Marcus Aurelius and Serapis?

My wife and took our daughter to a coin show this past weekend. It was a two hour drive each way for us but she insisted on going (and we all had a fun day). We stopped by an older couple's table and found out that they had emigrated to the US from Eastern Europe 20 years ago. The husband proudly told me that he had found the majority of Roman coins that he had for sale.

My daughter immediately focused on this coin. The price was right so it came home with us along with a couple others. I think she liked Serapis' hat! It was marked Marcus Aurelius and Serapis, Marcianopolis Thrace. It is 19mm in diameter. The legends are a bit worn and difficult to read, can anyone shed some more light on this for us?


Apologies for the poor photography, Thanks

 

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I do not know enough to be certain but I am less than sure about the ID. I see no obverse legend but the portrait is either Aurelius or Commodus. On the reverse, Serapis is certain but I may see a few strokes of the legend starting at lower left. These 'letters' are partly imaginary but I am unable to match them with any coin I found listed from that city and period. Failure. I do not have the necessary books to research this one from the small amount of detail seen and the similarly small amount of experience I have with Provincials of Aurelius.

 

It's not a bad looking coin, but I can't provide anything more than what Doug has said.

 

In a search on acsearch the only left facing bust of Serapis I saw was this one of Commodus, from Nicopolis. It's similar, but the size doesn't match up.

http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=161670

 

Yes: Commodus, Nikopolis ad Istrum. Varbanov I 2209. A range of 16 to 19mm is good, around 3 grams. Varbanov's coin is 18mm.

 

A neat find!

 

Thanks everyone for the input and speedy replies. I am always amazed at the wealth of knowledge present on this forum.

I did find the Commodus Nikopolis ad Istrum attribution on Wildwinds but was hesitant because the photo there shows Commodus with a "grape cluster" beard (for lack of a better term). The figure on the coin that we have has had a shave recently.

 

My answer is a best guess. For one thing, portraiture on provincial coins exhibits quite a bit of variance - the busts are not anywhere near as homogenous as they are on imperial coins. Also, it's possible that the beard is just worn down - the rest of the coin is quite worn as well. Sometimes with extensively circulated coins, the best we can do offer possibilities.

I looked this up in Hristova/Jekov as well, and they record the same coin. Their catalog number is 8.10.6.1, and their example comes in at 18mm, 3.5g.



Notice that the bust on their example does not have a long beard at all. If the coin were as worn as yours, it would easily look clean-shaven.

 

Thanks, John. Your point about wear is a good one and I appreciate you adding the attribution.

Ironically, I happened across a couple of photos of beardless Commodus coins last night while trying to attribute a different coin. They looked a lot like the likeness on this coin. Either way, welcome to the family Commodus!