Barbaric Imitation Sestertius of Domitilla

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by robinjojo, May 7, 2020.

  1. robinjojo

    robinjojo Well-Known Member

    I'm going through the boxes, separating the ancients from other coins, mostly world, and I came across this interesting sestertius that I purchased back in the 90s from Harlan Berk.

    This coin is an imitation of a sestertius of Domitilla. It is very crudely executed, with the "SC" on the reverse punched in backwards by the die maker, as is also the case of the carpentum on the obverse.

    I think the die maker made a fundamental error: the dies appear to have been engraved, for the SC and carpentum, on the dies based on the orientation of the model coin. In order for the SC and capentum to engraved correctly, so the finished coin shows the correct orientation, they needed to be engraved backwards relative to the model. Of course, it is also possible that whoever did this engraving couldn't have cared less how these elements appeared on the final product. It is interesting, though, that the legends do run in the correct direction. Perhaps someone else hand engraved the legends, and did so, at least in the correct direction, even though they're somewhat garbled.

    Here's more information:

    Domitilla, first wife of Vespasian
    Barbaric imitation of sestertius,
    21.34 grams, 31 mm, 12 h.
    Obv. Carpentum drawn left by two mules, at top [....] MORIAE / [...]MMAE, the
    blundered remains of the original legend S P Q R MEMORIAE DOMITILLAE.
    Rev. Large SC retrograde, circular legend survives only below and to left, [C]AESARIS
    AVG[...]
    Interesting imitation with the Carpentum and letters SC mirror images of the original types, but the legends are not legends not retrograde though blundered.

    D-Camera Barbaric imitation sestertius, Domtilla, 21.34 grams, H. Berk, 5-7-20.jpg
     
    Andres2, galba68, thejewk and 17 others like this.
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. randygeki

    randygeki Coin Collector

    Thats a pretty neat one.
     
    galba68 likes this.
  4. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Fascinating!
     
    galba68 likes this.
  5. Al Kowsky

    Al Kowsky Well-Known Member

    robinjojo, Congratulations on a great score :D! This sestertius is truly barbarous. If the work team that made this coin tried to apply at the Rome Mint for work, I don't think they would get past the front door :hilarious:. For comparison the coin pictured below is the real thing.

    CNG 4550278.jpg
    Photo courtesy of CNG Auction 455, Lot 278.
     
  6. thejewk

    thejewk Well-Known Member

    That's a charming piece. I can see why you added it to the collection.
     
    galba68 likes this.
  7. galba68

    galba68 Well-Known Member

    From my collection..
    Nero sestertius, 26 gr.,
    upload_2020-5-8_22-50-43.jpeg
    upload_2020-5-8_22-51-27.jpeg
     
  8. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    I always wonder how the engravers couldn’t get it rigjt.

    I mean, give me a page of Arabic and I do a pretty decent copy of it, without knowing any Arabic.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page