Marcus

@Marsyas Mike: I think this is RIC 875 (HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS only, no P P). The bust type C2 is missing by mistake in the list Heads on p. 134. Here the BM specimen: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_R-9437

It's from 1986, second unchanged edition 1989.

The bust types for each reverse type have to be looked up in the concordance table at the end. There all known types to Szaivert are listed, and he only knew the BM specimen with laureate head right (p. 263 - sorry can't take pictures at the moment).

Thank you @Marsyas Mike for giving me the opportunity to use my library 🙂. Caracalla has the most voluminous and varied coinage for Trajanopolis, and this is an interesting specimen, as this precise combination of obverse legend, bust type and reverse type is known neither to Varbanov nor to Schönert-Geiss (so please submit to RPC). Varbanov (with the specimens as he cites them) 2764: ΑΝΤΟΝΕΙΝΟC ΠΙΟC ΑΥΓΟ - laur. hd. r. (Moushmov 5026, S-G 98) 2765: ΑΝΤΟΝΕΙΝΟC ΠΙΟC ΑΥΓΟ - rad., dr. and cuir. bust r. (Private coll.) 2766: ΑΝΤΟΝΕΙΝΟC ΠΙΟC ΑΥΓΟΥ - laur. hd. r. (S-G 93) 2767: ΑΥΤ Κ Μ ΑΥΡ CΕ ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΝΟC - laur., dr. and cuir. bust r. (BM 179,20) He is a bit imprecise in his attributions: 2764: Moushmov 5026 is actually S-G 115 and has the ΑΥΓΟΥ variant (i.e. Varbanov 2766). S-G 98 has specimens in Berlin and Bukarest, S-G 103 also belongs here 2765 is unusual (and probably a mistake) as there are no radiate obverse dies for this small denomination, but 31 (!) with laureate head/bust. 2766 is also S-G 111-115 in addition to S-G 93 2767 is S-G 104 https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1840-0921-312 Yours is: ΑΥΤ Κ Μ ΑΥΡ C(Ε(Υ)) ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΝΟC, laur. hd. r. which fits to V54, V55, V57, V59-V65, V67 in S-G, none of them really match apart from V65 (Paris) which looks similar, maybe it's also a new die. The reverse type has the dies R89, R91, R98-R102. I am pretty sure it’s R100 (SNG Aarhus 494 cited in S-G, which I don’t have to compare).

That's a nice find indeed. Yours is also a different die combination (V10 / R-) from the numbers 16 (V9 / R14) and 17 (V9 / R15) in Schönert-Geiss: Die Münzprägung von Augusta Traiana und Traianopolis. V10 is e.g. also the obverse die for https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coin/171914.

Woytek is listing this variant separately in his MIR volume on Trajan (so I suppose he will also do so in RIC). He knows one specimen with your bust type v (an obverse die match to yours, but the specimen is neither yours nor the Heritage one, so there are three in total up to now):

Oh, sorry - I need another cup of coffee ...

If I may intrude: isn't this RIC 1106?

Maybe more details regarding the "steps" question can be found in E. Christiansens: The Roman Coins of Alexandria (1987), which RPC seems to have relied upon. The only hint in RPC is the following bit: "With the addition of the aegis to the radiate portrait later in that year (say, early 65), however, the 'steps' hairstyle was dropped and the previous hairstyle, with the hair combed forward over the forehead, was resumed". I suspect steps is supposed to describe the fact that the hairline over the forehead consists of two almost linear parts slightly angled to each other, whereas in the regular portrait the hairline is curved.

I am looking for a picture of no. 448 in the above catalogue, a scarce Commodus As (RIC 1535). This catalogue was auctioned off last year at Solidus, but I missed it unfortunately. If someone could help, I'd be very grateful.

