alternatively, you could explore the differences between the matching types by going through their detailed coin records one by one. For that you would have to click on the first coin image or its (hyperlinked) temporary number, and then use the “Next” link under “Browse search results” on the left of your screen to move from individual record to individual record.
Further comments
The “Advanced search” offers a number of other search criteria which go far beyond the identification of individual coins. You can:
Search for a specific temporary number
Search for the coins of one or more cites, provinces or regions (also possible in the “Identification search”)
Search for coins of certain dates
Search for specific “magistrates” and their titles
Search for designs and legends (some functions of which are also available in the “Identification search”)
Search for physical characteristics of coins
Search for type standard or specimen references