Macrinus denarius: Dated by Curtis Clay

JulGerm,

I have plaster casts of all three of the Vienna specimens of your As, and agree that their three examples and yours all share the same obv. die.

My plaster casts were taken from these three Vienna spec. and three others, total six. Looking more closely at their reverses, I find not just two rev. dies as I stated above, but rather four rev. dies. I think your rev. die matches that of the Vienna coin that is #15902 according to my notes, but it would be nice if you could confirm this with your coin in hand, assuming Vienna has posted photos of the reverses of their coins too. I only see the three obverses, but maybe I'm not clicking the right button.

 

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SevAlex,

You are right to restore COS II on your Securitas standing As: apparently same dies as my plaster cast of a coin in Copenhagen, on which the title COS II is clear.

 

Thanks, @curtislclay!

 

Thanks Barry, that was part why I made the post
I also want to than everyone who has contributed to this now very extensive post with their own coins - as well as answers directly from @curtislclay
Thank you all

 

Thank you for the info, Curtis!

Sadly the reverses indeed are missing on the KHM´s site but I will ask Mr. Vondrovec for help .
Do you have the Paris specimen (of which I could find no pictures) and this specimen here included in your cast collection?
https://www.vcoins.com/de/stores/wayne_g_sayles_antiquarian/212/product/macrinus/534166/Default.aspx
It does not seem to share either obverse or reverse die with mine, so it seems to be from the other obverse die you mentioned (featuring a chubbier nose).
Could it be that these (and other middle bronzes of Macrinus) were struck for special occasions, like in September and December 217?

This is what makes this forum so great!

 

Here is two Macrinus from my collection:

 

gogili1977,

Your second denarius is a rare and interesting mule, struck c. March 218 on from an old rev. die of late in 217 (TR P COS) that should have been retired when 217 ended.

The obv. die with broken obv. legend and longer head hair cannot have been engraved before c. March 218 when Issue 3 began.

I find no comparable piece among my casts or in my collection, though I also have many photos of coins of Macrinus that are packed away so not easily consultable.

 

JulGerm,

I do not have a cast of the Paris ANNONA AVG As reported by Cohen 11.

The Wayne Sayles example that you link to is among my casts, however; I saw the same coin in Alex Malloy's stock in December 1974. It came from the Hohenkubin Collection of Roman middle bronzes, sold in Lanz IV, Graz, 23 Nov. 1974, part of the 10-coin lot 771, without photos. It is from the same obv. die as your example and the three Vienna coins, in my opinion.

It is quite possible that most of Macrinus' middle-bearded obv. dies, including yours with the Annona rev., lasted until Dec. 217 and were used to produce part of the New Year's issue of 218. My casts represent five such dies, and three of them definitely occur in combination with TR P II COS II middle-bronze rev. dies of early in 218.

Apart from the New Year, no other occasion for the ceremonial distribution of asses is known. Some were definitely struck at other times of the year, presumably just for general circulation.