Thanks for reviving this great thread! I missed it the first time around. I'll follow up with another SA, my favourite Liberalitas coin... it's a rare as from his first liberality upon accession, just after the murder of Elagabalus.
I found a small coin of Alexander Severus that weighs only 2 g. as well as another of Philip which happens to be an ancient imitation.
AE (as) minted at Rome during the reign of Claudius between 41-50 A.D. Obv. TI.CLAVDIVS.CAESAR.AVG.P.M.TR.P.IMP. bare head left. Rev. LIBERTAS.AVGVSTA.S.C. Libertas, dr., stg. facing, head right, holding pileus, l. extended: S---C to l. and r. RCS #638. RICI #97. DVM #16.
Note that Libertas is the personification of freedom, as opposed to Liberalitas who personifies generosity. But the Claudius Libertas is still a great type.
Denarius minted at Rome during the reign of HADRIAN in 123 A.D. Obv. IMP.CAESAR.TRAIAN.HADRIANVS.AVG. laur. head r. Rev. P.M.TR.P.COS.III./LIB.PVB. Libertas seated l. on throne, holding branch and sceptre. RSCII #903. RICII #127. BMC #284. DVM #47/10.
Confusing Libertas and Liberaitas is easy to do. It is even found on coins (usually unofficial) like this Severus Alenander with legend LIBERTAS AVG but a figure of Liberalitas.
I missed this thread the first time around too...interesting to note, my newest coin is already featured in this thread!
Mine has a good pedigree. Commodus. Sestertius. TRP VI IMP IIII COS III PP in ex: LIB AVG IIII Struck Jan 1-Dec. 9, 181. Ex. British Museum, 1986. I have a file of correspondence about it. I traded it for a Flavian provincial coin the BM wanted (I will not say which one. Don't ask). The story is complicated and I doubt if I would remember it properly if it weren't for the 12 letters I still have of our correspondence (which I just reread). (Remember when people sent letters?) In 1986 I bought the small collection of a man who lived in a nearby city. With it came a letter from the BM written in 1985 asking him if he would sell the provincial coin to them. He had bought it from Empire Coins. I infer they saw it in a catalog, but it had sold to him already, so they got his name and wrote him. He didn't sell it to them because the coin came to me. However, when I saw the letter it seemed right the BM have it so I wrote them and said I would bring it by on my trip to attend the 1986 International Numismatic Congress in London. I did and they still wanted it and asked if I would accept a trade. I said I would. They said they would need some time to come up with a possible trade, so we agreed to complete the trade by correspondence. To trade away a coin they had to have a better one and their choice of coin had to be approved by John Kent (curator at the time). Their first offer which I accepted fell through because it differed in a few details from the better one they had and consequently was vetoed by Kent. Later I got a letter and a B&W print (I still have it) of this coin the mail. The letter ended "What do you think? (JK has already approved this one!)" I thought the Commodus sestertius was wonderful. I was not expecting such an excellent coin. The BM did have one extremely similar and even better. You can see it on plate 103.1 of BMC IV, Commodus 453.
A selection from the eastern Severans A fairly standard Liberalitas. Septimius Severus denarius Obv:– IMP CA L SEP S-EV PER AVG COS - II, Laureate head right Rev:– LIBE-R AVG, Liberalitas standing left, holding abacus in right hand, cornucopiae in left Minted in Emesa. A.D. 194-195 Reference:– BMCRE -. RIC- Liberalitas but with legend LIBERT Septimius Severus denarius Obv:– IMP CAE L SEP SE - V PERT AVG COS I, Laureate head right Rev:– LIBERT AVG, Liberalitas standing left, holding abacus in right hand, cornucopiae in left Minted in Emesa, A.D. 193 References:– RIC Page 139 (-) (this reverse type not listed for COS I) 2.83g, 19.51mm, 0o Liberalitas seated Septimius Severus denarius Obv:–L SEPT SEVER P-ERT AVG IMP VIII, Laureate head right Rev:– LIB-ER AVG, Liberalitas seated left, holding abacus in right hand, cornucopiae in left Minted in Laodicea-ad-Mare. A.D. 195 - 196 Reference(s) – BMC -. RIC -, RSC -
Sestertius of Pius RIC 774 145 A.D. On the reverse of this coin the object held by Liberalitas is quite small and cylindrical but the citizen receiving the money is clearly holding out a fold inhis toga
These coins are away on consignment, but they haven't been listed yet, so they are still technically mine.
Once again I feel compelled to exhume this thread, because I just like Liberalitas so much, and because it is deserving. And also because I just got a new one of the type, a sestertius of Antoninus Pius - my only Liberalitas of 2021 (so far). OCRE gives a wide 145-161 date range for this, but several credible auction houses (Heritage, https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=5571003) narrow this to 147-149 (Rome anniversary celebrations?): Antoninus Pius Æ Sestertius (147-148 A.D.) Rome Mint [ANTO]NINVS AVG PIVS P P [TR P CO]S IIII, laureate head right / LIB[ERALITAS AVG V] S C, Liberalitas standing left, holding cornucopia and coin-counter RIC 776; BMCRE 1696. (20.30 grams / 31 x 29 mm) eBay July 2021 Any other Liberalitas types out there? I'd like to see them.
That's a great coin, with historical significance. It was probably issued in AD 147-148 because Pius' fifth congiarium was given for the 900th year of Rome and in celebration of the first decade of his reign.
Thanks RC. Apparently Antoninus Pius had 9 congiarii (-a? - congiariums, to English it). Most of them are not particularly well-documented, but the 900th year celebration certainly makes sense for this issue. I'd like to think this coin got chucked out to the citizenry in the Colosseum, lions roaring the background, elephants trumpeting, etc.
Oh, yeah! You know some hard-workin' plebian used it to buy his six-year-old daughter some sandals. I'll bet its surfaces have traces of ancient garum and olive oil, centurion sweat, gladiator blood, and pagan altar smoke, too!
Another Liberalitas from Pius Antoninus Pius AD 138-161. Rome Denarius AR 19 mm., 2,64 g RIC III Antoninus Pius 234 Date Range: AD 153 - AD 154 Obverse Legend: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XVII Type: Head of Antoninus Pius, laureate, right Reverse Legend: LIBERALITAS VII COS IIII Type: Liberalitas, draped, standing left, emptying coins out of cornucopiae, held in both hands
That is an unusual and interesting depiction of Liberalitas - dumping the coins right from the cornucopia - I did not know this type existed. Thanks for sharing that. Of course now I want one...
Might as well plop this As in here, issued for SA's third liberality. (It's actually a medallion, note the lack of SC.) Liberalitas is on the left edge of the platform. This coin has one of my longest provenance notes: "Roma 64 lot 795, 28.11.2019; Ex Naumann 76 lot 474 (07.04.2019); Ex Leu 5 lot 760 (23.09.2018), from the G. G. collection; Ex CNG 315 lot 479 (20.11.2013), from the R. D. Frederick collection; previously part of the Curtis Clay collection, acquired by Clay from Lanz Graz IV, 23 November 1974, lot 605, from the collection of the Marquis de Albrecht Hohenkubin (von Kubinzky)(1885-1972) - a collection formed in the early 1900s, buried during Allied bombing of Vienna in WWII, then dug out of the rubble in 1955." (!!)