Marcus Aurelius Denarius

Thank you for all of your work and research on this coin, @Roman Collector! What started out as a slightly indulgent birthday present for myself ended up being far more interesting than I could have ever imagined.

I wish I could take credit for "cherry-picking" this coin, but I don't have anywhere near enough knowledge of ancients to have done so. I just chose it randomly because I liked it. Nonetheless, this thread has taught me quite a bit, particularly that I need to learn more about "RIC, BMCRE, RSC and Romanpaulus."

Thanks also @DonnaML and @dltsrq for your insights, and of course @paulus_dinius for sharing your knowledge with us. This ended up being a very fascinating and informative thread, but not because of anything that I did.

 

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@ewomack, congrats on coin #5 - Here are two coins of the philosopher and emperor:

Marcus Aurelius, as Caesar, AD 161-180, AR denarius, Rome, AD 145-147(?)
Obv: AVRELIVS CAE-SAR AVG PII F, bare head of Marcus Aurelius right
Rev: COS-II, Honos, togate, standing left, holding up branch in right hand and cornucopiae in left
Ref: RIC III 429a
Marcus Aurelius, AD 161-180, Æ Sestertius, Rome mint, Struck AD 163
Obv: IMP CAES M AVRE ANTONINVS AVG P M, laureate bust right, slight drapery
Rev: SALVS AVGVSTOR TR P XV (where's the I in XVI?) , Salus standing left, feeding from patera a serpent rising from altar and holding scepter, between S - C, COS III in exergue
Ref: RIC III 834

 

Love your coin AND the Meditations. One of my favorite books.

 

A very interesting, and enlightening (and philosophical) discussion. These discoveries are always fun to read about - congrats, ewomack!

These things always send me back to my collection, and I found this, a Marcus Aurelius denarius with Concordia seated. I bought this off eBay and thought I was getting a Commodus, but the seller screwed up - he offered to make it right, but in the realm of $9 denarii, it hardly seems worth the effort to swap, refund, etc.

Anyway, I attributed this a couple years ago as RIC 37, but after seeing the complexity of what is involved in the coins of this era, my confidence has eroded. Pretty sure that's a "head" and not a "bust."



Marcus Aurelius Denarius
(161-162 A.D.)
Rome Mint
IMP M AVREL ANTONINVS AVG, laureate head right / CONCORD AVG TR P XVI, COS III in ex, Concordia seated left holding patera, resting elbow on small statue of Spes, cornucopiae under seat.
RIC 37; RSC 36.
(2.82 grams / 17 mm)

As for The Meditations, here's a photo of a 1701 London edition with a denarius:

 

The concept of separating heads from busts was established on another period when it was more obvious which was which. These have that entry noting drapery on far shoulder which, on the coins, looks like a head with a scrap of cloth behind the neck. Different people will dispute whether a drape of any degree makes a head into a bust or not. The guys who cut these dies did not know they were expected to make their variations follow rules not then invented. There are some issues where draped and cuirassed portraits really stand out as separate from either alone and others where we have to look hard and decide if there is something there to see. Roman Collector posted clear explanations of the differences. Were it only true that all the coins were as clear as those descriptions!

A bust of Aurelian with not doubt:


Trajan with drapery on far shoulder leaves mor to interpretation and there som much less extensive than this!.