I recently picked this up as a throw in by the other side in a trade. I think it is a well worn sestertius of Marcus Aurelius but my eyes not being what they once were I thought it might be some other hirsute mid Second century emperor. Also I cannot make out any of the inscriptions or images on the reverse and that may be since it is so well worn rather than my well worn pupils. I get the feeling that this coin was still in circulation when Romulus Augustulus went into retirement. I would appreciate it if anyone can verify it as a Marcus Aurelius or identify the seated figure on the reverse otherwise I'll have to send it out to get slabbed. Thanks.
Best guess: Marcus Aurelius; Jupiter seated left, holding sceptre and Victory. https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6168381
Oooo. Now that's my kind of sestertius! Good price too. I like it. I too believe this is Marcus Aurelius with Jupiter reverse. I did an OCRE search and came up with 12 possibilities for this type. A lot of mine like the OP are only partially attributed because of the variations - if you can't see the Roman numerals, you can't be sure what it is. http://numismatics.org/ocre/results...tertius"+AND+portrait_facet:"Marcus+Aurelius" Here's a pretty poor specimen from my collection - there was just enough of the obverse legend for an ID: Marcus Aurelius Æ Sestertius (172-173 A.D.) Rome Mint M ANTONINVS AVG [TR P X]XVII, laureate head right / [IMP VI COS III S C], Jupiter seated left on throne, holding Victory offering crown in right hand, long sceptre in left hand. RIC 1064. (23.65 grams / 28 mm)
I guess the both of us can rest well tonight knowing that the likelihood of either of our two coins being fake copies is about as likely as the Federal Reserve returning to the gold standard.
Well, yours was free and I paid $3.25 for mine. I think you got the better deal! And yeah, I think we don't have to worry too much about contemporary counterfeiters on these - it'd take a lot of work to make a chunk of metal look this "weathered". Because this post gave me an excuse to do so, I am going to post two of my last, pitiful acquisitions from 2019 - Antoninus Pius sestertii - one with the GENIO SENATVS (Genius of the Senate!) reverse, the other with INDVLGENTIA. In both cases the prices were right, and despite the condition, I thought the somewhat unusual reverse types made them worth it (worth it to me anyway). Or maybe I just have a problem - whenever I see a worn-out sestertius on eBay for around $10-$20 my trigger finger gets itchy! Antoninus Pius Æ Sestertius (140-144 A.D.) Rome Mint [ANTON]INVS AVG PIVS PP T[R P COS III], laureate head right / [GE]NIO [SE]NATV S-C, Genius of the Senate standing left, holding branch and short sceptre. RIC 605a; Cohen 400. (27.39 grams / 31 x 30 mm) Antoninus Pius Æ Sestertius (152-153 A.D.) Rome Mint [A]NTONINVS AVG PIVS PP TRP XVI, laureate head right / NDVLGENTIA [AVG] COS IIII, [SC below], Indulgentia seated left, extending hand and holding sceptre. RIC 904; Cohen 452. (24.03 grams / 30 x 29 mm)
