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Message:: [QUOTE="Orielensis, post: 7468396, member: 96898"]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:[ATTACH=full]1293433[/ATTACH] 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: [ATTACH=full]1293446[/ATTACH] 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 [USER=110350]@DonnaML[/USER] '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:[ATTACH=full]1293450[/ATTACH] 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.[/QUOTE]

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