I'm blue (da ba dee ba da die)

I recently got this THICK Antoninus Pius sestertius with an interesting dark blue patina.

Advertised as Marcus Aurelius, this was about $13 from a Portuguese seller, took over two months to arrive.

Although the surfaces are rather rough, overall it's decent, though, especially for the price.

I feel like a blue patina is rather unusual, especially on a sestertius (those seem to tend to be every color BUT blue).

At 30mm and a whopping 25g, this feels really heavy and satisfying in-hand.

I can't tell the attribution, but I think it's Pietas with an altar. There's something in exergue, which seems unusual for a sestertius, but again still can't place it.

post your blue men!

 

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Nice chunky sestertius you got there! If it's Pietas, it probably says PIETAS in exergue... That kind of thing happens when the reverse legend has their Tribunal Power and Consul numbers and they want to call out in words who the deity is. Sometimes below, sometimes across fields.

Here's a Severus Alexander sestertius with blue/green patina I got over the summer...


Edit: I went through some more pics and will throw in a blue/green Commodus...


A blue/green Maximus...


A candy green Hadrian...


And a green Philip...

 

Does this particular seller charge $4 shipping to the United States? If so, I've bought quite a few things from that seller in the past.

Edit: Nice coin, by the way @hotwheelsearl.

 

yup! i admit i was a bit sketched out, especially since Portugal isn't known for their authentic coins, but I was pretty pleased with the batch I bought (time in process notwithstanding...)

 

boy, what a collection! i rescind my statement that blue is an uncommon color, it seems you got them all

 

I would have guessed Antoninus Pius.

 

I've never bought any ancient coins from that seller before. However, the last time I did buy from that seller, it only took two weeks for my purchase to arrive in my mailbox.

 

i dig that Maximus!

 

Toothpaste-blue Gordy!

 

Zengids of Mosul. Saif al-Din Ghazi II. 565-576/1170-1180. � dirhem (28 mm, 11.21 g, 3 h). 568/1172-1173. Draped male bust facing slightly left, prominent knot at forehead; above, two winged figures / Legend in five lines and in left and right margins. Spengler & Sayles Type 60.4. VF, brown and blue-green patina.
Weight 11.21g
Diameter 28mm

 

That was my first thought as well. Something about the shape of the emperor's head. Perhaps this one, as Caesar (identified as RIC Hadrian 2743), or something a lot like it:

https://www.acsearch.info/image.html?id=7322123

 

I think this is the attribution of the blue sestertius
http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.2_3(2).hdn.2743-2744

edit - same posted by @DonnaML above.

 

I may have misspoke, the seller identified it as MA but I saw that it was AP mainly due to the strong jawline.

that one you posted looks right! I couldn’t find an example with Poetas in exergue in wildwinds; so the one you posted appears to be a match. Thanks!

 

Blue AE2 of Theodosius (the great).

 

Nice pick-up hotwheelsearl.

I too once had a blue Antoninus Pius sestertius - but it had been painted! I've shared this absurdity too many times perhaps, but what the heck - before and after I cleaned off the blue paint:



And here is a Phocas follis that has some unusual blue deposits - it does not appear to be from a Sherwin Williams can:

 

Wow, that blue is AWFUL. Glad you liberated it

 

Awful is right! Soon after I got it I noticed it was getting sticky from the warmth in my hand. At that point I was pretty sure this wasn't ancient patina.

Lot's of wear, but it is somewhat interesting - a quadriga type, and it was only $12.06. Like you, I really like those bargain sestertii!

I left a few traces of blue for posterity's sake :



Antoninus Pius Æ Sestertius
(145-147 A.D.)
Rome Mint
ANTONINVS AVG PIVS PP TR P, laureate head right / Antoninus in slow quadriga right, eagle-tipped scepter in left hand, reins in right hand, COS IIII / S C in exergue.
RIC 766; Sear 1257.
(24.60 grams / 30 mm)

 

@Marsyas Mike
I have seen that colour before.. That coin looks like it was exposed to ammonia.
I worked as an engineer at a few different ammonia refrigeration plants over the years. When you get a serious leak this is exactly what will happen to the copper nearby

https://www.acsh.org/news/2017/08/1...nt-—-especially-if-you-colors-and-money-11655

 

I know that ammonia is used to give a patina and will give that blue color to a coin. I had a Spanish guy show me how He did his coins that way. The ones He did looked more like your coin you posted @Nvb . I don't think I ever saw a single coin I dug up metal detecting for 5 years have that blue color.

 

Obverse is blue in hand.

Aelius (Caesar)
Coin: Bronze As
L AELIVS CAESAR - Laureate, draped, cuirassed bust right
TR POT COS II, PANNO-NIA S-C - Pannonia standing right, head left, holding vexillum in right hand and pulling swath of drapery across legs with left hand
Mint: Rome (137 AD)
Wt./Size/Axis: 11.50g / 24mm / -
References

• RIC II 1071
• Cohen 25

Notes: Aug 16, 14 - Blue patina.