Marsyas Mike

It can be confusing. This over-cleaned follis came my way from an eBay lot - at first I thought it was Tiberius II because the legend has TIBERI.. but it was not: Maurice Tiberius Æ Follis Year 1 (582-583 A.D.) Constantinople Mint o N TIbЄRI mAVRC P P AVG, crowned, cuirassed bust facing, holding globus cruciger and shield / Large M, A|N|N|O left, I right, cross above, A below, CON in exergue. SB 492; MIB 65; DOC 20a. (12.33 grams / 28 x 25 mm) eBay July 2023 Lot @ $2.17

By Jove, there're a lot of nice coins in this thread. Some of my most recent Jupiters are these: Roman Republic - for some reason, affordable RR denarii have been coming my way, most of them even worse than this one: Roman Republic Denarius Q. Curtius and M. Silanus (116-115 B.C.) Rome Mint Q · CVRT, head of Roma right, X behind head / M · SIL͡A | R[O]M[A], Jupiter in quadriga right holding sceptre and hurling thunderbolt. Curtia 2 and Junia 9; Crawford 285/2; Syd. 537a. (3.53 grams / 19 x 18 mm) eBay August 2023 A Marcus Aurelius sestertius - one of those low-grade, unidentified cheapies on eBay that I often succumb too: Marcus Aurelius Æ Sestertius (173-174 A.D.) Rome Mint [M ANT]ONINVS AVG TR P X[XVIII], laureate head right / [IMP VI COS III, SC in ex.], Jupiter seated left on throne, holding Victory and sceptre RIC III 1096; Cohen RSC 250; BMCRE 1470. (22.17 grams / 28 x 25 mm) eBay July 2023 $13.50 This is my first dupondius of Severus Alexander - not an easy denomination for him. My photos wash it out - in hand it is quite handsome despite the wear; I found some great die-matches to boot: Severus Alex. Æ Dupondius (c. 231-235 A.D.) Rome Mint IMP ALEXANDER PIVS AVG, radiate bust right, slight drapery on far shoulder / IOVI PROPVGNATORI, S-C, Jupiter leaning left, looking right, hurling thunderbolt. RIC IV 629; BMCRE 795-796; Cohen RSC 81 (see notes). (9.25 grams / 23 mm) eBay June 2023 $12.50 Die-Match Obv. & Rev.: British Museum Museum number R.16432 BMCRE 795, p.194) Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 117; Lot 263; 29.06.2005 Die-Match Obverse: Bertolami Fine Arts E-Auction 73; Lot 1167; 14.09.2019 (as RIC IV 632) Bertolami Fine Arts (same) E-Auction 83; Lot 1206; 06.06.2020 (as RIC IV 632) Note: Bertolami says these are RIC IV 632, with Jupiter holding an eagle, which is not the case. Should be RIC IV 629 with slight drapery, no eagle. Here's another Roman Republic denarius Jupiter and Juno: Roman Republic Denarius L. Procilius (80 B.C.) Rome Mint S·C, laureate head of Jupiter right / L· PROCILI | F, Juno Sospita advancing right, brandishing shield and hurling spear, serpent before. Procilia 1; Crawford 379/1. (3.82 grams / 19 x 17 mm) eBay May 2023 Die-Match Obv. & Rev.: Bertolami Fine Arts Auction 19; Lot 365; 11.11.2015 Die-Match Obverse: Bibliothèque nationale de France Identifier REP-17577 (CRRO example)

Great post as always, @Roman Collector. Unfortunately, I don't have any of the OP types, but I do have two sestertii of the seated Salus types, both diademned, RIC 1668:

My Antonine AE's are pretty smooth, mostly. And here's my favorite - from an eBay auction. I was going to bid on it because it is so ridiculous, but the bids kept going up up up. Are those pearls or does the Empress have a snake coiled all over her head? Somebody went a little overboard with the burin: This one is about as nice as mine get - I'm not entirely sure it didn't get a bit of tooling along the way. It was affordable thanks to the reverse damage:

Great coins in this thread. A while back, a bunch of Characene tets from the later AE issues started showing up on eBay - their origin seems to have been a bunch of CNG (I think?) auctions. The prices were pretty low for some of these, but in the past year they seem to be going up in price again and are scarcer. I was particularly interested in them because of the countermarks. I highly recommend the Ed Dobbins article linked below. I posted one on CT a while back: Here are all three I have now - note the two on the left have an additional countermark of a "tied diadem" which is always found on the head, as if functioning as a laurel wreath of sorts: Countermark Dobbins 6: "Tied diadem" 3 x 5 mm (c. 64-103 A.D.)

