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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Roman Collector, post: 3521857, member: 75937&quot;]A recent acquisition. Minted in the last year of Commodus&#039; life, it has a mature portrait. Its reverse type depicts <i>Libertas</i>, the personification of liberty. <i>Libertas</i> is typically depicted as a standing female figure, holding a cap called a <i>pileus</i> in her right hand, and in her left hand a particular wand which the Romans called a <i>vindicta</i>. During the manumission ceremony by which they were freed, slaves wore the <i>pileus</i> and were lightly struck with the <i>vindicta</i>. This reverse type is thus rich with meaning. Indeed, these attributes of Libertas were featured on early US coinage, such as the first half cent.</p><p><br /></p><p>Let&#039;s see your coins with Libertas reverse types, coins of Commodus, or whatever you feel is relevant!</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]935377[/ATTACH] </p><p>Commodus, AD 177-192.</p><p>Roman orichalcum sestertius, 22.51 g, 29.2 mm, 1 h.</p><p>Rome, AD 192.</p><p>Obv: L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL, laureate bust of Commodus, right, with slight drapery on left shoulder.</p><p>Rev: LIB AVG P M TR P XVII COS VII P P,&nbsp; Libertas standing facing, head left, holding pileus in right hand and vindicta in left hand; S C l. and r., low in field; star, mid right, in field.</p><p>Refs: RIC 619b; BMCRE 692 var. (bust); Cohen 290; Sear 5764; ERIC II 573 var. (bust).</p><p>Notes: Ex Pegasi buy or bid sale 155, lot 382, March 19, 2019.</p><p><br /></p><p>This sestertius of Commodus comes in two obverse portrait varieties: (a) laureate head, right, and (b) laureate bust, right, with slight drapery on the left shoulder.[1, 2]</p><p><br /></p><p>The coin also comes in reverse varieties with a star in the left field, a star in the right field, and without a star. This particular coin appears to be quite scarce with the type b bust with the slight drapery on the far shoulder. No other examples are to be found in the British Museum Collection or at acsearchinfo, <a href="http://wildwinds.com/coins/sear5/s5764.html#RIC_0619" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://wildwinds.com/coins/sear5/s5764.html#RIC_0619" rel="nofollow">Wildwinds</a>, <a href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.3.com.619b" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.3.com.619b" rel="nofollow">OCRE</a>, <a href="http://www.tantaluscoins.com/coins/2756.php" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.tantaluscoins.com/coins/2756.php" rel="nofollow">Tantalus</a>, or <a href="http://www.coinproject.com/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coinproject.com/" rel="nofollow">The Coin Project</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>For comparison, here&#039;s the example in the British Museum collection with the laureate head:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]935270[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Half cent of 1793, depicting Liberty shouldering a <i>vindicta</i> capped with a <i>pileus</i>:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]935216[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>~~~</p><p><br /></p><p>1. RIC3 619, p.436.</p><p>2. BMCRE4, see note to no. 692, p.837.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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