New Gallienus Sestertius - VIRTVS AVGG - please vote!

A tan coloured or yellowish “Tiber Patina” is not rare for early Sestertii but I had never seen one on a bronze of Gallienus. So when this one here popped up on the MA Shops site last week I had to push the button right away:



IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG - Laureate bust right, wearing paludamentum and cuirass /
VIRTVS AVGG S C – Mars (?) standing frontal, head left, holding vertical spear reversed and shield resting on ground
Orichalcum Sestertius, Rome mint, September 253- early 254 AD
26,8 mm / 14,24 gr
RIC 248, Cohen 1295, MIR 36, 38bb, Sear 10495, Banti 82 (6 specimens)
-same obverse die as NAC 22.09.2004, lot 1725, and Peus 01.11.2017, lot 458, and same reverse die as Münzzentrum Rheinland 06.09.2017, lot 386 -



Despite it´s low weight and unevenly shaped flan (which is typical for Sestertii of the day), I think this coin with it´s high relief and better details is an improvement over my earlier specimen which I like but that didn´t really fit into my collection because of it´s green patina:



IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG - laureate and cuirassed bust of Gallienus right /
VICTORIA AVGG S C - Victory standing left, holding wreath in uplifted right hand and palm-branch at her side in left
Orichalcum Sestertius, Rome mint, 253 -253 AD
30,14 mm / 21,20 gr
RIC 243; Cohen 1140; Göbl (MIR 36) pl. 84, 30dd; Sear (RCTV III) 10490.


I also really like the portrait on my new coin, which according to Robert Turcan (1963) in his paper on the Guelma Hoard (which included 8 coins of this type) is a departure from that found on Gallienus´ earlier Sestertii. Here is my translation from French:

“It is around August to September 253, in any case before the end of the year, that we must date, I believe, the striking of the oldest specimens of Cohen 1295 which celebrate the VIRTVS AVGG.

Here the folds of the lips are more vigorously marked (than on the preceeding types of SECVRITAS AVGG and VICTORIA AVGG).

The aquiline nose, the vindictive and aggressive expression even in the eyes, the decided chin and, more clearly prominent than on the obverse of the previous emission, the lower lip more strongly defined and almost sensual, give this profile a singular life, the intensity of which is evident.
It already weakened with the subsequent cuirassed bust types”.

Please stay safe where ever you are, vote, and share your thoughts and Sestertii!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I love the portrait on the top coin but the reverse of Victory on the second one wins it for me.
If I had to pick one, I would pick that.
We only have a couple of sestertii in our collection. The oldest being from Antoninus Pius and the newest being from Marcus Aurelius. Not much of a range

This is the first sestertius I bought as well as the first ancient coin I purchased.

Marcus Aurelius
Sestertius
175-176 AD
Obverse: M ANTONINVS AVG GERM SARMATICVS, laureate head right
Reverse: TR P XXX IMP VIII COS III SC, Aequitas standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae

 

I'd keep both. I like both of them equally & I pretty much do the "one per" and have many multiples of the same person. Doesn't bother me.

 

Those are both beautiful coins, @Julius Germanicus. Although if I had to pick one, I'd choose the VIRTVS AVGG with the oblong flan as I personally find it to be more aesthetically pleasing. Regardless, I only own a single well-circulated sestertii of Marcus Aurelius that I acquired from a German dealer last year.



Marcus Aurelius
AE Sestertius
177 – 178 A.D.
Obverse: M AVREL ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXXII, laureate head right.
Reverse: IMP VIIII COS III PP SC, Aequitas standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae.
RIC 1230

 

I prefer the Virtus. That's Virtus herself on the reverse. Note her bare right breast and the shield held at its typical angle.

 

Virtus. Nice orichalcum color as well. The mint at Rome was still striking good bronze pieces for a while during the joint reign. Then everything went to hell in a hand basket.

 

Very nice sestertii , I voted to keep both.

