Latest Tet is a Commodus, picked this up the same time as the vespasian. Helped ease the shipping costs. Commodus (177 - 192 A.D.) Egypt, Alexandria Billion Tetradrachm O: M A KOM ANTW CEBEVCEB, laureate head right. R: Head of Zeus right, LK Z at sides. L KZ=Year 27=(186/187). 11.25g 23mm Köln 2227; Dattari 3892; Milne 2665 = Emmett 2563.27.
Nice one, mat. I like these double-bust issues. I believe yours is Zeus (no horns) rather than Zeus-Ammon (with ram horns).
Nice coin! Just for comparison: Mine has a horn and matching centering losing most of the LK. If you compare our coins to LKZ's with opposite centering, you can detect a bit of those letters but such traces are easily overlooked. Emmett 2568 lists my coin as Zeus Ammon head right while your 2563 is given as a bust recognizing a bit of fabric showing at the very bottom of your coin under the chin. My Ammon suffers from small flan editing of the distinctive solar disk above the head leaving only a part of the bottom of the full circle. These are common coins so we can compare to other specimens. There are many less common types where we may not know what was there. If you collect this series, you will have to decide whether you look at the faults like missing details or the strengths like a good head. Those requiring MS 5/5 coins need to collect someting else. Another comparison coin is this bust of Nilus (shirtless as appropriate for a swimmer) with all three letters of the LKS date. The coin was struck harder so the flan spread out more fully probably contributing to the crack that slants through the flan. Flan preparation was not a strong point of this mint and era. I feel lucky to have these coins - warts and all. Waiting for perfect examples may get quite tedious. Search the usual places for any of these bust types and see how many are perfect. I am happy there are so many perfection collectors who don't compete for the coins of this level (even if they are the best available).
Yes, it's pretty much my sole focus nowadays, but affordable examples of course Nice coins, Doug. One thing I noticed that even Curtis had no answer for, why is Commodus Alexandrian gets always brown/potin looking, when emperors before him AND AFTER had a silver look, still, to them. I can't recall ever seeing a Commodus Tet have a silver look. I know he reduced the fineness, but others after him retained a silver look with less silver in it. Weird, to me.
Great coin, nice portraits! I'm one of those perfection seekers, but this coin and the comments of @dougsmit are very instructive. Teaches me to take coin technique and its limits into account. Maybe I can score a beauty like this, too, some time.
