Manlia Scantilla

I’m grateful by the way for everyone’s opinion and @dougsmit for raising the issue.

 

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And @Roman Collector

 

No, I'm not saying that at all. I was searching at acsearchinfo for a die-match to your coin and I found the actual coin, so I posted it.

What I suggest is to read the Woodward paper carefully (realizing that not all dies are illustrated), go to the BMC site, and to acsearchinfo and look for a die match. A die match to either the obverse or reverse is enough to rule out a tooled Domna.

For example, your Didia Clara has Woodward reverse die H, which is a die-match to BMC 41 and to my Didia Clara sestertius. Ours are genuine Didia Clara sestertii.

 

Thanks for that. I’m going back to the instructions in your previous post to try and identify a die match with known examples. Hopefully I’ll find something.
This is great thread - it hadn’t (but probably should have) occurred to me that Julia Domnas can be tooled to produce a convincing Manlia Scantilla.

 

The key to looking for die matches on obverses is to look at the inscriptions, paying attention to the spacing of the letters, any letters that are distinctively shaped, letters that are set lower or higher than others or are of unusual size, and how the letters are arranged with respect to the devices.

I note my obverse is a die match to Woodward obverse die 6 by looking at the inscription. Note the shape of the S in Scantilla and its relationship to the C, the relationship of the C to the A, the relationship of the N and T to the empress's head, the way the second L in Scantilla is a little lower than the first L, etc.:

 

On reverses, it's easier to see die-matches because the devices typically have unique features in addition to the inscriptions. Our Didia Clara reverses (Woodward die H) are matches to the BMC 41 specimen. Woodward describes its distinguishing feature as having the T above the cornucopiae and exemplified by BMC 40 and 41. I also note the following: Hilaritas' right forearm and hand are ridiculously small. The length and curvature of the palm are the same. The placement of C in SC relative to Hilaritas' drapery is the same, the placement of the S in SC relative the H and I in HILAR are the same.

Yours:


Mine:


BMCRE 41:

 

@Greg Heinrich -- although the state of preservation between these coins is suboptimal, I believe your coin is a reverse die-match to Woodward die C, which is the type on BMCRE 34.

Woodward describes its distinguishing features to be: "small patera, long bare forearm; slight bend in sceptre, top of S level with head of peacock." Moreover, there is a very close correspondence on these three coins shown here in the placement of the SC in relation to Juno, with the C placed a little higher up than the SC compared to the horizontal baseline.

Yours:

BMCRE 34:


Woodward reverse die C (plate IX, 6):


Woodward notes (p. 74) this reverse die was used with obverse dies 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, and 15, so I'd read the descriptions and look at the examples (not all illustrated, though) for those obverse dies to find a potential obverse die match.

 

What I said and what I believe is that people who are not comfortable with all the possible problems that come with expensive coins really should be doubly sure to but from a full service, full knowledge seller. That does not mean from a dealer who just says he will refund your money if you show it is fake but someone who is not making an assumption when they say they think the coin is good. If you are worried about the coin, send it to Sear or NGC. You don't post it on Coin Talk and ask opinions of those who know less about it than you or I do. These coins are not made real or fake by popular vote. They are not genuine until proven fake. In my life, I have owned one Scantilla sestertius. It had three letters and rough surfaces. I bought it from a junk box for 50 cents in the mid 1960's and sold it with about 150 coins for $500 in 1974. This does not qualify me to diagnose such coins with meaningful accuracy. I do know that it is harder to find Juno reverse Domna sestertii than some of her reverses. Is this because they are rare or because it would be too easy to make my coin into a Scantilla? Collect smart.

 

Now I'm more paranoid than Howie Hughes at a germ collectors convention! Great information @Roman Collector. Thanks. I was warned by @dougsmit when I first trotted out my Manlia in my "Don't have to be beautiful to empress me " thread: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/dont-have-to-be-beautiful-to-empress-me.314371/
About the issue of all the Julia domnas being "turned into" Manlias. I reassured myself that mine was fine due to the portrait looking like several others of her I'd researched and I purchased it from FRC.
But now that I have these tools it's time to spend my afternoon off doing some investigating!
Best of luck @Greg Heinrich . I will be keeping an eye out for your reverse as well whilst I use the article and search the British museum (ok that feels pretty cool to say).

 

After reading through the Woodward paper, checking the British museum, ac search and wild winds I concur with @Roman Collector that your reverse is a match for the BMC 34. Funny enough, I believe my coin to be a match for the obverse! Check em out:


As stated in the Woodward paper there are 16 obverses and only 10 reverses on Manlia's sestertius. Making it bit harder to find the obverse match. With yours distinctively "cute" nose and lettering, I'm sure we'll find it since, again, your reverse is a ringer for one in the British museum. Again, congrats on such a Beautiful coin

 

@Greg Heinrich - just like I found the auction where your coin previously appeared, in the course of researching this, I found the source of mine!

CNG Auction 85, lot 967, Sept. 15, 2010:

My coin:


And a few months back, I came across Pegasi Auction VI, lot 461, April 8, 2002:

My coin:

 

Cool! I'm glad you found an obverse die match!

 

Well, thanks to you. And since then I've found a few more! Acsearch has a plethora!! Does this look like the same obverse die to you?

 

Look at whatever letters you can see in the inscription with the coin in hand (it may take various angles of light and whatnot) and see how they match up to those examples you've posted above. If they match, then you can be confident.