NEWP : Divus Marcus Aurelius Sestertius

With all the threads featuring big bronzes being resurrected yesterday, I got a kick out of the mailman today delivering a new pickup that I thought would fit right in - a Divus Marcus Aurelius sestertius .

I'm always on the lookout for a nice Aurelius portrait, and have a slight preference for barehead busts, so I was really pleased to win this one (against no competition). The green patina is also very pretty in hand.

This is a pile-on thread, so please feel to share your favorite Marcus Aurelius or Consecratio coins!


DIVUS MARCUS AURELIUS
AE Sestertius. 25.61g, 31.9mm. Rome mint, AD 180, struck under Commodus. RIC 660. O: DIVVS M ANTONINVS PIVS, bare head right. R: CONSECRATIO, Eagle, carrying a thunderbolt in its talons, flying right, bearing aloft Marcus Aurelius, who holds a sceptre; S-C across fields.

 

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Excellent portrait, but that reverse is really something special!

 

It's gorgeous, Z!

I have one Marcus Aurelius posthumous sestertius and it has, uhm, issues

I'm not sure why I bought it. It was early in my collecting (I'm still a relative newbie but this was 3 years ago) and there weren't any other bidders (red flag ). The funky chicken standing on an egg made me laugh. Reason enough? Probably not but now it's mine. Where do you think the rest of the reverse letters went? Scraped away during smoothing/tooling?


Marcus Aurelius
posthumous issue struck under Commodus in CE 180
sestertius; 27 mm, 22.8 gm. Rome
Obv: DIVVS M ANTONINVS PIVS, bare head right
Rev: CONSECRATIO / S-C, eagle with spread wings on globe, facing, head left
Ref: RIC 656 (Commodus)

Another sestertius, once again following Zumbly's lead:


Marcus Aurelius
Sestertius; 31 mm, 24 gm; struck AD 173, Rome mint
Obv: laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right
Rev: Mercury standing left on pedestal, holding caduceus and purse (it looks more like a patera to me); within temple with figural columns (telamones); on semicircular pediment, tortoise (unfortunately missing on this coin), cockerel, ram, caduceus, winged helmet, and purse; S-C across fields; RELIG AVG in exergue
Ref: RIC III 1074; MIR 18, 258-6/37; Banti 260

An Alexandrian depicting a sphinx in the pose of the Great Sphinx of Giza. Was it intended to be that particular sphinx, or just a coincidental pose?


EGYPT, Alexandria. Marcus Aurelius as Caesar
AE obol, 20.5 mm, 6.0 gm. Alexandria.
Year 15 (CE 151/2)
Obv: MAVPHΛICKAICAP; bust right, bare head
Rev: Sphinx crouched right; LIE (date) above in left field
Ref: Emmett 1919.15, R5; Dattari 3221

 

Yes, thanks, I love the reverse too . On the back of an eagle carrying a thunderbolt is really the only way to fly.

I have always loved that chicken-on-an-egg sestertius of yours .

 

That is a truly beautiful bronze, Zumbly. I do not believe I have seen another better of that type. Lovely patina and very nicely detailed.
Congratulations are in order!

Here is my best Marcus Aurelius sestertius. It is a relatively common type and with a weak reverse, but the bust is great and the patina quite nice.

Marcus Aurelius. AD 161-180. Æ Sestertius. Rome mint. Struck October-December AD 179.
Obv: Laureate head right
Rev: Felicitas standing left, holding caduceus and scepter.
RIC III 1239.

 

Thanks, Eduard. That's a very nice sestertius you have... handsome portrait and lovely patina; I'd be very happy with it, too.

 

Some gorgeous coin in this thread!

 

Wonderful sestertius @zumbly!!! That reverse is fantastic!!

I also LOVE the 'chicken and the egg' that @stevex6 posted!!!

I haven't been able to snag any 'Bronze' examples of M Aur yet, just a modest denarius or two.....

 

Troll alert ! Don't read this post if you do not wish to learn something about the coins we collect.

At one time the entire surface of the OP's coin had a patina. Unfortunately, there were raised lumps of corrosion products on several parts of the coin - especially on the reverse. A previous owner has "tooled" them off to bring the surface level. The corrosion at 7 OC went deeper into the coin. That is why there is a depression below the surface with visible tooling. It may be the reason there was no competition to win it although it is a pleasing coin.

If it were mine, I should "doctor" the surface to make it even more attractive; but that is a subject for another thread. Oh, count me out.

PS The coin in Post#5 is a beauty.

 

My rough sestertius is interestig to me because of the very squared flan not at all like the ones used on the others shown here. I would be interested in knowing why there is such a fabric difference in hat I would assume was an issue over a short period of time. Also, the devices on both sides of mine are larger in scale more completely filling the space available.

 

"Smoothed" is the term used by the last two auction houses in their sale descriptions of this coin. We could disagree about the word choice, but I think that's a topic that has been discussed before in other threads. In any case, I don't take exception to what's been done .

 

I've often wondered about these squared flan sestertii and why they have this shape. Are there any good explanations? I haven't looked closely, but my impression is that where there are instances of the same issue having examples of both, we see a lot more that are round than squared.

 

Consecration and tooling makes me post (again and again) my Divus Caracalla sestertius. The tooling was to remove the bronze disease but the coin has been stabile for 20 years now so we hope it stays that way. Intil last year my coin was the only one I had seen of the more scarce four layer pyre variation (five is standard) but I saw a nicer one (more tooling, too) which I almost bought to 'corner the market'. nfortunately the seller was not allowing or the tooling in his price so I decided to live with second rate.

 

Another fabric thing I look for in this period are examples of sestertii struck with the obverse field cupped a bit and the reverse field flat. The opposite is usual and taken to be a sign of thereverse die being the punch while the portrait is on the anvil. I suspect the two coins below could have been made in the opposite way. There are a few coins of the period with two heads which I always wondered if were accidents made possible by the existence of some portrait punch dies. The difference is really a lot easier to see in hand than on photos. Does anyone know of a professional level explanatio of this phenomenon?
Marcus Aurelius


Faustina II

 

How about a denarius?

 

HOT green sestertius! portrait is great...color is great...nice and BIG...WIN for zumbly!

as rough as this unlisted coin provincial is, it's my best marcus aurelius...



i won't even show my best consecratio...

 

Great coin buy zumbly, fantastic portrait.

 

Very interesting coins all around this thread. Than you @dougsmit for bringing up some interesting points. Very cool reverse @zumbly

 

I have a Pius Consecratio issue, under Marcus Aurelius, Sestertius Rome, 24.7gm, RIC 1266.

 

Love the birthday cake!

Thanks for the comments and coin-shares, everyone.