Hey guys, I've been trying to find a denarius of Marcus Aurelius for about the past year, searching on and off. I haven't found one, maybe my budget is too low, but I have found plenty of coins within my budget that meet every criterion besides being a denarius. I have found denarii of Marcus Aurelius as Caesar, but not one of him as Augustus. If these don't exist, I'll have to settle for a Caesar, and that's my question: are there lifetime issue denarii bearing the portrait of Marcus Aurelius as Augustus? Have I just not been looking hard enough? I wouldn't be surprised if there are only five or so that exist and sell for millions at auction. Maybe it would be more budget-friendly at my current stage of life to collect more late Roman coins. Still, Marcus Aurelius and Nerva are the last two that I need to finish my Antonine emperors collection (unless we're also counting co-emperors in which case I still need Aelius.)
Don’t remember how much this one was but I wouldn’t have spent a fortune for it Marcus Aurelius. AD 161-180. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.12 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 166. Laureate head right / Victory standing right, holding palm frond and round shield inscribed VIC/PAR set on palm tree. RIC III 163; MIR 18, 141-4/30; RSC 878. EF, lightly toned. Ex Davissons 22 (28 April 2005), lot 95.
That's a nice one, an example like that especially would fit in with the average condition of my other Antonine denarii. That one was bought at auction, so perhaps I should be looking at auctions rather than retailers? Where would you recommend? Nice coin!
There is one Marcus Aurelius denarius being sold at https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/herakles_numismatics-71/ancient-coins/Default.aspx?
This came from an auction and I think it cost me around $100-120 after all the fees, shipping, currency conversion, etc. The reverse isn't so nice, but the portrait is striking: @Noah Worke if you're wanting to look into auctions, I'd recommend Savoca Coins (where the above coin came from). They are located in Switzerland and I've always found them great to work with - bidding is easy on the platform and they have a quick and easy check-out process. They also tend to offer a nice variety with lower-end stuff too.
Check https://www.numisbids.com/ or https://www.vcoins.com/ or https://www.sixbid.com/en - most of the dealers will have at least 1 or 2 for sale.
Marcus Aurelius AD 161-180. Rome Denarius AR 18mm., 2,84g. Savoca. AUCTION 16 LOT 1093 This cost the equivalent of $48 US from a Savoca Auction. I agree with @The Meat man , a good place to look and they ship straight away. There are plenty of reasonably priced coins for sale in their blue auctions. Good luck with your search @Noah Worke
Make sure to select FedEx for oversea delivery if given an option. I believe Savoca only uses FedEx. I made the mistake of selecting DHL to save $10-$15 dollars and it took more than 6 weeks for delivery after the payment cleared. I usually receive FedEx in 5-7 days, the fastest was 3 days from London. Also Savoca uses Euro's which has a slightly lower conversion rate then Swiss Francs (CHF). If you not familiar with overseas purchases here's some advice: 1. Go to Biddr.com https://www.biddr.com/ and create an account. 2. Select the dealer / auction and then click the "go to live bidding" to be accepted as a bidder; sometimes you also have to create an account at the dealers website 3. Create an account at Wise https://wise.com/login?redirectUrl=/send#/enterpayment or similar to make bank transfer payments. 4. Watch all the fees they can add up fast. Rule of thumb is to add 25% to the hammer price to cover buyer's premiums, processing fees, currency conversion, bank fees, shipping and handling. 5. Try to keep all overseas purchases less than $2500 per shipment otherwise US Customs will hold your shipment and force you to complete form 5106 and pay an additional fee, which is a % of the total value of the shipment (RIP OFF). P.S. - I'll try not to bid against you...
Thanks! I think I'll go with Savoca then. I did a little browsing and was pleasantly surprised with the prices I saw, so this should work for me no problem! I agree with you on FedEX, I went the cheap route with a coin from Canada and it took about a month, despite the fact that I'm just a couple of hours over the US border (at the time, anyway.)
Besides CNG, Vcoins, Auctions (Numisbids, Sixbid), and Ebay, you may want to try Ma-Shops. There appear to be quite a few MA denarii currently on offer by the various dealers who use this platform. I think most of then are Europe-based, but that should not be a problem. https://www.ma-shops.com/shops/sear...lius+denar&catid=0&submitBtn=Search&days_new=
This is one of my first coins which I also picked with a nice Sestertius and some other coins based on legend, more than anything. This came from MGM in Munich, and Lowenbrau keller is right across the street, if you ever have some time. Marcus Aurelius AR denarius. Struck AD 166. M ANTONINVS AVG ARM PARTH MAX, laureate head right. TR P XX IMP IIII COS III around, PAX below, Pax standing left, holding olive branch and cornucopiae. RIC III, 164; RSC 880.
My most recent one, I was planning to give its own post at some point, one of the most extreme die-clashes I've ever seen. It's rare for a significant portion of the obverse legend to be transferred on a clash (usually it's just the faint incuse image of the bust). There was also an extreme coincidence in the alignment of dies that caused the "O" in COS to still appear normally on this reverse clashed-die (the O in COS and ANTONINVS happened to align perfectly!): Here's one I bought for the Armenia reverse until I upgrade:
@Noah Worke. I was looking through old posts of Antonine emperors and was wondering if you ever got your Marcus Aurelius denarius?
Not yet, for now it's looking like I'll be getting one when it gets to be closer to summer, maybe May or June.
