| Note |
517A/1 belonged to de Saulcy and was first published by L. de la Saussaye, Numismatique de la Gaule Narbonnaise (1842), p. 129 no. 3 and pl. XV. It is briefly mentioned by A. Pelletier, Vienne antique (1982) p. 37 n. 3, but obviously Pelletier thought the coin might be a modern forgery. Metal analysis by neutron absorption reveals the presence of a high percentage of antimony (1.42%), which is the characteristic of the metal used by coins of Vienne. As the portrait of Octavian conforms to the style of his other portraits on Gallic issues, this coin, though curious, is probably genuine. A date of c. 30-25 is proposed517A/2 surfaced recently in a private collection, from different dies. This coin was also analysed by the Centre E. Babelon at Orléans and the results are coherent with the analysis performed on 517A/1.
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