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 Replies: 9 / Views: 2,695 |
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New Member
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
I have got an interesting denarius of Hadrian. It appears to be a variant of RIC II 268 with bust facing left rather than the usual right. I found very few left-facing examples of this type on acsearch and elsewhere, of which two are bare-headed but also cuirassed. I failed to find an exact match for the bust type. Has anyone here seen this variant before?  |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Interesting variant. Left facing busts of Hadrian are quite scarce, but not rare.
I found five examples of a left facing bust of Hadrian on Vcoins - a dupondius of Rome Mint, and four examples of Roman Colonial- Alexandria Mint.
Not happy with what I see with those radial edge cracks. There appears to be no evidence of tensile metal distress within the cracks - the cracks appears to be partly filled in - a characteristic of casting.
Edited by sel_69l
09/09/2019 9:22 pm
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
 to the community Interesting coin, was this a ground find? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1554 Posts |
The COS III PP series includes ten obverse bust types (a-j), including four left-facing varieties (g,h,i,j). Five busts, none left-facing, are attested in RIC for #268. While unattested, such a find is perhaps not surprising. The snippet from RIC below will give some idea of the many varieties. That being said, I share sel_69l's concerns. Hybrids are not uncommon among contemporary counterfeits.  Edited by Kushanshah
09/09/2019 11:15 pm
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New Member
 United Kingdom
3 Posts |
Thank you very much for your replies. echizento - thank you and yes, the denarius was recently found in the UK. sel_69l, Kushanshah - the coin is definitely genuine, the cracks were just filled with soil. I am attaching two close ups of the edge after a quick cleaning with a soft brush in distilled water.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3442 Posts |
Marvelous pics
While I generally stay clear of silver coin I do like the looks of this one
I would not clean it further
But that is merely my preference
I dislike shiny ancients
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New Member
United Kingdom
3 Posts |
Thank you.
I couldn't agree more regarding cleaning. It will be left as it is.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Much happier with what I see in the edge pictures.
They carry more 'weight' than the original pictures.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1554 Posts |
I had no doubt that the coin is ancient. My question was whether it is official. Most counterfeit denarii in Roman Britain were either fourrée or cast. Neither is apparent in the photos of the edge.
The original RIC II is nearly 100 years old. Many new varieties have appeared since. A revised RIC II, part 1, through AD 96, was published in 2007.
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Moderator
United States
188770 Posts |
to the Community! |
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Replies: 9 / Views: 2,695 |
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Posted 09/09/2019 10:33 pm
