Antoninus Pius RIC 382b doesn't exist as described

I'm convinced Mattingly and Seydenham erroneously carried over an error in Cohen when they described Antoninus Pius RIC 382b, a denarius of Faustina I depicting Ceres standing facing, head left, raising right hand and holding torch in left and the inscription CONSECRATIO on the reverse.

RIC 382a is straightforward enough: Faustina I bare-headed and draped bust right with the DIVA AVG FAVSTINA obverse inscription:



As in this example in my collection:



But if you read carefully, RIC 382b is noted to have a veiled bust (type (b)) along with a different obverse legend, DIVA FAVSTINA:



Mattingly and Sydenham cite Cohen, p.426, #165, which does describe the bust as "voilé à droite" (veiled to right):



I believe Cohen's description -- which Mattingly and Seydenham probably did not verify -- is in error. An acsearchinfo search for "Faustina 382b" comes up with 22 hits, none of which has a veiled bust of the empress. All have a bare-headed bust and the inscription DIVA FAVSTINA, as in this example in my collection:



Moreover, Mattingly, in his later publication BMCRE 4, reports three coins with this reverse type, a bare-headed bust, and obverse inscription DIVA FAVSTINA in the British Museum collection, nos. 467-469:



Mattingly comments on the Cohen listing in a footnote about no. 467, suggesting it is a variant (obv b, the veiled bust). It isn't clear he has actually examined the coin in the French collection:



Now, here's my question: is there any way to see the specimen in the Biblioteque Nationale collection that Cohen references as #165? Does anyone have a link to an example of this coin with a veiled bust?

I'm of the opinion that it doesn't exist but that Cohen made an error in his catalog.

As always, comments welcome! Feel free to post anything you feel is relevant!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

This is it: This is the coin described as RIC382b. Obviously an error, as it is not veiled.



That's the problem with us relying on old catalogs that haven't been updated for many decades. These catalogers were not perfect, and there are errors that remain uncorrected, yet no one is correcting them nor is likely to do so.

 

I've no idea if the coin cited by Cohen can be viewed, but there are sale listings that note the error in RIC and Cohen:

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2457177
https://www.sixbid.com/browse.html?auction=2795&category=58027&lot=2353815

The Wildwinds entry does as well:
http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sear5/s4593.html

 

The coins of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) are only slowly appearing online but I hope to live to see those posted reach Julia Domna where I want to see a coin that Cohen listed (if they still have it). As I see it, they are up to Hadrian now.
https://gallica.bnf.fr/html/und/objets/monnaies-imperiales
I do not read French well enough to navigate the site with confidence. To me, as of now, it is just another place to see pretty coins. Perhaps it would be better if I learned to navigate the site???
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10428686d.r=monnroimphadrian hadrian?rk=729617;2