Posted 01/06/2011 08:04 am
Oh dear, another example of ICG mis-identifying a coin. I'm afraid it's not actually Commodus (which explains partly why I couldn't find a matching reverse for that emperor). It's for his father, Marcus Aurelius, and quite a bit older. It dates from before he became emperor, several decades earlier than that which is attributed on the slab.
The confusion is explainable enough, I suppose. Some coins of Commodus have the obverse inscription M COMMODVS ANTON AVG PIVS, which see seems to be a fairly good fit for what you can read on the obverse. But look at the end of the inscription on the coin; that's not PIVS, that's PII F, and that's a legend that belongs on the coinage of Marcus Aurelius; in full, it would read AVRELIVS CAES ANTON AVG PII F.
So, on to the specifics of what your coin actually is. Reverse type Virtus, the (female) personification of military valour and honourable public conduct, holding a spear and a parazonium, a kind of ceremonial dagger-like weapon that was a badge of rank. The reverse legend would read TRP XI COS II, a date which would convert to 156/7 AD. Listed in Sear as number 4793, which gives an RIC reference of [Pius]473 - apparently these coins are listed in the Antoninus Pius section of RIC because he was the actual emperor at the time this coin was issued. Example on Wildwinds.
As for value, the price quoted in Sear for this and other pre-emperorship denarii of Marcus Aurelius is $50 in VF (this volume of Sear came out in 2002). Given the low grade and the off-centring on both sides (which clouds the attribution and was partly to blame for the mis-identification) I'd be reluctant to put it above $30. The above example on Wildwinds sold for $27 in 2001.
Someone who wanted to collect an example of an "error slab" might pay more, but unfortunately errors aren't too hard to find in the ICG-slabbed Ancients series.
The confusion is explainable enough, I suppose. Some coins of Commodus have the obverse inscription M COMMODVS ANTON AVG PIVS, which see seems to be a fairly good fit for what you can read on the obverse. But look at the end of the inscription on the coin; that's not PIVS, that's PII F, and that's a legend that belongs on the coinage of Marcus Aurelius; in full, it would read AVRELIVS CAES ANTON AVG PII F.
So, on to the specifics of what your coin actually is. Reverse type Virtus, the (female) personification of military valour and honourable public conduct, holding a spear and a parazonium, a kind of ceremonial dagger-like weapon that was a badge of rank. The reverse legend would read TRP XI COS II, a date which would convert to 156/7 AD. Listed in Sear as number 4793, which gives an RIC reference of [Pius]473 - apparently these coins are listed in the Antoninus Pius section of RIC because he was the actual emperor at the time this coin was issued. Example on Wildwinds.
As for value, the price quoted in Sear for this and other pre-emperorship denarii of Marcus Aurelius is $50 in VF (this volume of Sear came out in 2002). Given the low grade and the off-centring on both sides (which clouds the attribution and was partly to blame for the mis-identification) I'd be reluctant to put it above $30. The above example on Wildwinds sold for $27 in 2001.
Someone who wanted to collect an example of an "error slab" might pay more, but unfortunately errors aren't too hard to find in the ICG-slabbed Ancients series.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
