Been awhile since I was this excited about a coin! I was browsing the new inventory of a well-known dealer and saw an as of Commodus listed for sale. It was the excellent portrait which first caught my eye. I kept browsing other coins, but made a mental note to go back and take a closer look later. (dealer photo) In addition to the portrait, the coin is beautifully patinated. I also noticed that it was an interesting VOTA type, from the Jeff Clark VOTA Collection. As a collector of unusual as types, I did what I usually do when interested in a Roman coin – reach for the appropriate volume of Sear’s Roman Coins and Their Values and look it up. My eyes nearly popped out when I saw this! Is that the same coin?? I could hardly believe it! The listing did not mention anything about it being a plate coin. Could I be mistaken? I scrutinized both coin images. No question about it – it was the same coin! How on earth could a Sear plate coin lose such a provenance?? No matter, that was enough to push me over the edge! I bought the coin. Being so caught up in the excitement of discovering a plate coin, I hadn't noticed before that the rarity rating given in the dealer listing was 8/10. It's not even listed in RIC (that reference only recognizes this type as a dupondius.) There is one specimen in the British Museum collection, No. 566: coin | British Museum I did an exhaustive search on ACSearch and other archives but only found three other specimens. It was while searching Coryssa, the database created by our member @rasielsuarez that I came across this: Coryssa - The Coin Auctions Database - Coryssa - The Coin Auctions Database The same coin! Apparently, it was auctioned off by Numismatic Fine Arts on December 10, 1980. Turning to rnumis, I found the complete auction catalog. There was the coin – lot 537 – misdescribed as a dupondius, which hammered for $100 on a $200 estimate: Ancient coins. Auction IX : 10 décembre 1980 / Numismatic Fine Arts | Gallica (bnf.fr) How did this coin end up being illustrated in RCV? Thanks to a CT thread by our valued member @Curtis I learned that David Sear was a cataloguer for a number of NFA auctions, and used some of the coins in his RCV reference books. Check out the thread and Curtis's awesome Philip I plate coin here: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/finding-provenance.403741/page-2 So to make a long story short, I am now the proud owner of a Sear plate coin – which also happens to be an extremely rare type, has a terrific portrait, a beautiful patina, and an interesting collection provenance. Doesn’t get much better than that! Feel free to comment/post your own surprise plate coins, provenance discoveries, Commodus coins, or anything else! COMMODUS, AD 180-192AE As (24.84mm, 7.59g, 11h) Struck AD 185. Rome mint Obverse: M COMM ANTON AVG PIVS BRIT, laureate head of Commodus right Reverse: VOT SVSC DEC P M TR P X IMP VII, Commodus, togate, standing left, sacrificing over tripod-altar; COS IIII P P in exergue, S C across fields References: RIC - , BMC 566, RCV 5897 (this coin illustrated) An extremely rare type, with a fine portrait and rich emerald patina. This coin is the illustrated plate coin in David R. Sear's popular reference series Roman Coins and Their Values (Vol. II, p. 411) From the Jeff Clark VOTA Collection.
Congrats. A great pick up, fantastic portrait. Its provenance, and previous collection history, along with the scarcity, makes it a wonderful addition for your collection.
Fabulous find through detailed, dedicated, persistent detective work! This result is what distinguishes ancients' collectors/accumulators. 'lotta meat on that bone, congrats!
Very nice,., here is my sestertius version.. COMMODUS AUGUSTUS AE sestertius. 184–185 AD. M COMMODVS ANTO—N AVG PIVS BRIT, laureate head of Commodus right. Reverse - VOTA SVSCEP DECEN P M TR P X IMP VII COS IIII P P, emperor, veiled and togate, sacrificing left from patera over tripod, S—C across field. RIC 454a. Cohen 990. BMCRE 564 variant (ANTONINVS in obverse legend). 33mm, 24.4g.
All of this discussion on provenance is very welcome. It is one of my passions for collecting ancient coins. I purchased an Commodus sestertius many years ago: I was able to trace back the history of this coin as I also collect Important sestertii collection catalogs. Here is what I found: Commodus (Joint Rule), RIC 1524, Coh 244, Cayon 116 (this coin illustrated)
Congrats for having traced your coin through all these sales and collections. But it was not in the Clarence Bement collection: the ex-Clarence S. Bement coin is an obverse die match, but the reverse die is different.
