Hi folks, I've acquired this family set of Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Versus, Commodus, Lucilla and Faustina over the years from different sellers, I was wondering if any experts could give me opinions on the coins and if they are indeed legit, or if there are any obvious mistakes etc, thank you! They have all been obtained by sellers with great ratings
Ah that's brilliant news thanks guys! I have lost my information regarding the RIC's, I know it's a bit to ask but if anyone had any idea of which coins they are I'd be massively greatful, if it helps I'm sure Faustina is an as, Commodus is a Sesterti and the others are Denari
1st thing to do is check out wildwinds.com and see if they are cataloged on that website. http://wildwinds.com. You can search by ruler and get the RIC number. If they are not on wildwinds.com try acsearch.
I do quite like your Commodus Sestertius! It is: M COMMODVS ANTONINVS AVG - Laureate head of Commodus right TR P VIII IMP V COS IIII PP S C - Annona facing and turned left, holding cornucopia in left hand and statuette of Concordia in right hand, on the left modius containing four corn-ears, on the right ship to the right with two sailors and Victoria on side of prow. Sestertius, Rome 183 A.D. RIC 350, Cohen 866, BMCRE 497, MIR 555, Sear 5815, Banti 443
You have something VERY special, @S.Triggs . That Faustina II as/dupondius is very rare. Its reverse inscription reads SALVTI AVGVSTAE S C and features Salus STANDING, feeding with a patera held in her right hand a serpent, which arises from an altar, and holding a scepter with her left hand. RIC lists it as no. 1672 and cites Cohen 205. Cohen notes it is not in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, but cites a specimen in Vienna (The V before M.B., which stands for moyenne bronze [middle bronze, i.e. an as or dupondius]). At the time Mattingly wrote volume IV of the catalog of the holdings in the British Museum, that museum did not have a specimen in their collection. He notes (p.542) that Cohen reports a specimen. The museum finally acquired a specimen (apparently with an illegible reverse legend) in 1985, which was found in 1984 at Stonea Grange in Cambridgeshire. The coin is not photographed, unfortunately. The coin is not to be found at acsearchinfo, OCRE, or at Wildwinds. This indicates that no copies have been sold at major auctions in the past few decades and none of the major university and museum collections of Europe and North America have an example. Paul Dinsdale (@paulus_dinius ), in his very comprehensive but as-yet-unpublished catalog of Antonine coinage, notes "Uncertain. Cohen cites a specimen in Vienna. Confirmation required" (p. 66). He does not have a photograph of the coin (if he did, its existence wouldn't be "uncertain," would it?). In short, your photograph above is the only illustration online of what appears to be a very rare coin. There are thus three known specimens: The one in the Staatliches Münzkabinett in Vienna cited by Cohen. The one in the British Museum found in Cambridgeshire in 1984. Your coin. I would like to bring this coin to the attention of @curtislclay , who may be able to tell us more about whether other examples are known to exist. ~~~ In contrast, RIC 1671, with Salus seated, is very common. I have a low-grade example of that one:
Wow this is fantastic, I would have had no idea of the rarity of this coin, this has me particularly excited, I hope and look forward to hearing more!
I too have an example of the Lucilla denarius with the Hilaritas reverse: Lucilla, AD 164-169. Roman AR denarius, 3.11 g, 18.1 mm, 7 h. Rome, AD 166-169. Obv: LVCILLA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: HILARITAS, Hilaritas standing left, holding long palm and cornucopiae. Refs: RIC 769; BMCRE 338; Cohen/RSC 28; RCV 5484; MIR 31; CRE 251.
I like the whole collection, but wow to that as/dupondius of Faustina II - good work, RC. Of course I immediately ran to my collection to see if I had one. Nope. I did find Salus on the reverse of this sestertius of Crispina: Crispina (wife of Commodus) Æ Sestertius Rome Mint (180-183 A.D.) CRISPINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right / SALVS S-C, Salus seated left, feeding a serpent coiled around altar from patera held in right hand. RIC 672a, Cohen 33, BMC 420 (18.99 grams / 28 mm)
FAUSTINA MINOR AE26 OBVERSE: FAVCTEINA NEA CEBACTH, draped bust right REVERSE: AGCILAEWN, Demeter seated left holding corn ears & long torch Struck at Anchialus, Thrace, 147-175 AD 9.6g, 25mm Moushmov 2789
I know no further specimens of this SALVTI AVGVSTAE middle bronze, though maybe I have just overlooked one or two, since it is not a type that I would immediately recognize as rare! I have never particularly collected or studied the coinage of Faustina II under Marcus. No further specimens in Lanz Graz IV, 1974, Roman Middle Bronzes; nor in the Berk photofile based on catalogues and lists of c. 1970-1990.
I also ran to check, as I remember "Salus feeding a snake" while recently attempting to fully attribute some newly acquired coins. Alas... Here's another Crispina Sestertius showing Salus seated feeding a snake. Crispina Augusta, AD 178-182. Æ Sestertius Rome mint, struck under Commodus. Obv. Draped bust right. Rev. Salus seated left, holding patera, feeding serpent rising from altar, resting elbow on back on chair. RIC III 672b (R) Salus was the Roman goddess of health. She was Hygieia to the Greeks, who believed her to be the daughter of Aesculapius, the god of medicine and healing, and Epione, the goddess of soothing of pain. Her father Asclepius learned the secrets of keeping death at bay after observing one snake bringing another snake healing herbs. Woman seeking fertility, the sick, and the injured slept in his temples in chambers where non-poisonous snakes were left to crawl on the floor and provide healing.
