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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Blake Davis, post: 5189580, member: 91820&quot;]Elagabalus Sestertius RIC 348</p><p>Weight: 25.4 grams Size: 31mm</p><p>Obverse Inscription: IMP CAES M AVR ANTONINUS PIUS AVG</p><p>Reverse Inscription: FORTUNAE REDVCI</p><p><br /></p><p>In my last post I discussed a decreasing tolerance for sestertii with common reverses.&nbsp; Of course that was firmly tongue in cheek - an admittedly meaningless statement.&nbsp; And, I am able to show just how meaningless it is by presenting a real beauty with a common reverse, bought from a VCOINS dealer, with the purchase subsidized through the sale of coins on consignment.&nbsp; I have purchased other very beautiful coins from the dealer who sold this, and I check his site religiously.</p><p><br /></p><p>Typically, Fortuna is a common reverse on Roman Imperial sestertii - among the most common. For example, for Caracalla ACSEARCH lists 403 coins with a Fortuna reverse of all imperial types, with 70 on sestertii. NOTE: such numbers would mean incredible prices for US coins with such low mintage.&nbsp; On of MANY reasons why I collect ancient coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>But Fortuna is a VERY rare reverse for Elagabalus imperial sestertii - ACSEARCH shows five examples, including my coin. Banti, perhaps not the most accurate means by which to determine rarity, but relied on by many dealers, notes just three examples,&nbsp; RIC describes this coin as scarce, which is also interesting.</p><p><br /></p><p>Why would Elagabalus strike so few of this type?&nbsp; It could be that Fortuna is used in a military context and this emperor was not known for anything military. Or perhaps some other reasons?</p><p><br /></p><p>One other point - I do understand why Tiber patina is such a desirable feature of bronzes - there are features of the design that are just more clear with this type of surface, as illustrated by the few sestertii I have with Tiber patina.</p><p><br /></p><p>I had previously mentioned that I collect the sestertii of Elagabalus.&nbsp; Through&nbsp; searching high and low for affordable examples over the past ten years, I have managed to put together a collection of 12 different examples - out of 35 different types for Elagabalus.&nbsp; Elagabalus sestertii are relatively rare, with mild demand. However, over the last year few examples have been offered for sale. This is unusual and reflects - actually I am uncertain what it means.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you have or know of an Elagabalus sestertii with a Salus, Mars, Liberalitas, or Adventus reverse please let me know!</p><p><br /></p><p>I would like to add more but once again I am out of time. Three postings done, three more to go.</p><p><br /></p><p>I definitely welcome comments from other collectors - there are no clubs devoted to ancient coins in the NYC metro area, so COINTALK is one of the few outlets for the hobby - for reasons I have never been able to ascertain, we do not even have a magazine!</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1214037[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1214038[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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