That's closer than I thought. Mine is so worn and "dusty" I had a hard time telling for sure.

I think I have a die-match to yours (obverse and reverse?): Germanicus Æ 16 Magistrate Mnaseas Sardes, Lydia (d. 19 A.D., c. 19-41 A.D.) Mnaseas, magistrate. ΓEΡMANIK[OΣ KA]IΣAΡ, bare head left /ΣAΡΔIANΩN MNAΣEAΣ, Athena standing left, holding patera, resting hand on shield; spear behind to right. (3.26 grams / 16 x 15 mm) eBay Aug. 2018 RPC I 2993; BMC 113 corr. Here's a comparison photo: And thank you @Ryro for the informative and amusing post!

Commodus is one of my favorite collecting areas - there are so many unusual types. Unfortunately, the workmanship gets pretty sloppy in his reign, and the coins circulated a long time, apparently. And I'm on a budget. Anyway, from just the past few months: Roma seated sestertius (somewhat scarce) and a dupondius that isn't too horrible (I find dupondii of Commodus to be somewhat hard to get, at least on eBay cheap): Crossed cornucoipae: Liberalitas - a denarius (better than most here!) and a sestertius: Hilaritas sestertius (an upgrade, actually): My favorite - Apollo on a sestertius, getting ready to shred. These seem to be mostly found on small, cramped flans. This one is better than a lot of them I saw on acsearch, etc.:

Nice one, @LONGINUS. Although I don't have any Gordian III silver from Cappadocia, here is my most recent from there, a Gordian III AE with a countermark. This has a kind of odd portrait, even for a Provincial, with a very spikey radiate crown - the only other ones I could find were the three on RPC Online, and they were all die-matches to this one. Gordian III Æ 24 Caesarea, Cappadocia Δ = Year 4 (243 A.D.) ΑΥ Κ Μ ΑΝΤ ΓΟ[ΡΔ]ΙΑΝΟϹ, radiate head right / ΜΗΤΡ[ΟΠ ΚΑΙϹ]Α Β Ν | ƐΝΤΙ | ƐΤ Δ, Mount Argaeus set on inscribed (ƐΝΤΙ) altar RPC VII.2 3350 (10.00 grams / 24 mm) eBay July 2023 Note: All 3 RPC examples are die-matches; all 3 countermarked: Countermark: Radiate head of Helios right, in circular punch, 5 mm., in obverse right field. RPC Countermark 129; Howgego GIC 12i (242 pcs.). "Note: The countermark was most likely applied in 243/244 since there are no countermarked coins from year seven of the reign of Gordian III." FORVM. Here's all three die-matches I found on RPC:

