Error in BMCRE4

It's not for nothing that I stick to silver.

But in looking at the set of 4 pics Mike posted earlier today, in pics 2 and 4 there appears to be a strong line running transversely high across the body of the figure. The first pic does not show this, but it is faintly visible in pic 3. I cannot account for that line.

I do see what looks like a garment sleeve dangling straight down on her left side (right of her) and a thin vertical rod (staff?) to the right of that that changes its character above her waist. I don't think it is broad enough to be a rudder.

On the other hand, I am not able to see a globular image left of her body that would correspond to something she was holding out with her right hand.

FWIW.

 

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That is pretty much my interpretation of what there is to see, Irbguy - even in hand, it isn't much clearer than that.

As for bronze...really, give it a try! It is amazingly frustrating!

Seriously though, I steered clear of bronze for years (decades, actually). But around 2017 I got my first sestertius - an incredibly awful one from Julia Mamaea - I spent about a week looking a online photos just trying to figure out the empress. I kept telling myself - "Gosh, this thing looks awful..." And yet, after a while, it sorta grew on me. Now I have all sorts of awful AEs.

 

I thought I'd keep this thread going, since I am once again baffled by Faustina...

I just got a new Faustina I that I can't attribute. It is an As, with AETERNITAS on the reverse. OCRE leads me to believe it is this, RIC 1161 (but they have no illustrations):

RIC III Antoninus Pius 1161 (as)

Date AD 141
Denomination As
Mint Rome
Obverse
DIVA FAVSTINA: Bust of Faustina I, draped, right, hair elaborately waved and coiled in bands across head and drawn up at back and piled in a round coil on top.
Reverse
AETERNITAS S C: Pietas, standing left, riasing (sic) right hand and holding box of incense

The problem is, every example of RIC 1161 I find online (including several examples on FORVM) there is an altar to the left. Mine has no altar. The one with the altar is RIC 1160 (according to OCRE - but with no examples shown).

Compounding the confusion, OCRE has a reverse that matches mine - but erroneously lists two examples under RIC 1162 (described as holding a globe) - there is no globe on either example they show -

http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.3.ant.1162a_as

here is one of them:



Compounding my confusion, Wildwinds shows RIC 1162 looking just like mine and describing it just like mine - no globe. So OCRE is wrong describing the globe (but using correct examples)? If Wildwinds is right, then I have my attribution - but this is the only place I could find a match, with the rest of the Internet saying otherwise.

A dupondius version with altar was posted on CT and attributed as RIC 1161 as well:

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/faustina-sr-dupondius.280631/

The other question I have is this: on my example, she appears to be holding a branch or corn ears or something (not a globe). If that is only her hand, the celator really got sloppy (in an otherwise fairly well-engraved die)- it is a huge lobster claw like something outta John Carpenter's The Thing.



Here's the whole thing. It weighs 10 grams. Thanks to some pitting, Fasutina has a hipster chinstrap beard. Help, please!

 

It is indeed 1162 (a), without the altar. The (b) variety is a veiled bust. Here's the listing in RIC3:



That coin is not represented in the British Museum collection (or in mine; I only have 1161):



The description at OCRE erroneously describes the reverse as "Providentia, standing left, holding globe and sceptre." That's the description for RIC 1163 (b), the reverse type of which I have in my collection, but with the DIVA AVGVSTA FAVSTINA legend and a veiled bust (RIC 1163ab).

 

Thank you thank you thank you, RC. I knew you'd come through for me.

It astonishes me how many misattributions there are to these Faustina posthumous issues there are floating around on the Web... it is the "fake news" of ancient collecting.