I went to Baltimore knowing I would get nothing worthwhile since so many of you were going Friday and would take all the good stuff. I ended up with ten coins and am still tired from the day so photo work is going slow. I'll spread them out over several posts unless two seem to belong together. This Hadrian sestertius has many problems including several scratches and having been Ren-Waxed (I am not a fan but do not always clean it off when I get one). The coin would impress none of the MS crowd but has enough eye appeal and is fun to hold size at 23.85g. The reverse shows the personification of Egypt watched over by an Ibis at the left. I am surprized this one did not end up in a JA auction but I am glad to have won it without all of you competing. It has an added advantage of showing the color of an orichalcum sestertius unburdened by patina (unless you call that a fault).
Nice sestertius and one of his travel series I would love to have. I only have a denarius of Africa: HADRIAN AR Denarius OBVERSE: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, Laureate head right REVERSE: AFRICA, Africa reclining left holding scorpion & cornucopiae, basket of grain at feet Struck at Rome, 136 AD 2.76g. 18.5mm RIC 299/RSC 138
Wow Mentor => you're blasting out of the blocks with great first-score!! (nice eye-appeal on that Hadrian) Oh, and don't think that I don't notice that amazing bird standing over there!! (so fricken cool)
@dougsmit , that patina is fantastic! Really like that Bronze! For Hadrian, I only have 2 pretty plain Silvers: (Sorry, @stevex6 , no critters) DENARIUS: RI Hadrian 117-138 AR Denarius Salus stdg feeding Snake QUINARIUS: RI Hadrian 117-138 AR Quinarius
I like the sestertius Doug. The obverse has a nice portrait and clear legends. The reverse is very interesting and far from the average someone standing left holding something as you have said before. I would have definitely been interested in it. John
I love that coin! You're right - if I had seen it, I would have bought it. I particularly like that the detail is equal on both sides, and as much as I like a lovely patina, it is also very interesting to get a hint of what the original color was. Hypothetical: if I had a time machine and went to ancient Rome and brought back a handful of shiny sestertii, would collectors of ancients want them? They would not, after all, be ancient in that scenario.
I love Hadrian's travel series. This coin in particular benefits from the river patina in which the deposits bring out the features without the need to tool or overly smooth the surface. Another plus is that most of the devices are well delineated -- only the sistrum (being held by Aegyptos) on the reverse is partially worn off. A good find.
Actually, it's not possible for you to go back in time. However, it is possible that someone from A.D. 135 could have loaded up their purse with sestertii and then gotten onto an airplane and traveled at about 99% of the speed of light for several hours and then come back to Earth, oh, any time now, with some shiny new sestertii for us all to marvel over (even though his twin brother back in Rome is long dead). If I see him--I'm guessing his name is probably Marcus, (or maybe Flavius)--I'll tell him to look you up.
Well, I'm jealous... I'd love some Travel Series sestertii in decent but not wallet-worrying grade. Yours would fit the bill perfectly. A small bonus when you get Egypt in big bronze size is that they always throw in a little pedestal for your bird to stand on, a giveaway that is not common for the denarii version of the type.
