With the 1985 publication of Christopher Howgego's monumental work Greek Imperial Countermarks, the study of countermarks in the Roman east was finally placed on a firm basis. Subsequently, several publications by Rodolfo Martini, expanding on the work of earlier authors such as Grünwald and MacDonald, have presented a vast corpus of material from sites in Europe, mainly along the northern border of the Roman world, where legionary camps guarded the limes. Besides these publications, there have been several small studies, in RIC and elsewhere, compiling the known Imperial countermarks, mostly applied to coins circulating in Italy itself.
Howgego listed over 800 different varieties of countermarks, and the northern corpus (plus Spain and Gaul) adds several dozen more. We now see a much clearer picture of the distribution of these countermarks, and can gather some idea of their function. Beside the obvious necessity of re-validated worn, obsolete or unusual coins for circulation in areas where regular coinage was scarce, there are clear cases where changing political realities were expressed by making revisions to the circulating coinage. Such cases are the numerous varieties of countermarks applied during the tumultuous reign of Nero and subsequent civil unrest. And again, in the Severan period, the struggles for legitimacy among the various family members and usurpers saw a wide array of politically motivated re-validations.
Nonetheless, there are still many cases where the reason for the application of a specific countermark, or for a specific series of coins to be re-validated, remains a mystery, and is probably related to local market conditions or perhaps cult practices. And further, as demonstrated by the Ian Roper collection presented here, there is still a significant number of unrecorded countermark issues out there, waiting to be discovered and analyzed. The study of the countermarked coins of the Roman world is far from complete.
MYSIA, Pergamum. Caracalla. 198-217 AD. Æ Medallion (44mm, 43.27 g, 6h). Julius Anthemus, magistrate. Laureate and cuirassed bust right; 2 c/m: animal suckling child in oval and wreath in circle / Caracalla on horseback advancing right, holding lance, crowned by Nike; before him a trophy with two bound Parthian prisoners. For coin: SNG France 2225; SNG Copenhagen -; for c/m: Howgego 318 and 480.
Caracalla visited the shrine of Asklepios at Pergamon on his way to the Parthian wars in 214-215 AD. Tormented by nightmares and various psycho-physical ailments brought on by his brutal behavior toward his family and subjects, Caracalla hoped for surcease from the healing god. His visit brought forth a torrent of huge medallic bronzes from the Pergamene mint, most showing the emperor presenting himself to Asklepios, but this medallion is a straightforward preview of his coming victories in Persia. The meaning of the animal suckling child countermark is not certain, perhaps a reference to Amaltheia and Zeus (who was supposed to have been born on the acropolis at Pergamum), a deer suckling Telephus, or simply a wolf and child. Its appearance with the second, wreath in circle, countermark is known on other issues of Pergamum. This second countermark, found on coins of Caracalla and Elagabalus, may have some connection with games held under the latter.
