3. Countermarks on Coins of Caligula
This section covers "IMP", "TIAV", "TIBCLAIMP", "TI*C*A", "TICA" on Caligula's coins,
plus Caligula's own countermarks
"CA", "CAG" / "CAC",
and Gaius countermarks on Eastern Provincial Coins
"IMP"
part of "TIBCLAIMP" countermark,
right into Caligula's face (countermark Martini
Pangerl Collection 51)
"TIAV"
on reverse of Agrippa As, so called
"Hofheim" type, Germania Superior. (countermark Martini
Pangerl Collection 54)
Agrippa asses are thought to have been minted from Tiberius to
Caligula.
Please check therefore also the Tiberius
section
for Agrippa coins with countermarks.
TIAV is commonly read as "Tiberius Claudius Augustus". Strangely the "Claudius" would thus be missing from the countermark. TIAV exists also on coins of Claudius (see there). Another possibility would be to move the time of use to Titus (TIAV = Titus Augustus). In parallel NCAPR commonly seen as Neronian is possibly from Nerva's reign.
barbarous coin
"TI AV" on Germanicus Dupond of Caligula
"TIAV" imitation on a sestertius of Agrippina senior
An interesting double strike: an Agrippa As overstruck by a
Germanicus
As, with "TIAV" countermark
at a regular position
on the reverse of the Agrippa As
"TIB CLAIMP" in ligature on Germanicus As of Caligula, the countermark is from Claudius (countermark Martini Pangerl Collection 51)
Here a clear example of damnatio memoriae on a Caligula
As, TBCLAIMP
countermark, and the "C" and the "G" of "C C"AESAR
AV"G G"ERMANICUS
scratched off.
copyright
Andreas Pangerl 2008
"TI.C.A"
on As of Caligula, Germania Inferior
? The countermark is either from Claudius (Tiberius Claudius Augustus),
or, less likely from Titus (Titus Caesar Augustus)
(countermark Martini
Pangerl Collection 58)
"TICA" on Agrippa As (Agrippa Asses are thought to
have been minted
from Tiberius to Caligula). The TICA countermark is likely from
Claudius
(countermark Martini
Pangerl Collection 58)
"TICA" degraded imitation.
Another unknown countermark on a Caligula coin ("MV" in
ligature ?)
Unknown punched "MM" Countermark
on a Caligula
Sestertius, an "IMP" ?
Special Section
Caligula's Countermarks:
Some countermarks are thought to be from
Caligula:
"CA" on Lugdunum
AEs (countermark Martini
Pangerl Collection 11)
"CAG" on Agrippa
and Tiberius AEs
(countermarkMartini
Pangerl Collection 44)
The debate whether the "IMPAVC" or the "CAESAR in ligature" countermarks belong to the Tiberian period or to Caligula is so far undecided. (both can be found in the Augustus Moneyer Countermark Section
Below an example of a Caligula
countermark on a Tiberian
provincial coin:
The base coin is RPC 4274. The
Obverse is for Tiberius,
the Reverse is for Lucius
Pomponius
Flaccus. Flaccus was Legatus of Syria at the same time Pontius
Pilatus was procurator in Judaea. Flaccus, as Legatus, was
the superior
officer and nominally Pilatus' boss. Pilatus could call on Flaccus to
provide
military support, as earlier procurators in Judaea had done. The coin
is
dated to AD 33/34, but Flaccus was named to the post in AD 26
(according
to Suetonius). The EPI (first three letters on reverse) is for
Epitropos.
The countermark is for Caligula, year two, meaning AD 38.
Some more examples of this
countermark (see also below
for the dating system B= year 2, Gamma= 3, Delta =4, Epsilon =5 )
(picture copyright RPC)