PM is Pontifex Maximus, which I thought stood for high priest.

Harold

"Michael E. Marotta" wrote in message
...
(Peter) wrote
A friend asked me identify a coin ... which he assumed was Roman.
about the size of a quarter. The obverse has a picture of a
bushy-bearded man facing right. He looks like Zeus or Neptune. To the
left of the head is what looks like a long branch of palms perhaps. To
the right of the head is a snake coiled around a staff and above that
is the letter "L" with a smaller letter "I" sitting between the two
lines of the letter "L". On the reverse is a man standing on a little
mound facing towards the left with his right arm upraised. In his left
hand is a shield. Letters begin near the bottom left and go clockwise.
They are "PMTPPX". On the right side of the coin going down are the
letters "HCOSIYP". At least they look like those letters. The "I" is
slanted and the "Y" is kind of odd looking. And that's all that's on
the coin. It's in very good condition and all the pictures are raised
up. Any ideas?

All of this is conjectural without a picture to go by.

The coin is from Alexandria in Egypt under Roman rule.
L I stands for Year 10. Iota is 10.

PM is Pontifex Maximus, the guy in charge of all the bridges in Rome
and a title still held by the Pope.

TRP X means Tripotens 10. "Thrice-powerful" being an honorific
granted by the Senate, in this case for the 10th time, which
corresponds to the Year 10 of Rule.

COS is short for CONSUL and if IY is really IV, the fourth of
successive 2-year consulships would square with this being the 10th
year of reign. Unless it is the IX 9th year of 1-year rubberstamps.

The "H" means nothing offhand without more letters. I am surprised
that there is not another inscription or more words. The emperor's
name is pretty much a requirement.

The obverse image sounds like Aesculapius, the god of Health and
Medicine. Certainly those are his implements. The snake on a staff
is his symbol and is still seen today. The reverse image might be
Apollo seated on the Omphalos of the World, but he wouldn't be
carrying a shield, though a lyre perhaps. Again, however, Roman
emperors usually put themselves on the obverse. So, it is hard to
say...


Michael
ANA R-162953
MSNS 7935