Here's my denarius RIC 339a (your first variant) 17mm, 3.34g ... and the corresponding dupondius RIC 1092 (with the struppus you mention) 26mm, 10.99g

https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4.4/2763 This specimen #2 actually: https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coin/112870 Citing Aiello: Private collection, USA; duplicates sold by Alex Malloy XIV (1979) - otherwise unpublished

Thank you very much for this highly interesting post. Especially the following is important and as both Antoninus Pius and Commodus had coins minted with a Juno Sospita reverse. My contribution: Commodus as Co-Augustus (2nd emission Oct - 9 Dec 177) L AVREL COMMODVS AVG GERM SARM laur. hd. r. IVNONI SISPITAE TR II IMP II COS PP / S-C Juno Sospita, adv. r., with shield and javelin, snake in lower field right. RIC 1583 var., Banti 162 var., BMCRE 1669 var. (head instead of draped or draped and cuirassed bust) 31 mm, 26.5 g I think this is the last time that she appeared in Roman coinage.

This is one of my favourite sestertii: Nerva 96-98 IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P COS II P P laur. hd. r. CONGIAR P R / S C Nerva seated on platform, in front of him, attendant seated right, making distribution to citizen, standing left, foot on steps up to platform, holding out hand; in background, center, Minerva standing left, holding owl(?) and spear, on right, Liberalitas standing left, holding abacus. RIC 56, BMCRE 87 22.88 g, 33 mm, 6º ex CNG 126/300 and CNG 103/157 The reverse is not that well preserved, but I like the portrait and the overall appeal - and it is untouched.

Thanks a lot for looking it up! And sorry for being unclear: A151 and A152 are the shortcuts Varbanov uses for citation purposes, and I hoped he just got it wrong by one, as it seemed probable that the coin was purchased in the US. That doesn't seem to be the case unfortunately.

I am looking for this list as I want to find out whether my Septimius Severus from Pella/Macedonia (with Tyche reverse) is in there. It's pictured in Varbanov 3721, but the citation is wrong, and I suspect it's A152 (Cederlind 128) instead of A151 (Blançon, which I checked). I acquired it later from Marc Breitsprecher. Any help is highly appreciated!

Thank you @Sulla80. I happen to have the slightly later ADOPTIO version of this type: Hadrian, year 117, 1st emission Obv IMP CAES TRAIAN HADRIAN OPT AVG GER DAC laureate bust r. with slight drapery Rev PARTHIC DIVI TRAIAN AVG F PM TR P COS P P / ADOPTIO Trajan and Hadrian standing vis-à-vis, clasping hands, holding rolls RIC II.3 10 (R2), Strack 2ε Rare only due to this combination of bust type and the missing O in HADRIAN. I don't know whether there is a deeper meaning behind dative and nominative versions of his name, or whether it's just changes due to the length of the legend and the juxtaposition of the 2 O's.

A nice find as well @Roman Collector. In the meantime I have found the Fitzwilliam coin on their website: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/147472 . It is a double die match to the Elsen one, but not to mine. My obverse die is a match to the Vienna specimen of RIC II.3 55 (CONCORD), pictured there. Mini-rant aside: The search function on the Fitzwilliam website is not user friendly (to put it mildly). You have to go through all Hadrian denarii in order to find a specific coin. If the museum goes through the pain of cataloguing all its coins anyway, why not include inscriptions etc.? If you want to search by RIC numbers you have to know that the format is e.g. "RIC: 2.340.11c", and you have to search for "2.340.11c" exactly in order to find the coin.

One of my favourite pastimes: going through auctions where all coins are unattributed and looking for interesting rarities, like this one, which I was able to win: Hadrian, year 117, 2nd emission Obv IMP CAES TRAIAN HADRIANO AVG DIVI TRA laureate draped and cuirassed bust r. Rev PARTH F DIVI NER NEP P M TR P COS / IVSTITIA Justitia seated l. on throne, holding sceptre and patera RIC II.3 62 (R3), Strack 15 var The type itself is only scarce, but that bust type (D1 in RIC II.3, γ1 in Strack) is very rare for denarii in this 2nd emission of the year 117 (R2 in RIC II.3 for the four other denarius types, nos. 55, 59, 66, and 69). RIC II.3 cites one specimen only in the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge (therefore classified as R3), but there is a third - besides this one - (being misdescribed as RIC 6 instead of RIC 11 var.): https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=270680 , so this variant is also „only“ R2 like the others.

