Roman coin ID

Hi Guys, Could someone please help with ID of coin please. I am sure its a Marcus Aurelius but is it an ass or dupondius. Who is that on the back??? Felicitas??? He has a Radiate crown I can read on Obverse the letters MANTONIN-- AVGTRPXXVII. Reverse reads R or an F ELIC------VICOSIII S-C in fields. Diameter is 25.41mm and the Weight is 9.21g.

 

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I believe that is Marcus Aurelius and Mercury on the reverse. I can find a Denarius similar, but not a base metal coin. I'm still looking. But in the mean time take a look on wildwinds at: http://wildwinds.com/coins/ric/marcus_aurelius/RIC_0304.jpg or at wildwinds Marcus Aurelius page: http://wildwinds.com/coins/ric/marcus_aurelius/t.html; RIC 0304

 

Yes, a dupondius of Marcus Aurelius with Mercury on the reverse. Should be RIC III 1043, as here: http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=46262

 

Thanks Ard-man. I was getting frustrated looking for it.

 

This is why I don't use Wildwinds often

 

I have never used CNG as a reference. Is there a special location on their site?

 

Records of all auctions back to the early 2000's are available here: http://www.cngcoins.com/Coins_sold.aspx

I usually search in CoinArchives (the full version) and find a similar record in the CNG archives to post here.

NB - be sure to select Coin Shop, Electronic Auctions, and Printed auctions. DO NOT enter an inventory number unless the coin you are seeking was sold via the Coin Shop (inventory numbers on auction tickets are for internal tracking only).

 

Thanks Ard-man. I just tried using it to find this coin. It was relatively easy and painless. Another resource for me and I really appreciate it.hya:

 

I would have guessed a dupondius from the color. To me, (and maybe I am just crazy), but brass has a somewhat different sheen to the patina than copper does.

 

The radiate crown was the giveaway.

 

Duh, lol. I didn't even look. I just noticed the color. You can tell I don't collect Romans.

 

Yah, I love using the CNG "Research" feature ........................ plus, it is very cool if you have ever "won" one of their coins, or if you ever wanted to unload/sell a coin, because you can always go look-up the CNG auction number (basically, they keep all of my info and photos for ya!!) ... it's very nice!! (ummm, but I guess ya should get something for that extra 12.5% auction-tax, eh? ... but it is still pretty cool and useful!!)

 

coin id

Thanks guys for your help, usually I go on wildwinds for reference but it has its limits. Thanks again Best Regards Mick

 

This is a great type that should sell for a premium IMHO but the CNG listing at $47 is really sad IMHO. The coin was issued shortly after the "Miracle of the Rain" in which Mercury saved the Roman army. Information on this is harder to find because there is an old movie 'Miracle in the Rain' which comes up when you search without quotes. The type is very ordinary compared to the representation on a column of Marcus erected for the purpose but the coin is still a rare example of a type easily linked to history. The denarii are more common.
http://www.livius.org/le-lh/legio/rain.html
http://books.google.com/books?id=3Lbx1TPIAbQC&pg=PA1&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false



There are a few dupondii without radiate crowns (mostly first century and most common for Vespasian) and Trajan has some provincial asses with radiate crowns (but the coins are smaller than copper asses and larger than the semisses of the same issue). Otherwise, the sight of a radiate crown should make you think 'double' denomination. The ones that get hard are coins of women who don't wear radiate crowns at all or crescents as often as we would like. When new, dupondii should be yellow and asses should be red until the metals merged in the third century making a few coins that really are hard to tell.