Gallienus AE Sestertius. Rome Mint, joint reign with Valerian I.
RIC 248. Cohen 1295. Sear5 10495.
IMP C P LIC GALLIENVS AVG, laureate, cuirassed bust right /
VIRTVS AVGG S-C, Virtus standing left, holding spear and resting left hand on shield. 27 mm / 12.6 g

 

Here's a good example (not in my collection)! Sort of pre-neckbeard.

 

One of the first coins I bought from The Oxford Coin Shop, back in the seventies, also had a non colored 'river patina' It still is a nice coin which I gladly share here.

Frans

 

I have to vote for the VIRTVS one, for the combination of the oblong flan and the engraving. Both resonantly evoke earlier 3rd-c. sestertii, circa Severans to Maximinus Thrax. ...For the historico-numismatic context, @ancient coin hunter kind of nailed it.
...Granted, from here, there's a pronounced 'Gee Whiz' factor seeing any sestertius as late as this.

 

I think your “Tiber patina” sestertius is really nice, Julius. I do appreciate the facial expression of Gallienus, though I imagined rather a serenity feeling when looking at his eyes and forehead. Thank you for sharing, and for Robert Turcan’s poetic approach.

I sadly have no Gallienus’ sestertius to share...

I’m afraid Archeocultura that your Nero sestertius is a bit too similar to these ones :
https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb439289546
this coin again on Gallica :
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b10455128t

and here another one; just ask :
Mot recherché : Cavino
Oeuvres avec images : select “oui”
http://medaillesetantiques.bnf.fr/ws/catalogue/app/collection
the right one is Pad.087

France, BnF, Pad.087 23,60g 34mm

Frans, your Antoninous’ sestertii collection is very impressive. Thanks to you for all of us, and I have now samples of RIC 523c, 581, and 779, but I miss the weights. If you’ve picked up the measurements, may you tell me them ?

 

"Frans, your Antoninous’ sestertii collection is very impressive. Thanks to you for all of us, and I have now samples of RIC 523c, 581, and 779, but I miss the weights."

Dear Aestimare, I now have over 1400 coins issued by Pius and I was quite in arrears noting weights and die-allignments.
Of the 523c I have two specimens weighing
29,75 gram and
25,05 gram
The 581 I showed weighs 24 grams and I have four more of which two weigh 22 and 28 grams
The 779 weighs 24.5 and I have three more which I haven't weighed yet.

The Nero is indeed a big disappointment, since it has been for years a prized possession. I bought it on the first of Februari in 1978 while on holiday in England. Thanks for showing me the path of truth!

Frans

 

Dear Frans, first, thank you very much for the weights. I’m passionate too about coins, and I can see the weight in your mind when you clearly express the context of your purchase, when we know how rare and significant are dated Nero sestertii, and how the years of pleasure to own this emblematic item were relating (I'm not sure to be clear). I apologize. What I regret, is that knowledge is scattered. On Google, we can look for Nero’s Cavino samples, but “unfortunately”, the results miss many of them. The Pad.087 of medaillesetantiques.bnf.fr is additionally misdescribed… the discriminatory XIII doesn’t appear.
I dream of a single site, where all the coins would be regrouped in an elementary classification, and we would just have to click on a button to see Curtis Clay’s classification, or of any other international numismatist by specialty.
I’m rambling.

Here’s my rare Antoninus sestertius.

 

Thank you very much for the info! I took the description from Banti who seems to be a little dated and and obviously didn´t have your eyesight (I don´t even know if he is dead or alive), because the wardrobe malfunction is pretty obvious

 

I've posted this interesting article in the past about the personification of Virtus being female, with a number of examples: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/reverse_virtus.html. And I've posted my own obviously female example of Virtus on this Hadrian dupondius before:



Also, here's a page from a 2014 article I just came across by Lillian Joyce entitled "Roma and the Virtuous Breast," in the publication "Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome," discussing the similarities between the Amazonian "one bare breast" artistic portrayals of both Roma and Virtus: