Almost last but hopefully not least, here are my favourites. I didn´t manage to buy anything for six months (new job) and so ended up with only nine more or less decent coins (mostly Sestertii as usual) this time: 1) Nerva Sestertius. My heaviest coin so far, graded "an attractive VF with excellent portrait" by Sear, and coming with a nice pedigree. IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P COS III P P - laureate head of Nerva right FORTVNA AVGVST S C - Fortuna standing left, holding rudder resting on ground in right hand and cornucopiae at her side in left. Sestertius, Rome 01 January – 18 September 97 aD (3rd emission of Nerva) 35,12 mm / 31,20 gr RIC 83; BMCRE 107-9 and pl. 5, 6; Cayon 24; Cohen 67; CBN III, p. 330, 98 and pl. CXXV; Sear -, Banti 21 (18 specimens) From the collections of Arthur Löbbecke (1850-1932), Fritz Reusing (1874-1956,) and Paul Schürer (1890-1976); Auction Hess Nr. 182 (06.01.1926), lot 1115 a, and Manfred Olding fixed price list 96 (March 2019), Nr.200 2) Gordianus II Africanus Sestertius. Super rare type (struck with a single obverse die), graded VF (strike 4/5 - surface 4/5) by NGC; also with nice pedigree. IMP CAES M ANT GORDIANVS AFR AVG - laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian II Africanus right VICTORIA AVGG S C, Victory advancing left, holding wreath in extended right hand and palm at her side in left. Sestertius, Rome April 238 aD 30,52 mm / 17,20 gr Banti (I Grandi Bronzi Imperiali, Vol. IV-2) Nr. 6 (4 specimens listed, this coin illustrated on p. 238); RIC 7 and pl. XII, 4 (same obverse die); BMCRE 29* and pl. 42 (citing specimen in Naples, same obverse die); Cohen 13 (citing specimen in Paris) From the collections of Richard van de Vyvere-Colens (1837-1912) and Phillip C. Peck; ex Charles Dupriez Sale Nr. 112 Bis (07.04.1913), lot 1527, and Heritage Sale 3071 (07.01.2019, „Morris Collection“) lot 32194 3. Maximus Caesar Sestertius. Graded "an attractive VF with excellent portrait" by Sear, unpatinated MAXIMVS CAES GERM - bare-headed and draped bust of Maximus right PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS S C - Maximus, in military attire, standing left, holding rod pointing downwards in right hand and transverse spear in left, two standards behind. Sestertius, Rome September 236 – April 238 aD 32,13 mm / 20,36 gr RIC 13; BMCRE 213; Cohen 14; MIR 37-5; Sear 8411; Sear 8411, Banti 6 (207 specimens) ex Jean Elsen fixed price list January-March 2019, Nr.140 4. Crispina Sestertius. Graded "VF with attractive portrait and nice glossy brown patina" by Sear. CRISPINA AVGVSTA - draped bust of Crispina right, her hair elaborately waved in curls across head and fastened in a chignon behind SALVS S C - Salus seated left, feeding from patera held in right hand a snake arising from altar at her feet, her left resting on arm of throne Sestertius, Rome 178 – 182 aD 30,48 mm / 22,21 gr RIC (Commodus) 672a; BMCRE (Commodus) 422; Cohen 33; MIR 18, p. 173, 17; Cayón, p. 387, 11; Sear (RCTV II) 6010, Banti 14 (21 specimens) ex J. Alan Seeger Collection; CNG 76, 12.09.2007, lot 3330, and Thomas Bentley Cederlind, Goldberg Auction 109 (29.01.2019), lot 2194 5) Julia Soaemias Sestertius. Graded "VF with excellent portrait" by Sear. Edge hammered in antiquity. [IVLIA] SOAEMIAS AVG - diademed and draped bust of Julia Soaemias right, her hair waved and knotted in queue and small bun at back VENVS CAELESTIS S C - Venus seated left, holding apple in extended right hand and resting on sceptre held in left, child standing right at her feet. Sestertius, Rome 220 aD 30,20 mm / 17,78 gr RIC 406; BMCRE 378; Cohen 18; Thirion (Le Monnayage d'Elagabale) 391; Banti (I Grandi Bronzi Imperiali) p. 57, 5 — citing 30 specimens; Sear 7725 ex Peus E-Auction 8 (19.01.2019), lot 314 6) Commodus Sestertius. VF and probably the finest known of this type. M COMMODVS ANT P FELIX AVG BRIT – Laureate bust of Commodus right P M TR P XI IMP VII [COS V P P] - Concordia standing frontal, head left, holding legionary eagle standard, vertical, in each hand; S-C, left and right, in field, CONC MIL in exergue Sestertius, Rome 196 a.D. 29,5 mm / 20,20g RIC 465 (a); Cohen 57 corr (COS IIII); BMCRE 576 (plate 106, Nr.8); Banti 27 (one specimen = the one in the BM), Sear 5738 ex Roma E-Sale 58 (20.06.2019), lot 1137 7) Septimius Severus Sestertius. Still in the mail, so here are the seller´s pictures. L SEPT SEV PE-RT AVG IMP VIII – Laureate and cuirassed bust of Septimius Severus