Here is a recent purchase that I have been having difficulty finding a RIC number for. The closest I have come so far is: RIC 1017. Marcus Aurelius AE Sestertius. IMP M ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXV, laureate head right / VOTA SVSCEP DECENN II S-C, emperor standing left, sacrificing over tripod altar, COS III in ex. http://wildwinds.com/coins/ric/marcus_aurelius/t.html The legend does not match on the obverse but the portrait does. I do think that the reverse is closely matched up, but there is not much remaining to tell. I picked this one up because I really like the portrait and the patina. Any help you can give is appreciated The coin is 31mm & 24.48 .grams
I looked through ERIC II, OCRE, and coinarchives for a good 45 minutes and could not find a match. I'm certain that ERIC II does not list this combination; close, but not a match. Doesn't help that wildwinds is down. Good Luck
I don't know if this is any help at all, but I believe I saw a match on acsearch of a Marcus Aurelius Sestertii....I can't tell about the legend match though... It was auction 248, lot 7532 from the Fritz Rudolf Kunker ghbh and Company of 3-14-14 and it attributes the coin as : BMC 1400, COH 1032, RIC 1014 http://www.kuenker.de/
I can't help to id the coin, but it just so happens I was re-imaging a Marcus Aurelius Sestertius when you posted this thread today. I love it when the planets align.... MARCUS AURELIUS AE Sestertius OBVERSE: M ANTONINVS AVG GERM SARMATICVS, laureate head right REVERSE: TR P XXIX IMP VIII COS III S-C, Annona standing left, holding corn-ears & cornucopiae; modius with two corn-ears and poppy at her feet Struck at Rome, 175 AD 22.3g, 30mm RIC 1154
RIC 1014 obv legend ends in TR P XXV whereas the OP coin ends in AVG. The Reverse legend ends in DECENN whereas the OP coin ends in III or N II. It's definitely a match on reverse type, though. Most of the Sestertii I've seen show the S to the left of the altar instead of btwn it and Marcus.
Thanks all for your help everyone. Looks like I got another hard to nail down ancient. I have a habit of buying the unique:/ Bing, thanks for sharing yours!
Take satisfaction in the rarity. The fact that none of us can find a matching example for an emperor as common as Aurelius should bring you a little joy, regardless if the piece is tooled or not.
Iamtiberius, I do enjoy the uniqueness of the uncataloged, and will admit that I like when there in confirmation that another genuine example can be found. Question, you mentioned tooling? I am not seeing tooling on coin. The patina looks even and original to me, with the occasional hard red deposit to add authenticity. Can you please elaborate on what you are seeing?
First, uniqueness suggests rarity and one of the very few (only?) example that survived to the present date...and that usually enhances the overall market appeal and value...many coins have been surfacing over the past few decades that have never been listed or catalogued----due to the opening of the 'iron curtain' and improvements in metal detectors over time... I think I-M-T sees evidence of 'tooling' surrounding the details of Marcus' hair...but I'm not so sure about that myself...
