Anepigraph

Bust of Aelia Verina to the right, draped, wearing a diadem of pearls, a necklace of pearls and long earrings. Above, the hand of God crowning her.

Latin cross inside a crown.

Photo of a coin sold the 18/11/2013 byr Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 75, lot 393, link to the sale: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1757606, link to their website: http://www.arsclassicacoins.com/.

Only on copy seen with this letter (V normal). Not listed in the RIC X.

For the classification of the legends and the form of the letters, click here: https://www.all-your-coins.com/en/emperors/romaines-imperiales/aelia-verina. And look at comments of the AYC #1.

For the letter ''V'', we can think of a normal ''V'', with a die break (horizontal line embossed on top) or a ''P''. For me, it seems that the ''P'' described by professionals are '''' whose two branches join after a break of the die or bad engraving. All copies showing a "P" shape have the horizontal top line, with a hole in the middle. The two branches therefore have a separation. This shows that it is a '''' as mentioned in the RIC. However, I note that either the coins have a ''V'' whose branches meet as explained, or they are '''', herefore with a lower branch. So two different letters. It is complicated to differentiate between these two letters with the style, the bad technique of engraving, wear or die break... to conclude the exact form of a letter is quite subjective. I therefore propose to classify the form ''V'' when:

• The bottom of the letter corresponds to the usual V form.
• No lower branch, so shape .
• The line joining the two branches at the top is interrupted.

For form '''' or '''':

• A branch is lower.
• The general form corresponds to the  or  form.
• The line joining the two branches at the top is interrupted.

The coin described here is therefore with a ''V'' because it has the 3 characteristics. This coin: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=713502, classified as legend ''d'', (because of the lower left leg) presents a V of AVG with a shape resembling  except that the departure of the letter is indeed like a V. The top of the letter's legs is wide. The separation between the two legs at the top is fine, because of this width of the tips. So we can see how a V can look like a  or  and that it is necessary to follow the points listed above to define the exact letter.