right, seen 3/4 from behind ADVENTVI AVG FELICISSIMO S C - Septimius Severus, in military attire, on horse prancing right, raising right hand in salute; in front a helmeted soldier advancing right, looking left, leading the emperor´s horse by holding it´s bridle in right hand and vexillum in left hand Sestertius, Rome 196 aD. 30 mm / 19,06 gr RIC 719c (R2); BMCRE 596; Cohen 8 var. (draped and cuirassed, 25 F), CSS 227; Sear 6403, Banti 4 (26 specimens) ex Auctions Jean Elsen Nr. 142, 14.09.2019, lot 513 and Nr.143, 07.12.2019, lot 454 8) Gothic Aureus. This is a third-generation barbarian derivate of an official Roman design. "VF and of great historical interest" (Sear). Holed in antiquity. IIII-IT — IIIIII - laureate and cuirassed bust of Diocletian or Maximian left. II — IISIII (the S reversed) - helmeted Roma seated left on throne with X beneath seat, holding Victory on extended right hand and resting on sceptre held in left. Aureus (gold plated over base metal core), irregular mint in western Ukraine, Chernvyakhov culture, ca. 300-310 aD 19,83 mm / 2,56 gr. / pierced in antiquity Oleg Anohin "Counterfeiting among barbarian tribes in the territory of modern Ukraine and Moldova. Catalog of barbaric imitations" (2015), Nr.87 (this coin illustrated); for a specimen from the same dies but struck in gold, cf. Leu Numismatik, Auction 4 (25 May 2019), lot 819 (“The Aurum Barbarorum Collection”). found in the Ternopil region, Ukraine, ex Savoca Numismatik 17th Blue auction (01.03.2019), lot 1894 9) Saloninus Antoninianus. I usually don´t buy Ants, but found this nice for the type. SALON VALERIANVS CAES – Radiate and draped bust of Saloninus Caesar right PIETAS AVG – The emblems of the priestly colleges: lituus, knife, patera, jug, simplum and sprinkler Antoninianus, Cologne 258 AD 22 mm / 3,40 gr RIC 9, RSC 41, Hunter 8, Göbl 914, Sear 10767 found on Ebay Thanks for looking and choosing your favourites! Season´s greetings to all of you, JG
How does a Gordian II end up, ironically, in seconds place?? Only when a Nerva like that is in the running. Amazing year for only six months of collecting... Heck, amazing year period!
I agree with Doug. Nerva! But I also like the Gordianus II Africanus and the Maximus Caesar Sestertii
If I owned that Nerva I wouldn’t have even bothered with a 2019 list this year. I would have just posted that coin 10 times! In truth all of them are great. Hope 2020 is just as good for you.
Very nice additions! I do not really collect Roman coins but I find those Sestertius coins always very attractive, and it seems you got a lot of them this year, congrats.
Amazing coins @Julius Germanicus! I cannot chose between nerva and gordian II. And that barbaric imitation is very interesting as well. Some of the discriptions mention Sear. Did you have those coins graded by him?
Super über Nerva! But due the rarity, and of course, to a lesser extent, the eye appeal, my choose goes to Uncle Gordie.
Wow, the Nerva and the Gordian II are just exceptional. I also really like the Julia Soaemias, even if it’s missing a bit of the legend, I love that portrait. Great additions this year!
Wow, JG-- your insistence on a certain look and certain quality for your sestertii has worked out quite well! What a great year. All are fantastic. The Nerva is #1 for me too but after that the ranking becomes difficult because all are so good.
Nerva too (I'm with the crowd this time) and second the barbaric aureus because it's so unusual. Excellent selection. Q
The Gothic plated aureus is by far my favorite followed by the Commodus sestertius. I enjoyed the Featured article you did on that coin A GOTHIC FOUREE AUREUS of DIOCLETIAN .
Thank you all for your votes and comments! With the Nerva I could afford to go for the best portrait available (same applies to Maximus, Lucilla and Julia Soaemias ), while with a Sestertius of Gordian II one always has to make compromises. I found mine the most interesting affordable specimen on the market in terms of pedigree, rarity, and it´s being the Banti plate coin so I went for it. Yes. He is a great guy also sees little details that others don´t see. But it is becoming more and more of a hassle to send the coins back and forth over the Atlantic due to the slow international mail and customs complications. Yes, mine too actually (the coins are not listed in order of my preference). I am working on another article tracing the step by step evolution of an official roman Aureus design into this type.
