This is one of the last of my awful ancients that I can't for the life of me identify. After the great job that @Severus Alexander and @Justin Lee did with the roadkill Augustus of mine, I decided to dig this guy out and give him a go again. Still having no luck on my own, I am turning to you all for help (again...I'm sorry!) If anyone can point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it! Apologize for the pictures. He is so ugly that the camera doesn't like taking his picture either!
As always, you guys are awesome. Looks quite a bit like this I think: http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sear5/s5668.html
Everybody beat me to it. Great job, Mat, TIF, RC, and Sev! I too am seeing Commodus and Minerva (that shield was a dead giveaway). Here's my only Commodus denarius for portrait comparison.
As always, you all are the best. I only have 1 Commodus, a very worn sestertius that you can barely make out his portrait, so I am not real familiar with his face. This garbage denarius doen't help too much but I am glad to finally be able to put a name to a face. Thank you all again!
I never met an ugly denarius I didn't like. Figuring them out makes the ugly ones more fun than the FDC's (not that I have any FDCs). Commodus is one of my favorite emperors to collect - a vast array of types, some of them weird, and I like his portraits - sometimes he looks like a stupider, drunker, meaner Marcus Aurelius (and looks nothing like Joaquin Phoenix). Commodus had, according to OCRE, eight types of denarii with Minerva on the reverse. http://numismatics.org/ocre/results?q=deity_facet:"Minerva" AND denomination_facet:"Denarius" AND portrait_facet:"Commodus" I think Severus Alexander/Justin Lee are probably right with RIC 222A, although it could be RIC 223A - I cannot tell from the legends. As it so happens I just got one of these this Spring - an ugly one but I am very fond of the portrait: Commodus Denarius (190-191 A.D.) Rome Mint M COMM ANT P FEL A[VG BRIT P P], laureate head right / [MIN AVG] P M TR P XVI COS VI, Minerva walking right, holding branch in right hand, spear and shield in left. RIC 222a; Sear 5661; RSC 358. (2.46 grams / 18 x 16 mm) I just got another ugly Commodus/Minerva this month - an earlier issue, and it even has an owl that looks somewhat like a dog or a sea lion or something at her feet right. Not pretty at all: Commodus Denarius (183-184 A.D.) Rome Mint M COMMODVS ANTON AVG PIVS, laureate head right / PM TRP VIIII IMP VI COS IIII, Minerva walking right, brandishing javelin and holding shield, owl at her feet. RIC 72; RSC 424; Sear 5668. (2.29 grams / 17 mm)