Geta Sestertius - VOTA PUBLICA - Why can't the people who clean and smooth these be more careful!!

I recently purchased a beautiful Geta sestertius with a medallic flan weighing almost 27 grams, with VOTA PUBLICA on the reverse, RIC 187: . Unfortunately the coin is not only slightly over polished on the obverse, the smoothing on the reverse removed an important detail - that is, there should be a bull peering around the alter. I have to assume that whoever smoothed the coin didn't bother to check to see what it was supposed to look like and simply filed over the bull. Despite this, I was quite happy with the coin, and extremely happy at the purchase price. It is also quite rare - I could only find five other examples on acsearch.info. - including a die match that shows the bull - of course.

The other coin shown is a match of the same VOTA PUBLICA type by Caracalla. I assume both were struck during the one year period when Caracalla and Geta shared the empire after the death of Septimius - although it might be a bit earlier - however Geta's portrait appears to be consistent with the last or second to last types struck for him. Compare the Geta sestertius with the same type:

Although very worn, the reverse on this coin clearly shows the sacrificial bull around the alter. This type is also quite rare - I was able to only find five other examples on acsearch.info. four of which are quite worn and one of which is quite tooled. This coin might have been struck earlier than Geta's- but I assume both were struck at the same time. Research should answer this and hopefully I can find the time to supplement this article.

I wish I had time to explain the meaning of VOTA PUBLICA, I really should know this, perhaps someone can do that in the comments, this is RIC 513.

And, finally, there is no way to prove it, but I suspect that the dies for both coins were engraved by the same celator. It would be great if there was a way to show this.

As for rarity, one of these days I can write my article on rarity and the sestertii of Septimius Severus and immediate family - I had some surprises when I researched this topic which I need to put on paper. And of course the long awaited article on the comparative portraiture of an aspect of Caracalla's sestertii of which I have written in my head a dozen times - speaking of time - there is never enough of it!!!

 

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I am not sure it was ever there. Its not that faint of a mark to be able to make it disappear like that. The two coins you show to me do not look like an exact match.

 

Yes, it was.
https://www.acsearch.info/search.ht...de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1&currency=usd&order=1
First 14 results (and one in the lower part of results) show how 187 (a/b) reverse looks like (should look like). RIC also mentions the full reverse iconography.
The person who performed the smoothing probably thought the small depictions are deposits or something similar. A pity.

 

The coins were not sent as a die match - merely to illustrate two kinds of the same type for the two emperors - there are about five or so other of which I posted one other on cointalk- a rare Liberalitas platform scene. -

I should have made it clear that showing the Caracalla was for the that purpose and not as a die match.

Also there is a die match of the Geta type on acsearch.info and unfortunately it does show a very small but unmistakable bull around the alter -

 

Agreed.

 

please, what do you mean precisely ?

 

It's a bit overworked but it's better than a clownshow of a Domitian that I purchased, purposefully. I wanted a cheap order topper, I really like this type, and it was a bit of a conversation piece. It looks less clownish in person, but the reverse is obviously overdone.



Unless there was active BD (there obviously was some kind of corrosion), there was no need to go that far.

The Decius in the same order had a bit on the obverse but is a very pleasing coin, both because of the portrait and the patina.