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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Roman Collector, post: 24778104, member: 75937&quot;]Wow!! Thank you, [USER=149688]@captnCoin[/USER] , for posting that coin on this thread!! It is a very interesting development indeed!</p><p><br /></p><p>That&#039;s an interesting find and you seem to have come across the 5th known example. At 26 mm and 12.9 g, that is indeed a medium bronze. I have taken your photos and processed them the best I could, given their limitations.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1585302[/ATTACH]</p><p>In answer to your questions, I watch the auction market closely and I have not seen another specimen appear since I posted this thread nearly four years ago.</p><p><br /></p><p>Since I posted, however, I have been able to get a photo of the specimen in the Bibliotheque nationale de France.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1585303[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Specimen in the BnF, Paris (Cohen 187). Photo in Gauthier-Dussart, Roxane, et al. &quot;Entre Rome et Alexandrie: Le Monnayage d&#039;antonin Le Pieux (138-161), Idéologie Du Règne et Adaptations Locales.&quot; <i>l&#039;Université de Montréal</i>, 2017, Plate 92, no. 1531.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have learned the fate of the coin from Münzhandlung Basel (Auction 1), June 28,1934, pl. 29, 1171, shown as a plaster cast in the OP. It ended up in the Yale University Art Gallery. <a href="https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/125332" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/125332" rel="nofollow">Here is the specimen</a>. It has quite a provenance: Evans, Lawrence, von Koblitz, and Dr. Hans Steger, to 1933; Cahn, Frankfurt, Feburary 27, 1933, cat. 80, lot 740; Erzherzog Friedrich; Munzhandlung Basel, Basel, June 27, 1934, cat. 1, lot 1171; Walter Niggeler, to 1967; Bank Leu–Munzen and Medaillen (?), and ultimately to Yale University, 2009.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/FaustinaSrCONSECRATIOSCfuneralpyredupondiusYaleUniversity.jpg.ae408f49d5e9a98d57cd9ff6d5563002.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/FaustinaSrCONSECRATIOSCfuneralpyredupondiusYaleUniversity.jpg.ae408f49d5e9a98d57cd9ff6d5563002.jpg" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://content.invisioncic.com/k321387/monthly_2023_10/FaustinaSrCONSECRATIOSCfuneralpyredupondiusYaleUniversity.jpg.ae408f49d5e9a98d57cd9ff6d5563002.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p>I still have not been able to find a photo of the one in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, which was also cited by Strack.</p><p><br /></p><p>And here&#039;s mine again for comparison.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1585305[/ATTACH]</p><p>Of course, none of them have been sent to third party grading services. Three are in museums (BnF, Naples, Yale) and one is in my collection. Museums don&#039;t slab the coins in their collections. With ancients, third party grading services will not grade an obvious fake, of course, but they do not guaranty authenticity. They only offer a grade. I don&#039;t need that service, either. I would grade mine as &quot;Not as nice as the Yale specimen; A bit more worn than but with nicer surfaces and more eye-appeal than the Paris (BnF) specimen.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>All of the known examples of which there are photographs -- including yours -- were struck with the same reverse die.</p><p><br /></p><p>I believe that mine and the Yale specimen are also obverse die matches. The BnF coin and your specimen are not of a sufficient state of preservation to say whether they match the dies of the other specimens.</p><p><br /></p><p>The fact that the coin is quite rare and all known examples of the handful that are left were struck with the same reverse die indicates a small production run of these coins, perhaps using only a single die-pair. The alternative explanation, that all four coins came from the same hoard, is extremely unlikely, given the differences in wear and patination.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you are interested in reading more about the dating, purpose, and iconography of the issue, see <a href="https://www.numisforums.com/topic/460-faustina-friday-%E2%80%93-the-ustrinum-of-faustina-the-elder/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.numisforums.com/topic/460-faustina-friday-%E2%80%93-the-ustrinum-of-faustina-the-elder/" rel="nofollow">my article at NVMIS FORVMS</a>, which you are welcome to join.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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