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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 2354785, member: 19463&quot;]The price is right.&nbsp; The second of your two denarii of Commodus shows Apollo with lyre with the less usual APOLLONI PALATINO legend.&nbsp; My example has the more common dated variation.&nbsp; I doubt anyone would pay extra for your more scarce coin because it is missing so much of the legend and lacks eye appeal above the price range you paid.&nbsp; My coin below is the common, dated variety abbreviating the name while yours spells it out and lacks the dating devices.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]479732[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2337772" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2337772" rel="nofollow">http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=2337772</a></p><p>Your other Commodus denarius is also a less common variation but the above coin is a match found online by searching on &quot;commodus denarius victory&quot; nd scrolling down to find one that matched.&nbsp; This is a way to ID coins but you have to know something to select proper search words.&nbsp; In this case your coin has the abbreviation of SAEC FEL (Saeculi Felicitas) missing on the more common variations.&nbsp; Your coin is easier to read if you compare the bumps to the letters on the better specimen online.&nbsp; That is why the online one sell for 5x what you paid and, IMHO, is worth more than that. </p><p><br /></p><p>Your other denarius clearly reads ANTONINVS AVG PIVS PP TRP X on the obverse but searching on that string turned up nothing of use so I searched antoninus pius cos iiii using the reverse legend clear on your coin and the ruler name I recognized from experience.&nbsp; </p><p><a href="http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=antoninus+pius+cos+iiii&amp;category=1-2&amp;en=1&amp;de=1&amp;fr=1&amp;it=1&amp;es=1&amp;ot=1&amp;images=1&amp;currency=usd&amp;thesaurus=1&amp;order=0&amp;company=" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=antoninus+pius+cos+iiii&amp;category=1-2&amp;en=1&amp;de=1&amp;fr=1&amp;it=1&amp;es=1&amp;ot=1&amp;images=1&amp;currency=usd&amp;thesaurus=1&amp;order=0&amp;company=" rel="nofollow">http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=antoninus+pius+cos+iiii&amp;category=1-2&amp;en=1&amp;de=1&amp;fr=1&amp;it=1&amp;es=1&amp;ot=1&amp;images=1&amp;currency=usd&amp;thesaurus=1&amp;order=0&amp;company=</a></p><p><br /></p><p>That gave a lot of hits but a couple show a reverse figure telling you the name of the goddess of plenty Annona so another search on</p><p>antoninus pius cos iiii annona denarius</p><p>gave closer hits </p><p><a href="http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=antoninus+pius+cos+iiii+annona+denarius&amp;category=1-2&amp;en=1&amp;de=1&amp;fr=1&amp;it=1&amp;es=1&amp;ot=1&amp;images=1&amp;currency=usd&amp;thesaurus=1&amp;order=0&amp;company=" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=antoninus+pius+cos+iiii+annona+denarius&amp;category=1-2&amp;en=1&amp;de=1&amp;fr=1&amp;it=1&amp;es=1&amp;ot=1&amp;images=1&amp;currency=usd&amp;thesaurus=1&amp;order=0&amp;company=" rel="nofollow">http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=antoninus+pius+cos+iiii+annona+denarius&amp;category=1-2&amp;en=1&amp;de=1&amp;fr=1&amp;it=1&amp;es=1&amp;ot=1&amp;images=1&amp;currency=usd&amp;thesaurus=1&amp;order=0&amp;company=</a></p><p><br /></p><p>There are so many date variations that you may not find a perfect match but you can get the basics as a starting point.&nbsp; Getiing perfect ID&#039;s might require buying some books that are not cheap or asking help on CT from people who own them. </p><p><br /></p><p>The point here is this is mystifying in the beginning and gets a little more clear with practice.&nbsp; Rarely have I seen three denarii as hard to track exactly but you seem to have got the less common option in each case.&nbsp; Since no one is trying to gather all of the many variations here, being more rare may not get you any bonus but can make the process harder.&nbsp; When I said &#039;practice&#039; I did not mean a few times but many over a period of years.&nbsp; That is the hobby as I know it.&nbsp; Buying fully IDed coins is easier but not cheaper unless you count the investment in time and references you might make to educate yourself.&nbsp; I consider that part of the fun.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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