Here a recent new acquisition (with quite a number of bidders...): Commodus as Co-Augustus October - 9 December 177 Obv: L AVREL COMMODVS AVG GERM SARM laureate draped bust r. Rev: TR P II IMP II COS P P Salus seated l. holding branch, snake before her 18mm, 3.27g RIC 647, BMCRE 762, MIR 409-14/33, RSC 751, (4 in Reka Devnia) This is part of a small emission between his second triumph and the third tribunician power, being also the last one with GERM SARM titles. This obverse legend (without IMP) is exclusive to this emission. (The previous much more common emission, the first as Co-Augustus, lasted through spring and the whole summer of 177: IMP L AVREL COMMODVS AVG GERM SARM - TR P II COS P P) This is the 7th specimen known to me: 1. BM (is it https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces263325.html ? - not pictured on the BM website) 2. wildwinds: https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/ric/commodus/RIC_0647[aurelius].jpg 
3. -6. Reka Devnia (Sofia) The two pictured ones share the same obverse die with mine. There are also two specimens of that type with laureate head r. (Oxford, and a private collection). The coins from this emission are scarce to extremely rare - like the Castor denarius (RIC-, RSC-, Cohen 753 (Vaillant and Mionnet)) which is still to emerge from an obscure collection somewhere - if it exists at all -, or the two aurei with only one (Juno Sospita) or two (Castor) specimens known. The parallel equally smallish emission from Marcus Aurelius is TR P XXXI IMP VIIII (9) which shares with Commodus: - the Vota Publica sestertius (RIC 1226 and RIC 1584), the type probably linked to a planned joint military campaign in 178, with coins for both also in the next emission (TR P III / TR P XXXII) - as well as the Jupiter denarius (RIC 381 and RSC 751c, RIC - ). Please post any coins you have from that period!

I see I was misleading in the other post, sorry: There are only two specimens in Strack - one in Sofia, and one in the Trau coll. The RD and the Sofia will therefore be the same. I corrected the post there.

As far as I know Woytek is not working on a Hadrian MIR at the moment. He has published Trajan and is working on Nerva. Yours is RIC II.3 2509 (which you probably know, and where it is called a hybrid with the emperor's reverse) and cites specimens in the BM (pictured, ex L. A. Lawrence, https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1950-1006-423) and the ANS (found in 1956 in Jordan, https://numismatics.org/search/results?q=1956.127.310). It is also referencing Strack 372 who didn't know these two as they were acquired only in the 50s, but two others: one in Sofia (pictured, attached below) and one in the Trau collection (no. 1388 in the 1935 auction, not pictured in the auction catalogue, only "s.g.e." (="very good") and sold for 5 austrian shillings). Cohen 51 (= BMCRE 910 *) is citing "M. Hoffmann".

This one is interesting due to the attractive obverse, depicting a very young Commodus on an early provincial from Thessalonica. It dates around late 176-179, after Commodus was made Imperator in November 176 (whence the ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑ...). The face looks still so childlike that I would date it rather early in that period, even if there may be a time lag in portraiture in the provinces. ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑ ΛΟΥ ΑΥΡΗ ΚΟΜΟΔΟΝ bare, draped bust to right ΘƐϹϹΑΛΟΝΙΚƐΩΝ Nike advancing l. holding wreath and palm-branch; to l., crescent Touratsoglou - (V10, R-), Varbanov 4326 (this coin), RPC IV.1 17196 (temp) (this coin) (https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/17196) The type with Nike advancing right is the more common one. From this obverse die (V10) RPC and Touratsoglou only know one other specimen in Paris, not that well preserved (https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coin/172548).

It seems that the coins are offline again, so it might have been a glitch before RPC X goes online officially. I also couldn't send feedback to a coin while they were online due to an error message.

As there is a lot going on for RIC II at the moment I was wondering whether there is someone (or a group of people) working on RIC III now or in the near future? I (like probably many of you) have quite a number of coins "not in RIC III" and am still looking for the ideal way to make these usefully available.