Last week, this sestertius showed up in the inventory of a seller I follow. The detailed, serene looking bust grabbed my attention, and the price was right. On top of it, I found a provenance to 2014, where it hammered well above the current selling price (which is always nice). ROMAN IMPERIAL, Faustina. Denomination: AE Sestertius, minted: Rome; A.D. 176 - A.D. 180 Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA PIA: Bust of Faustina II, draped, hair elaborately waved in nearly vertical lines and fastened in a low chignon at back of head, down cheek, curls, right Rev: SIDERIBVS RECEPTA S C: Diana, draped, standing front, head right, holding transverse lighted torch in both hands; crescent behind head Weight: 24.09g; Ø:30.5mm. Catalogue: RIC III Marcus Aurelius 1715. Provenance: Ex. Jesus Vico auction 137, lot 3256 (2014), Ex. T. Nuij (2021); acq.: 03-2021 The photo's don't really do the coin justice. Here is a 'in hand' photo: Funny enough, it arrived on the same day as this coin, which is from period I specialize in (early medieval, continental coinage); my 49th sceatta. My posts on these little coins usually do not attract as much attention as my occasional Roman coin. Perhaps I just bought the sestertius above just to showcase my sceatta. Who knows. EARLY MEDIEVAL, Anonymous. Denomination: AR Sceatta (Serie E, sub. b or c), minted: Frisia Magma; 715-755 AD Obv: Porcupine figure, with three stripes below spine Rev: TTOII within dotted square Weight: 1.01g; Ø:11mm. Catalogue: No die match in JMP. Provenance: Bought from E.N. Vriend, who bought it from a Frisian metal-detectorist; acq.: 03-2021 And, for good measure, a group photo of two totally different coins, minted about 550-600 years apart: What a fun hobby this is
Congratulations on an amazing first sestertius, @Roerbakmix. And your latest sceatta is terrific. Regarding those, are you really trying to encourage more people to go into competition with you? I was just looking at ebay.fr, and saw a whole run of them --often attributed, this time, as Anglo-Saxon, rather than the more traditional catch-all term, 'merovingien.' ...Honest, though, for these, I'd probably have trouble spotting more than the more obvious fakes.
Great coin. This was my first. I don't own too many sestertii. Severus Alexander (222 - 235 A.D.) Æ Sestertius O: IMP ALEXANDER PIVS AVG, laureate bust right with slight drapery on far shoulder. R: SPES PVBLICA S C, Spes advancing left, flower in right, raising skirt with left. Rome Mint, 232 A.D. 19g 29mm RIC IV 648
Great pickup of the Faustina Junior Sestertius. Good details. I like holding in hand such a large size and thick coin. Faustina's portrait and hairstyle are nice as well.
For a first foray, that's a pretty excellent start. My first sestertius was this, a rather rough example of SA.
A great portrait of Faustina II! It does show up much better in the "in hand" photo. I may not be the President of her official fan club (that's @Roman Collector), but I'm certainly a member.
Thanks all for the kind comments. I agree! Some coins are just so difficult to photograph! Thanks. Well, yes of course! The whole reason this forum exists is because of enthusiasts showing their additions to others. Only @Nap collects sceats, and a broader audience would be fun
I was able to locate my first sestertius, at least based on my cob webbed memory. This coin came by way of a coin show in San Jose or Santa Clara, back around 1983. I remember that it came out of box of secondary ancients, coins deemed not worthy of being displayed. I wish I remembered the dealer. As these coins go, it is not any great rarity; indeed it is common and readily available. The obverse is nice, and the reverse is okay, with some deposits. I held this coin for many years, until I sold it to my local coin dealer along with many other coins to raise some cash. A few years later I noticed that it was still in his stock, so I bought it back. I guess that I am just a sentimental old fool, but I like to hold on to coins not only for their extrinsic value, but also their intrinsic values as well. Gordian III, 238-244 AD AD sestertius Mint: Rome, A.D. 239 Obverse: Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right. Reverse: Gordian standing left, holding parazonium and sacrificing out of patera over lighted tripod to left. RIC 280 20.7 grams
With all these questions about ID'ing etc, interesting topics are quickly relegated to the dreadful 'page 2'. So I unfortunately missed this one. I try to keep up with topics, but that's unfortunately almost impossible sometimes...! Anyway, glad i caught up with this one, because that's a lovely sestertius. Congratulations! Below is my first sestertius, not as lovely as yours however. I was really impressed when I first held it in hand. It's perhaps the unfortunate fate of a specialist. I notice this too with some posts by e.g. David, or Orfew, when they acquire a new Flavian coin. C'est la vie I guess. Im getting the hang of these sceatta's. I now even recognize the porcupine!