Nice catch, @LONGINUS. Somehow, several Augustus coins have come my way this year. From Antioch with a wreath: Augustus Æ 23 Actian Year ZK (27 = 5/4 B.C) Syria, Seleucis & Pieria Antiochia ad Orontem KAIΣAΡ ΣE[BAΣTΩ] AΡXIEΡEI, laureate head right / AΡXIE | ΡATIKON | ANTIO | XEIΣ | ZK, five line legend in wreath of an archierus. RPC I 4251; McAlee 202 (8.18 grams / 23 x 19 mm) eBay July 2023 Lot @ $2.17 Notes: "This "archieratic coinage," issued for four years from 5/4-2/1 B.C., seems to honor Augustus as the high priest of Antioch" McAlee 202; RPC I 4251; SNG Cop -; BMC Galatia p. 167, 135; Cohen DCA 406. Note and attribution, FORVM From Antioch with a countermark (the BD you see on the reverse has since been treated with distilled water and some pickin' with a pick): Augustus Æ 28 (c. 5/4 B.C. / c. 5/6-11/12 A.D.) Syria, Seleucis & Pieria Antiochia ad Orontem IMP·[AVGVST·T]R·POT laureate head right / Large S · C within circle within laurel wreath of eight leaves. RPC 4247a / RPC 4264? (See notes) (17.00 grams / 26 x 23 mm) eBay June 2023 Countermark: "V, possibly not a letter squarish 6 x 6 mm" Howgego GIC 718i (1 pc.?); RPC Countermark 838. RPC example is on RPC 4264; except for the RPC example and this one, I could find no other V-countermarks for Antioch like this one. An Imperial issue As - this is my nicest Julio-Claudian anything, I think: Augustus Æ As (11-12 A.D.) Rome Mint IMP • CAESAR • DIVI • F • AVGVSTVS • IMP • XX • bare head left / PONTIF • MAXIM • TRIBVN • POT • XXXIIII •, large S • C. RIC II Part 1 (2nd ed.) 471; BMCRE 275-276; Cohen 226. (11.09 grams / 28 x 27 mm) eBay July 2023 Lot @ $10.88 Note: British Museum Curator's comments: "The emperor's titles here replace those of the moneyer and set the pattern for the later Julio-Claudian aes coinage." Note: BMCRE 275 is an obverse near die-match; this is an enormous issue, so I did not search auctions for die-matches. Attribution (host): 3 types of Augustus/SC with 8 laurel leaves; RPC 4247a: inexplicably dated 5/4 B.C. "year 27 (ZK)" RPC 4264: no date "c. AD 5/6- 11/12" with "Obv. as 4247 but later style" RPC 4260: EΛ under bust, which might be present here, but impossible to say for sure. Here's a "provincial portrait" from Spain - my mom's name is Patricia and she found this kind of amusing: Augustus As (Æ 24) (c. 19-2 B.C.) Colonia Patricia (Corduba), Spain PERM CAES AVG, bare head left / COLONIA PATRICIA in two lines in oak wreath. RPC I 129. (9.00 grams / 22 x 24 mm) eBay June 2023 FORVM & etc. References: ACIP Villaronga-Benages 3357; RPC I 129; APRH Ripollès 129; SNG Lorichs 1378; SNG Tübingen 93. RCP Reference: Vives 165–3; Chaves 139–478, 658; GMI 954; NAH 1003. Finally, here's one from Pisidia: Augustus Æ 20 Apollonia Mordiaeum, Pisidia (27 B.C.-14 A.D.) ΣΕΒΑΣ[ΤΟΣ], laureate head r. / ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝΙΑΤΩΝ ΙΟΥΛΙΟΣ ΒΙΤΩΝ | ΕΥΕ[Ρ]ΓΕΤΗΣ |, goddess seated left on throne, holding uncertain object. RPC I 3527; von Aulock, Pisidiens, 62. (5.35 grams / 20 mm) eBay Jan. 2023 Die-Matches: Of the 3 RPC examples, two might be obverse /reverse die-matches: No. 2: G Rohde SKU: 13797 No. 3: Numismatik Naumann Auction 54; Lot 317; 04.06.2017 Also: Yale University Art Gallery Ruth Elizabeth White Fund 2004.6.243 And that's all from this year! I think this doubles my Augustus holdings.

