Happy New Year to all! Well here's my first purchase of 2020....A Marcus Aurelius Sestertius.. Hoping some of the experts here can give more light on the significance of the reverse design ???... I'm assuming this coin was minted to commemorate the victory over the Marcomanni in late AD171 when the Germanic invaders were defeated and evicted from Roman territory...Any help much appreciated thanks Paul. Marcus Aurelius. AD 161-180. Æ Sestertius. Rome mint. Struck AD 171...(32mm, 24.68 g) Obv. Laureate head right, IMP M ANTONINVS AVG TRP XXV Rev. Fides standing left, holding Victory and standard, FIDES EXERCITVVM COS III SC RIC III 998 Please feel free to post your coins of Marcus Aurelius.
Fides can mean different things, and it can also be used as the embodiement of the concept to do what is meant to be done in and trustworthy and determined way. It can relate to the soldiers' fides towards Rome, but also to the emperors' fides to uphold the ways of the empire and protect it. In that sense, it perhaps can relate to the military victory as well as the diplomatic efforts of the emperor, all in 171 AD? There are some articles on fides to be found online, if one is interested. And nice coin of course!
Astonishingly, Mattingly* says nothing about this coin in his introduction to BMCRE4: *Mattingly, Harold, Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum, vol. IV: Antoninus Pius to Commodus. Introduction, indexes and plates. London, BMP, 1968, pp. cxxiv-cxxv.
Here's my first purchase of Marcus Aurelius this year 2020. It weighs 9.24 g. Hope I'm not mistaken with attribution.
Aurelius as Caesar: Type: AE Drachm, 33mm, 22.95 grams of Alexandria Obverse: Bare headed and draped bust of Aurelius right M AVPHLIOC KAICAP Reverse: Elpis Standing left holding flower and hitching skirt LEND EKATOV Reference: BMC 1238 listed as "rare" by R.A. Numismatics
I really like the portrait on your new coin, @Spaniard! I have a couple MAs near in chronology to yours: Marcus Aurelius, Ruled 161-180 AD AE Sestertius, Struck 168-169 AD, Rome Obverse: M ANTONINVS AVG ARM PARTH MAX, laureate head right. Reverse: TR POT XXIII • IMP V COS III; Fortuna, draped, seated left on low seat, holding rudder set on ground in right hand and cornucopiae in left hand; S-C across field; FORT RED in exergue. References: RIC 962, Cohen 213 Size: 30mm, 22.5g Marcus Aurelius, Ruled 161-180 AD AE Dupondius, Struck 170-171 AD, Rome Obverse: M ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXV, Head of Marcus Aurelius, radiate, right. Reverse: IMP VI COS III, Victory, winged, naked to waist, standing front, head right, setting on palm-tree right, shield inscribed VIC GER; S-C across fields. References: RIC III 1002 Notes: After the death of Lucius Verus in 169, Marcus Aurelius has to face the German invasions. The sixth imperial acclaim is tied to the German campaign of 171-172 AD, when the Roman armies were nearly crushed after crossing the Danube and entering enemy territory. Marcus Aurelius, Ruled 161-180 AD AE Dupondius, Struck 170-171 AD, Rome Obverse: IMP M ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXV, Radiate head right. Reverse: COS III; Mars, helmeted, naked except for cloak flying behind, advancing right, holding spear in right hand and trophy over left shoulder in left hand. References: RIC III (M. Aurelius) 994, Cohen 129 Size: 24mm, 14.03g
Sorry for not replying before....Laid up with flu!...Feeling better today... Some lovely coins shown!..... @Roman Collector, Interesting that 'Mattingly' doesn't mention this type coin?.....Seller had it as 'scarce', but I usually don't take much notice of this plus wildwinds has an example...Any thoughts? @Limes....Thanks.....One of my many weak areas in deciphering Roman coins is the actual meaning behind the the reverse depiction....Something I need to work on.. @Justin Lee......Nice coins, I really like the Mars reverse it being my favourite portrayal. @Andres2...That's a nicely detailed coin and at 27gr and only 29mm a thick coin..
I pulled out RIC3 this morning, and I note that Mattingly and Sydenham* discuss it there and I wonder if Mattingly simply felt it would be redundant to mention it in his introduction to BMCRE4. Here's the discussion in RIC3: As to it being scarce, I think it's the bust variety that makes it scarce. Look closely at the bust on your coin. Yours has the laureate and draped bust. That makes it RIC 997, not 998: This appears to be less common than the laureate head variety if you look at numbers sold on acsearchinfo. Only two examples of 997 appear on a search, in contrast to 15 examples of 998 (the Bertolami one is misidentified and is the same coin that appears in the 997 search). The British Museum has one example of your coin in their collection (BMCRE 1397), but two examples with a laureate head, BMCRE 1395 and 1396, for what that's worth. ~~~ *Mattingly, Harold; Sydenham, Edward A, The Roman imperial coinage, vol. 3: Antoninus Pius to Commodus, London, Spink, 1930, p. 203.
@Roman Collector....Thank you for spending the time looking this up..Really appreciated and now I can at least tag it correctly....Hasten to add I didn't buy the coin because it was labelled scarce just really liked the look especially the portrait ....Thanks again...Paul
It's a lovely coin. It's a double die-match to the example in the British Museum: Your coin followed by the British Museum example:
@Roman Collector.....WOW thats a real added bonus and gives the coin some solid provenance.....Thank you!
