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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Marsyas Mike, post: 4157990, member: 85693&quot;]An interesting discussion.&nbsp; And some great coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>I really like the coins of Commodus, and as several have noted, his coins are abundant on the market.&nbsp; They also vary wildly in style, fabric, and strike.&nbsp; Mostly what I look for is a good portrait - the OP has a fair-to-middling late-reign portrait, but not outstanding.&nbsp; And so here are my opinions and coins, based on about 3 years collecting these (which is to say I am no expert)...</p><p><br /></p><p>First off, as a bottom-feeder, I would not pay $50 for the OP, even though I do not have that one in my collection.&nbsp; Mostly this is because I almost never spend $50 on a single coin - that violates the Bottom Feeder Code of Conduct.&nbsp; But that might be typical retail - I don&#039;t really know since I don&#039;t shop retail.</p><p><br /></p><p>As for the grade, heck if I know.&nbsp; VF with a mushy strike?&nbsp; Something like that.&nbsp; It would certainly be a coin I&#039;d snap up for $10 or $15 in an eBay auction, but I am not crazy about its style - especially the portrait, though it is typical for a lot of Commodus&#039; later coins.&nbsp; The reverse has a certain panache however, and a full inscription - not bad at all!</p><p><br /></p><p>While I don&#039;t have the OP, I do have a Concordia, with the unusual CONCORDIAE COMMODI reverse.&nbsp; I paid $19 off eBay - a deal, I think.&nbsp; This one is, in my opinion, a lower grade than the OP (VG?), but a much finer style - I love the portrait - despite the wear, it has a fully-rounded, statue-like look - compare this with the OP&#039;s rather crude rendering around the eye and nose - a kind of shortcut &quot;gash&quot; you see on a lot of these:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1073006[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Commodus&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Denarius</b></p><p><b>(c. 189 A.D.)</b></p><p><b>Rome Mint </b></p><p>M COMM ANT P FEL AVG BRIT P P, laureate head right / CONCORDIAE COMMODI</p><p>AVG, Concordia standing left, holding patera &amp; scepter.</p><p>RIC 198a; Cohen 43; RSC 43.</p><p>(3.09 grams / 17 mm)</p><p><br /></p><p>Hope I&#039;m not sounding like an art professor here...but I&#039;m feeling artsy or something today...and so I will persist...</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is a denarius with a portrait of the late style similar to the OP - very crude.&nbsp; However, it has a rather unusual imperial reverse - Serapis.&nbsp; And it was under $10.&nbsp; So I bought it - but I do not care for the portrait, which suffers from a poor strike and wear, a very ugly obverse.&nbsp; If somebody told me it was a barbaric copy, I wouldn&#039;t argue with them, although the reverse is a better style:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1073036[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Commodus&nbsp; &nbsp; Denarius</b></p><p><b>(191-192 A.D.)</b></p><p><b>Rome Mint </b></p><p>L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL, laureate head right / SERAPIDI CONSERV AVG,</p><p>Serapis, radiate, standing front, head left, holding branch and sceptre.</p><p>RIC 261; Sear 5695; RSC 703.</p><p>(2.56 grams / 16 mm)</p><p><br /></p><p>On the other hand, here is an example of a late Commodus of low grade, but to me with great eye-appeal - mostly because of the portrait - which provides that loutish, somehow bathetic version of Marcus Aurelius look I really like.&nbsp; This is a good (bad?) example of the crude fabric to be found on late Commodus denarii.&nbsp; Flan preparation was not a priority, but there were still some master engravers working at the mint:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1073018[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Commodus&nbsp;&nbsp; Denarius</b></p><p><b>(190-191 A.D.)</b></p><p><b>Rome Mint </b></p><p>M COMM ANT P FEL A[VG BRIT P P], laureate head right / [MIN AVG] P M TR P XVI</p><p>COS VI, Minerva walking right, holding branch in right hand, spear and shield in left.</p><p>RIC 222a; Sear 5661; RSC 358.</p><p>(2.46 grams / 18 x 16 mm)</p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s one I do not like much in regards to its style.&nbsp; It had other things about it I liked - a Liberalitas reverse, which interests me, as they can sometimes be attributed to actual coin distribution events.&nbsp; Despite the wear, it is unusually heavy for a Commodus denarius (in my limited experience), but the style is rather crude, with a youthful but lumpy portrait.&nbsp; The deal-maker on this one was that I paid $2.75 for it, which for me is bottom-feeding at its best - that might be it&#039;s melt value!&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1073029[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Commodus&nbsp;&nbsp; Denarius</b></p><p><b>(181 A.D.)</b></p><p><b>Rome Mint </b></p><p>M COMMODVS ANTONINVS AVG, laureate head right. / LIB AVG IIII TR P VI IMP IIII COS III [PP], Liberalitas standing left holding counting board and cornucopiae.</p><p>RIC 22; RSC 307; BMC IV 53</p><p>(3.28 grams / 17 mm)</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Note:</b></p><p>&quot;Struck 181 A.D., and distributed to the people, when Commodus returned to Rome.&quot;&nbsp; Wildwinds</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Reverse depicts the 4th distribution of money to the people of Rome.&quot; FORVM post.</p><p><br /></p><p>Finally, this post gives me an excuse to post a new sestertius I just got - a fairly early issue, with the portrait less loutish, looking a bit more like his dad - but despite the wear, it there was some fine die-work with the portrait, which has a very Marcus Aurelius look to it - the young prince:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1073026[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Commodus&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Æ Sestertius </b></p><p><b>(183 A.D.)</b></p><p><b>Rome Mint</b></p><p>M COMMODVS AN[TONINVS AVG PI]VS, laureate head right / [TR P VIII IMPVI COS IIII P P] S-C, Victory walking right, holding trophy with both hands.</p><p>RIC 374; Cohen 898; Sear 5821.</p><p>(19.87 grams / 28 mm)</p><p><br /></p><p>I thought about giving my opinions about Commodus the ruler - I think he got a bad rap from history.&nbsp; But instead I&#039;ll shut up now!&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie104" alt=":yawn:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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