Just received this nice Geta sestertius with a rare adlocutio reverse! RIC 159b

This wonderful sestertius arrived in my mailbox today. What can I say besides I am enamored with this coin! It offers a lovely portrait of Geta and a rare and interesting reverse type.

Geta Æ Sestertius. Rome, AD 210. IMP CAES P SEPT GETA PIVS AVG, laureate head right, slight drapery on far shoulder / [PONTI]F TR P II COS II, Septimius Severus, Caracalla and Geta standing facing right on platform, left, haranguing officer and two soldiers left, soldiers carry standard and shield and spear and shield between them, horse and legionary eagle behind. RIC 159b. 23.26g, 33mm, 11h.

This reverse type refers to Roman successes in the military campaigns in northern Britain beyond the provincial frontier. I love that the tiny detail of Septimius' pointy beard is still preserved. Its deep green patina is much darker in hand than in the photo, I can tell this will be a difficult one to photograph well. This is probably my new favorite coin! Post your coins of Geta or any member of the Severan family, as well as any adlocutio types you might own.

 

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I always like to find die matches for these sestertii, since auction record websites make it so easy these days. Here's a die match that confirms the detail on the obverse of my coin, and I always think it's interesting to find shared dies like this. It looks like this coin was struck before mine since the small die break above the E in SEPT isn't present in this example.

It is present in this example though

 

For info on this type I suggest searching Geta adlocutio on Forum Ancient Coins.

Thanks for pointing out the growing die break on your obv. die!

 

That's a lovely coin, @Salaethus ! It has a very nice patina. Scarce one, too. I enjoyed seeing other die-matched examples.

 

Not sure if I'm missing it but I couldn't find anything with geta / adlocutio or this type on FAC. There was a nice short article on adlocutio types in general in the numiswiki though.

 

Spectacular - wow - thank you for posting. With most posts here I learn something and I have certainly gained an appreciation of this type. It's amazing.

 

Found you another one Salathus. Congrats on adding a very rare coin to your collection

 

Don't know why Geta Adlocutio entered in Forum Search Discussion shouldn't work for you too.

My conclusion in that thread:

To bring RIC up to date:

159a doesn't exist, or at least hasn't yet been published. It is merely RIC's misinterpretation of Cohen's description of the two Paris specimens of 159b.

159b, two variants exist, not separated by Cohen or RIC:

1. Two lictors. Three specimens so far recorded, including yours, from two obv. and two rev. dies.

2. One lictor. Fourteen specimens in my preliminary catalogue, all from the same die pair, the obv. die being different than the two used for the first variant.