Great example, @expat. I have one of those, but mine is quite worn: Antoninus Pius Denarius (153 A.D.) Rome Mint ANTONINVS AVG PI-VS PP TR P XVI, laureate head right / COS IIII, Annona standing left, holding grain-ears and resting hand on modius. RIC 221; RSC 290. (3.17 grams / 17 mm) eBay Sep. 2013

Very informative post, @Roman Collector - please keep up the good work with these Julia Mamae issues. I have but one poor specimen from the OP: Julia Mamaea Æ Sestertius (228 A.D.) Rome Mint (9th Emission) [I]VLIA MAMAEA AVGVSTA diademed bust right / [FELIC]ITAS AVG, S-C, Felicitas standing left, holding long caduceus and cornucopiae. RIC IV Severus Alexander 670; BMCRE 529-30 (Alexander). (21.82 grams / 29 x 28 mm) eBay May 2018

Great post. There's lots of interesting countermarks from this era as well - this one managed to keep both dates, the host's and the countermark's: Spain Æ 8 Maravedis Philip IV 1623 (countermarked 1641) Madrid Mint Lion rampant left, 1623 / Castle in shield Countermark: • VIII •MD• in 11 mm circle / Crown 1641 • in 11 mm circle. (6.58 grams / 19 mm) eBay Feb. 2020 Lot @ $1.66 Countermark Notes: "Note: On February 11th 1641 King Philip IV ordered countermark(ing) hammered billon 4 maravedis...These were the 8 maravedis of Philip III and IV...to finance Thirty Years' War. The marks are an VIII and the date 1641 or 1642 under a crown on the other side." Numista

Interesting thread - I'd agree with @ambr0zie and others that Provincials are a good area to collect on a budget to get those hard-to-find persons. Here is a new one - Nero from the Phrygian sticks: Nero Æ 22 Tiberius Iulios Proclus, Mag. Prymnessus, Phrygia (c. 63-68 A.D.) Ν[ΕΡΩΝ]Α ΚΑΙΣΑΡΑ ΠΡΥΜΝΗΣΣΕΙΣ, laureate head right / ΕΠΙ ΤΙ ΙΟ[ΥΛΙΟΥ] ΠΡΟΚΛΟΥ, Dikaiosyne standing left holding scales and two ears of corn (7.16 grams / 22 x 20 mm) eBay Aug. 2023 RPC I 3207; Von Aulock, Phrygien II, 1022-1031 Provenance: VCoins: David Connors Ancient Coins & Artifacts SKU: zx4047; $65.00 Die-Match Obv. & Rev.: Leu Numismatik Web Auction 26; Lot 2280; 08.07.2023 Coin Talk member ancientone posted Jul 30, 2017 Here's some Flavian bargains, most were not described in lots: Here's all three of them, Vespasian, Titus and Domitian. The fellas on the reverse are rather hard to see...I didn't say this was a pretty one. Vespasian Æ 24 Ilium, Troas (69-79 A.D.) ΑΥΤΟΚ Κ ϹƐΒ[ΑϹ ΟΥƐϹΠΑϹΙΑΝΟϹ], laureate head right / [ΤΙ]ΤΩ ΚΑΙ[ϹΑΡΙ] ΔΟΜ[ΙΤΙΑΝΩ ΚΑΙ...Ι]ΛΙ, laureate heads of Titus left, Domitian right between, statue of Athena Ilias RPC II 893; BMC 46; Bellinger T127; SNG Cop. 392. (7.75 grams / 24 x 19 mm ) eBay April 2023 $15.00 BO Provenance: Roma Numismatics Ltd E-Sale 59; Lot 622; 11.07.2019 Die-Match Obv. & Rev.: Coin no. 12 of RPC II, 893 American Numismatic Society 1944.100.43936 Die-Match Obverse: Roma Numismatics Ltd E-Sale 108; Lot 719; 13.04.2023 Lot number: 719 This was described as: "69-79 AD Roman Empire AE Dupondius Vespasian Coin" Actually, it is an As/"Large AE" issue from Ephesus / Asia Minor. It is pretty rough, but as far as I can tell, quite scarce: Vespasian Æ Large (As?) (77-78 A.D.) Ephesus / Asia Minor Mint [IMP CAESAR VESPA]SIAN AVGVS[TVS], laureate head right / [PONT MAX TR PO]T P P · COS · VIII [CENS], [S] C in fields, Ceres seated left, holding two corn-ears and torch. RPC II 1472; RIC II 1498/1499. (11.99 grams / 28 x 26 mm) eBay June 2022 Notes: OCRE list RIC 1498 and RIC 1499 with identical descriptions but no examples for either; RPC Online references RIC 1498 only and Kraay 3. RPC has single example with SC in exergue; this one has it in the fields (C is behind Ceres; S not visible). Dots and line over VIII reverse not noted in references but visible here. Another one, a Vespasian of sorts, is this one, Vespasian the Younger (or Vespasian II or Vespasian, Jr.) - a guy I'd never heard of. This one came in an undescribed lot of miscellaneous ancients. Vespasian the Younger was an adopted son of Domitian. He didn't make it very long, and as far as I can tell, this issue from Smyrna is the only issue for him: Vespasian the Younger Æ 16 Smyrna, Ionia (c. 94-95 A.D.) ΟΥƐ[ϹΠΑϹΙ]ΑΝ[ΟϹ] ΝΕΩΤΕΡΟϹ, bare-headed bust right / [ΖΜ]ΥΡΝ[Α]ΙΩΝ, Nike walking right holding wreath and palm branch over shoulder RPC II 1028; BMC 319; Klose, XLII, 1; plate 31, V1/R1. (3.02 grams / 16 mm) eBay June 2022 Lot

