"Someone Standing There" on the Reverse? It's the Emperor!

Or this...

 

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Here is a Valerian on the reverse with this kid.



Valerian antoninianus , AD 257
O: Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, IMP VALERIANVS AVG, R: Valerian and Gallienus standing facing one another, each holding shield set on ground; two spears between in background, P M TR P V COS IIII P P RIC V, 277. Antioch mint. 5th emission. 21 mm, 3.2 g

 

Maybe I'm interpreting too much into it, but I guess I see a laurel wreath. That and the attributes (victory and spear) would make it possible to identify the figure on the reverse as an emperor, wouldn't it?

The same applies to my "Gallienus" reverse struck for Salonina. The laurel wreath implies that we see Gallienus, but there is no neckbeard to confirm this identification:

Salonina, Roman Empire, BI antoninian, 255–256 AD, Asian mint (Samosata or Antioch?). Obv: SALONINA AVG; bust of Salonina, diademed, draped, on crescent, r. Rev: ROMAE AETERNAE; emperor, togate, laureate, standing r., receiving Victory from Roma, seated l., holding spear in l. hand. 21mm, 3.83g. Ref: RIC V Salonina 67.

It wasn't such a prestigious pedigree but just a collection of about 90 ancient coins from an estate that was dipersed at once via ebay Germany. The majority of these consisted of above-average denarii, but there also was a small group of carefully chosen Greek silver. Most of them came with carefully handwritten old collector's tickets, and a bit of sleuthing also produced old auction provenances for most of the more expensive items. I bought five coins from this collection: the two above, two "snacks," and one Roman Republican denarius that might eventually get its own write-up. If my bugdet had been bigger, I would (and probably should) have bid much higher on some others. The previous owner obviously had good numismatic taste, and I hope that most of his coins ended up in hands who appreciate them.

That's a good point. I wonder whether there are any reverse die links between, for example, the "Pontifex" of the "Princeps iuventutis" issues of Geta and Caracalla? If that was the case, it would imply that these depict a generic young emperor who can be identified with whoever is shown on the obverse.

Most certainly! There can be little doubt about the identity of this figure:


Septimius Severus, Roman Empire, AR denarius, 200–201 AD, Rome mint. Obv: SEVERVS AVG PART MAX; head of Septimius Severus, laureate, r. Rev: RESTITVTOR VRBIS; Septimius Severus, in military attire, standing l., sacrificing out of patera in r. hand over tripod and holding spear in l. hand. 20mm, 3.24g. Ref: RIC IV Septimius Severus 167A.

The same applies, for example, to many of the bearded Antonine emperors whose coins have been shown in this thread, to empresses with special hairstyles (Plautilla), an to emperors with strange priestly garbs (Elagabalus). Even @DonnaML 's Diocletian above appears a little too bearded to be just a generic imperial figure.

Thanks to his beard, Postumus is such a case, too:

Postumus, Gallic Roman Empire, AR antoninian, 266–267 AD, Trier mint. Obv: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; bust of Postumus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, Rev: SAECVLI FELICITAS; Postumus, draped, cuirassed, standing r., holding spear in r. hand and globe in l. hand. 21mm, 4.31g. Ref: Mairat 365; RIC V Postumus 83/325.

 

Ditto on this example too .

 

Marcus Aurelius

Septimius Severus

Elagabal

Alexander Severus

 

An eminently common reverse type is (insert emperor here) sacrificing over a tripod.
Here's my horrid example

 

Silver Coin (AR Antoninianus) minted at Rome for HOSTILIAN, as Caesar, during the reign of TRAJAN DECIUS, in 251 A.D. Obv. C.VALENS.HOSTI.MES.QVINTVS.N.C.: Rad. and dr. bust r. Rev. PRINCIPI.IVVENTVTIS.: HOSTILIAN in military dress, stg. l., holding standard and reversed spear. RCS #2759. RSCIV #34. RICIV #182. DVM #13/2.

 

Personally, I think she looks more like Elsa Lanchester:

 

Numerian
Obv:– IMP C NVMERIANVS AVG, Radiate, cuirassed bust right
Rev:– PACATO-R ORBIS, Emperor advancing right, holding shield and sword, captive, cowering beneath
Minted in Lugdunum (C in exe) Emission 9 Officina 3. Summer A.D. 284
Reference:– Cohen 41 (30 F). Bastien 618 (2 examples).

One of a handful of known examples

 

This may be a bit of a stretch, but this has always looked like the emperor as Victory to me. This is one of 1,049 coins found between December 2004 and January 2007 in the Dereham (Norfolk) Hoard discovered by metal detectorists Pat & Sally Buckley in a field outside the town of Dereham. It was the largest largest hoard of its kind ever found in Norfolk. Although the largest number of coins in this hoard were from Severus Alexander, there were coins from Mark Antony to Gordian III.

Severus Alexander, AR Denarius, Uncertain Eastern mint, AD 222
Obv: IMP SEV ALEXAND AVG, laureate and draped bust to right
Rev: VICTORIA AVG, Victory, winged, draped, advancing right, holding wreath in right hand and palm in left hand
Ref: RIC IV 302

Even if it is just a coin of "someone standing there"- I like the question of : why is this coin of Antioch buried in a field in Dereham, UK?