I just picked up my new Pertinax from the customs office, so here it is: IMP CAES P HELV PERTINAX AVG - laureate Head of Pertinax right PROVIDENTIAE DEORUM COS II S C - Providentia standing left, holding up right hand to large star, left hand on breast RIC 22, BMCRE 28, C 52, Sear 6055, Banti 20, Woodward Pl. 12,1 (these dies) Sestertius, Rome, ca. late Jan-28.Mar 193 (second emission of Pertinax) 30 mm / 21,06 gr (ex Stack´s Coin Galleries Sale 17.07.2002, Lot 420) Pertinax´ PROVIDENTIA DEORUM type was an entirely new conception of Providentia, which has been discussed in literature more than Pertinax´ other types. The „Providence oft he Gods“ is the devine wisdom, which has given Rome the new Emperor. The star to which she stretches a hand is probably a symbol of the Emperor, the godlike Pertinax, as „caelo demissus“, sent down from heaven to earth for the salvation of the human race. The female figure may be, according to Mattingly, not Providentia, but „the world, holding out her hand(s) of passionate longing to the great star that symbolizes the deliverer.“ Out of the 130 Pertinax Sestertii I was able to locate in museums and auction catalogues, 28 were of this type, making it Pertinax´ most common Sestertius type. It has also been a favourite type for the forger from the Renaissance onwards. According to Woodward´s study „The Coinage of Pertinax“, this type was struck with three obverse dies (out of a total of 19) and six reverse dies (out of a total of about 40 for Pertinax´ different types). The obverse die used to strike my coin, Woodward AV 11, can be identified by his beard ending in six tips which point slightly forward and was only used in combination with just one reverse die, Woodward Prov.Deor I D, which in turn can be identified by Providentia not reaching for the star, but pointing at the space behind the I in the reverse legend . I recognized a total of 8 double die matches. Please show anything related to Pertinax you have.
Even though it shows some wear, it's a very nice portrait of his, with a very good style, congrats Pertinax, Denarius Rome mint, AD 193 IMP CAES P HELV PERTIN AVG, laureate head right VOT DECEN TR P COS II, emperor sacrificing left, with patera held over tripod altar 2.98 gr, 17 mm Ref : RIC # 13a, Cohen # 56, RCV # 6048 Ex Harlan J. Berk Q
Congrats!!! After the previous disappointments it must feel very satisfying finally to have this one in hand, one you can feel confident of. I will dream of someday upgrading to a sest. like yours.
Nice, wholesome portrait and even, nice surfaces. You can be proud of owning that coin. Certainly worth waiting for after your last disappointment. My only example for Pertinax is a dupondius. The coin is quite worn but this is a very rare type, specially on a dupondius. Pertinax. AD 193. Æ Dupondius. Rome mint. Obv: Radiate head right Rev: Pertinax standing left, sacrificing out of patera over tripod. RIC IV 31A
Nice coin, looks like at 21 g that it is a very nice example of a Pertinax sestertius, heavy in hand and beautiful to behold. I think the wear on the coin adds a bit of character. Thanks for the background information on the reverse, and also the dies used to strike this coin.
Great OP. Congrats JG that is definately a coin worth the wait and even a couple of misfortunes. Glad to see you were finally able to add one with confidence. Pertinax is still on my wish list. I'd be happy with any of these coins.
Congrats on receiving a great P Sestertius @Julius Germanicus ! My P: RI Pertinax 193 BC AE Sestertius rome mint LAETITIA RIC 17 C 21
Thanks for posting your Pertinax sestertius. Here is another scarce one. http://www.praefectuscoins.com/uploads/3/4/3/5/34352897/_9185904_orig.jpg
Nice ! Yours is one of the 26 specimen of RIC 17 that I found. Those were, according to Woodward, struck with four obverse dies and six reverse dies. Your Sestertius´ obverse die is Woodward AV 2 (illustrated in Woodward, plate XII, Nr.3, and BMC 27, plate 2, Nr.2), and it should be a double die match with the coin illustrated in Banti, Nr.11.
Nice Pertinax Dupondius!! Even though Dupondii and Asses seem to have made up 25% of Pertinax´bronze coin production each (as the numbers of dies used according to Woodward would imply), they now only seem to make up for 10 % of the coins surviving or available (interesting discussion in the German forum...). They also do not seem to attract the attention for forgers like the Sestertii do. The obverse of your Dupondius looks like a die match to the specimen in the Landesmuseum Württemberg, by the way.
Welcome John! OMG I just visited your homepage and understand that the incredible artifact you linked in your post is actually yours Congratulations also to your article on Pertinax and his coinage! It is so extensive, well written, and well researched that it any makes any attempt to do another writeup on Pertinax superfluous. I love that draped and cuirassed bust that was only featured on that single Sestertius die (Woodward AV 1) used for that short first emission of Pertinax with only singular specimen surviving of each reverse type. Are there any more known specimens of RIC 16 except the Paris coin? What do you think about the claims that the Paris specimen itself is a forgery, as Woodward suggests?
Hi Jens, I wasn't sure you were referring to the dupondius I posted since you appeared to be quoting Alegandron in our post. But in case you were referring to my coin, thank you very much for letting me know about the example in the Museum in Württemberg. That makes it, I believe, a total of 3 examples recorded for RIC 31A.
Hi Eduard, of course I meant to refer to your coin . Here is the Württemberg example: I could locate 11 Sestertii of the VOTA reverse, by the way (5 in museums, 5 in recent auctions, one in a dealer´s inventory), which is in the medium range for his Sestertius types. AEQUIT, LAETITIA, OPI DIVIN and PROVIDENTIA (with one arm raised) are the most common of his Sestertii and seem to have made up for around 15%-20% of his 2nd emission Sestertius output each; VOTA and LIBERALITAS (with L. standing) come next (7,5-10% each) while most other types are extremely rare. According to Woodward, the most common type on Pertinax´ Dupondii (which are rarities as such) is PROVIDENTIA with both arms raised (which is very rare on Sestertii). All others including your VOTA are very rare indeed!!! Woodward shows this example of your type (from the Vienna Museum): Cheers, Jens
Hi Julius, Thank you for your comments on the Pertinax article, which was written for the Celator several years ago. I had the privilege of examining the Paris specimen at the BNF and could find no evidence of casting or tooling. The curator, who I met with, agreed that their example is most likely genuine and a die match to mine. The obverse die matches that of the equally rare DIS CVSTODIBVS reverse, which I have also examined in person, thanks to Richard Abdy at the British Museum. The only other example of RIC 16 I have been able to locate was lot 577 of the Karl Kress auction of July 5, 1971. (I was able to purchase this catalogue a few years ago.) It is surprising that the Paris specimen was judged to be a forgery without a more thorough examination by other experts. Mattingly did not provide any support for his claim that "the type is probably not ancient at all" on page 1xvi of the Introduction to Vol. V of Coins of the Roman Empire in the BM. I do not understand why Woodward did not make an effort to examine the coin himself when he added his footnote on page 93 of his "The Coinage of Pertinax" in the Numismatic Chronicle of 1957. When dealing with ancient coins one must bear in mind that condemning a genuine coin can do more harm to the scholarship than overlooking a possible forgery, which in time, will be discovered for what it is. "Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority" - Francis Bacon John Anderson Praefectus Coins
Update: My coin was just certified genuine by Sear I don´t want to sound paranoid, but I had a total of eight cast forgeries in my Sestertius collection. That is an alarming 15 % of what I bought as genuine in the last two years . But now everything that cost me more than 200 USD is approved by Sear or NGC