You found me a die-match? You are really going above and beyond the call of duty - and I greatly appreciate it! I will incorporate this into my attribution - and thanks for the serpent analysis too - it is an interesting topic for sure. Actually, now that I look at it, I think the Wildwinds example is a die-match to mine as well - with a much clearer nimbus - mine is on top, Wildwinds in the middle, the CNG auction you linked on the bottom - mine takes the ugly prize, alas: Thanks again @seth77

I do appreciate this thoughtful and thorough analysis of the Glycon-Snake issue, @seth77. Since the topic is in play, here's one other from my collection - it is in awful shape, so I'm not sure about the mammalian features, etc...the tail looks normal snake-like. I think it is nimbate, but that might just be random damage. Elagabalus Æ 26 (c. 218-222 A.D.) Moesia Inf. Nicopolis ad Istrum Novius Rufus, consular legate. [AVT...?] ANT[ΩN...?], radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right / [VΠ NOBIOV POVΦOV] NIKOΠOΛITΩN ΠΡOCI [C]TP/O/N, coiled nimbate serpent. AMNG I 1996; Varb. 4063 var. (12.19 grams / 26 mm) eBay May 2020

Nice coin, @seth77. My Pautalia snake is for Septimius Severus - I'd really like it to be Glykon. I was just re-reading Lucian's account of Alexander of Abonoteichos and his hand-puppet god Glykon the other night - a very interesting (and funny) story. Septimius Severus Æ 27 (193-217 A.D.) Thrace, Pautalia AYT K Λ CEΠTI C[EYHΡOC ΠEΡ], laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. / [OY]ΛΠIAC ΠAYTAΛIAC, Coiled serpent with four coils, forked tail, [radiate head?] right. Varbanov 4806; Ruzicka 397 (?). (12.16 grams / 27 mm) eBay Sep. 2020 Lot @ $5.00 Attribution Notes: There are several 4-coil snake types for S. Severus; it is not clear whether this snake is radiate or not, since most seem to be, that is the Ruzicka/Varbanov attribution used (via Wildwinds). Note draped & cuirassed bust; many are just a laureate head.

Thanks for sharing this - I'll put it in my files. After looking it over, I didn't see anything here that seemed a fer sure die-match to mine (the arm on Juno is kind of like Popeye the Sailor Man's on mine). In any case, mine is so awful I think a hamburger patty might be the closest match: Yep, I think this is it. 😁 I still believe the slightly sagging jawline is at least an indicator for MS - Julia Domna just never looked that matronly, at least on the examples I've seen.

