In the course of compiling a list of all Faustina I denarii from the posthumously issued AVGVSTA series, I have identified three coins listed in RIC that I believe do not exist as described and another whose existence is dubious at best. The original source for the citation of all four of these coins appears to be Cohen. IF YOU KNOW OF EXAMPLES OF THESE COINS, EITHER ONLINE OR IN YOUR OWN COLLECTIONS, PLEASE SHARE. Otherwise, feel free to post comments, similar coins, or anything you feel is relevant. The first of these is RIC 359, which cites Cohen 84: However, the denarius version of this coin is not in the British museum collection or in Temeryazev and Makarenko, and all examples to be found online at OCRE, acsearchinfo, the Coin Project and Wildwinds are misidentified. The most common error is confusing the coin with RIC 358/BMCRE 389ff by mistaking the scepter for a torch: RIC 358/BMCRE 389 Mattingly, writing in BMCRE4, notes that the true reverse of Cohen 84 is actually the coin illustrated above, an example of BMC 389. The second and third of the dubious coins are RIC 369a and 369b: Coins of this reverse type bearing the inscription AVGVSTA are not to be found in the British Museum collection, at OCRE, Coin Project, acsearchinfo, Temeryazev and Makarenko, or Wildwinds. BMCRE notes, as does RIC, that they are listed by Cohen as 109 and 112. I don't believe these coins exist as described in Cohen and I suspect Cohen mistook the inscription on RIC 400, which reads VESTA, for AVGVSTA, such as this example sold by Numismatik Naumann in 2013: RIC 400 The fourth of the dubious examples is RIC 364: This is not to be found in the British Museum collection, and Mattingly in BMCRE4 notes it was cited by Cohen. It is not online at acsearchinfo or the Coin Project. The example at Wildwinds is misidentified (it actually depicts RIC 358). The only example I could find online was at OCRE, which depicts the specimen in the Museu de Prehistòria de València and is supposedly a hoard find (Llíria Hoard). However, when I look at the specimen ... ... I see a hint of corn ears below "Juno's" left hand that may have been erased by tooling a copy of RIC 358: RIC 358 The only reason I am willing to consider this coin may exist is that an example is illustrated in Temeryazev and Makarenko: But while most of the images in that reference are credited to various auctions, this particular image is not and is presumably from one of the authors' or his acquaintance's collections. The image is not clear enough to evaluate the coin for tooling. If the coin does exist, it's exquisitely rare.
Great detective work. There is still much to discover and understand when it comes to ancient coins. I'd love to see someone like Curtis Clay's copy of RIC. It must have so many interesting notes and remarks.
I have nothing to add other than to note that this is fascinating. If you do find anything further, please keep us updated.