Great post and terrific collection of Judaean AEs you have there @LONGINUS From the other side comes a couple of big tetradrachms issued around the time of the Jewish Revolt. Vespasian and Titus: Vespasian/Titus Tetradrachm Syria, Seleucis & Pieria Antiochia ad Orontem Group 2; Year 2 (69-70 A.D.) ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤ ΚΑΙΣΑ ΟΥΕΣΠΑΣΙΑΝΟΥ, laureate head of Vespasian right / (Τ) ΦΛΑΥΙ ΟΥΕΣΠ ΚΑΙΣ ΕΤΟΥΣ ΝΕΟΥ ΙΕΡΟΥ, barred Β (in right field), laureate head of Titus right (14.00 grams / 25 x 24 mm) eBay March 2023 Attribution: RPC II 1941; McAlee 329 (CNG, etc.); McAlee 6 (RPC only?); Prieur 107A Provenance: Littleton Coin Co. "Vespasian/Titus Silver Tetradrachm S# 2375 Very Good/Fine" Notes: "RPC group 2 tetradrachm attributed to Antioch, but style wise very similar to Alexandria. RPC speculates the Alexandria style tetradrachms were either struck in Alexandria and then shipped to Antioch, or less likely Alexandrian mint workers were sent to Antioch and produced the coins there..." David Atherton on Coin Talk (2017) "...the artists...came from the workshop of Alexandria and constituted a military workshop: the style is characteristic of Alexandria and only exists for year 2, at the height of the Jewish War...This variant is characterized by the...absence of the star behind the neck of Titus and the initial T...at the start of reverse legend" CGB.fr Webshop (acsearch) Die-Match Characteristics: RPC 1941 notes: "Die-links 2-4: same obv. die as 1940/1, 9, 15, 20-2" Many obverse die-matches, but I could not find any for the rev. (long neck, with "ripples"). Die-Match Obverse: Coin no. 4 of RPC II, 1941 CNG, Inc.; Triton XXII; Lot 575; 08.01.2019 David Atherton, Coin Talk Agora Numismatics, June 2017." Vespasian and an eagle: Vespasian Tetradrachm Syria, Seleucis & Pieria Antiochia ad Orontem Group 7; Year 1 (69 A.D.) AYTOKΡA[TΩΡ KAICAΡ CЄBACTOC OYЄ]CΠACIAN[OC], laureate head right / [ЄΤΟΥC] ΝЄΟΥ•ΙЄΡΟΥ•Α, eagle standing left on club, wreath in beak, palm branch left. (14.13 grams / 23 x 21 mm) eBay May 2023 Attribution: RPC II 1970; McAlee 355; Wruck 74 and 72; Prieur 132. Attribution: Obv. legend ΑΥΤ... starts to right of bust; so this is: RPC II 1970 (A Yr. 1) RPC II 1971 (B Yr. 2) RPC II 1972 (Γ Yr. 3) A is barely visible ΝƐΟΥ ΙƐΡΟΥ Α, making this RPC II 1970. Die-Match Characteristics: Obv.: Truncation rear notch, etc. Rev.: Legend starts low on wing, Die-Match Obverse: VCoins (also on MA Shops) Denarius Ringsrud SKU: 4714 Error: RPC II 1972. VCoins London Ancient Coins SKU: SK2174 Error: RPC II 1955 And finally, a Jewish issue - I found this in my local dealer's junk box!

A while back I came across a real dog in an eBay lot - it is the Juno reverse type that a lot of dishonest folks like to create out of the same, far more common type issued for Julia Domna. With a lot of squinting I thought it possible that is is a Manlia Scantilla Here's my post I from CT (from a @Roman Collector OP: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/from-franks-last-auction-a-julia-domna-spared-from-tooling.395279/#post-8354897

Yet more reasons to look forward to Fridays - thanks @Roman Collector. My RIC 677 is the scarce "cut herself shaving" variety:

Thank you for your help with this @John Conduitt and @shanxi - at this point I'm going with the British Museum for attribution, since they seem to make the most sense to me (and heck, it's the British Museum). Like John says, I think all of them in OCRE are RIC 2641... Aelius (Caesar) Denarius (137 A.D.) Rome Mint L AELIVS CAESAR, bare head right / TR POT COS II, Pietas standing left, raising right hand and holding drapery in left (not incense box), altar to left. RIC II, 3 Hadrian 2641 (old RIC II, Hadrian 432); BMCRE 972-974; Cohen 53. (2.64 grams / 17 x 16 mm) eBay July 2023 Note: Confusing, error-filled OCRE listing. See NF post July 28, 2023. Some of these have Pietas holding incense box, others, like this one, drapery. Four British Museum citations: RIC II, 3 Hadrian 2641; RIC II, Hadrian 432corr.; BMCRE 972-974 (plus one without BM no.; Strack 393) @ominus1, I'm going to hang on to this one for now - if I got rid of it now it would reduced my Aelius silver collection by %50! 😁

Thank you, John. I had not noticed the Salus listed under deity. And yep, OCRE is a great resource in many ways, but it does have a lot of errors.

This seems like it should be easy, but attributing this coin is really confusing me - here is a denarius of Aelius I picked up on eBay - it has some issues, but the portrait is quite nice, and the price was affordable. It is a fairly common coin (for Aelius): I'll try to break down my confusion: Overview: There are a lot of Pietas types for Aelius Caesar's short reign. The main attributions of this one are: Obv. Bare head right / Rev. Pietas standing right, alter at feet left. TR POT COS II legend. Pietas is either holding an incense box or her garment (more below). Why I'm Confused Part I: OCRE/RIC contradictions, errors. As most of you know, Hadrian was recently updated with all new RIC numbers (Aelius is included in this update). OCRE reflects these new RIC numbers, but here is where the confusion starts. My coin fits the following two descriptions (kind of): *** Subtype RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 2641 Obverse: L AELIVS CAESAR Head of Lucius Aelius Caesar, right Reverse: TR POT COS II Pietas standing left, raising hand and holding incense box; to left, altar CONFUSION NOTE: All four examples of 2641 are from the British Museum, which cross-references old RIC 432 (but OCRE cross-references RIC 2644 to RIC 432 - see below.) So the British Museum and OCRE do not agree... *** RIC II, Part 3 (second edition) Hadrian 2644 Obverse: L AELIVS CAESAR: Head of Lucius Aelius Caesar, right Reverse: TR POT COS II: Pietas standing right, raising hand and holding incense box; to right, altar Reference RIC II Hadrian 432 CONFUSION NOTE: This says "to right, altar" BUT every single specimen of 2644 has altar to left (except one complete error; a seated fig. sestertius used as main photo to boot!) The only altar to the right types are the common type with PIE-TAS in the field on either side of Pietas. This whole section seems to be in error (for sure about the seated AE!). Five acsearch auctions reference the new number, and call them RIC 2644 - and all five have the altar to the left, contradicting the OCRE description: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=aelius+pietas+denarius+2644&category=1-2&lot=&date_from=&date_to=&thesaurus=1&images=1&en=1&de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1&currency=usd&order=0 Does RIC 2644 even really exist? I have not found any Pietas/altar right denarii - OCRE says it, then shows 10 examples that do not match the description! Even if this is a rare variant, why does OCRE cross-reference it to the old RIC 432, which is the common Pietas/altar left? Again, the British Museum, incidentally, cross references their RIC 2641 specimens to old RIC 432, which seems correct to me (see above). Why I'm Confused Part II: What is Pietas holding? All the OCRE/RIC descriptions say Pietas is holding an incense box (see above). Indeed, I would agree with this, for many, but not all examples. Many of them - including mine - do not show a box, just a fold of fabric. Quite a few auctions (acsearch) note this an delete the box, substitute a fold in the garment, etc. None of the auctions I found bother with calling it a "var." Which seems odd - it is a rather big difference. Anyway, these are always attributed as RIC 432 (most auctions being from the past use the old numberings RIC 432 is now RIC 2644, per OCRE). @Roman Collectorpointed this box/no-box issue with a Faustina I sestertius in a recent PM. He sees it as a variant of the same type, and I'd agree with that. So that's a confusing account of my confusion - I've looked at this so long I'm afraid I've talked myself into a morass that does not exist. An actual paper copy of the new RIC for Hadrian would probably clear this up (assuming the errors are all OCRE). Any help greatly appreciated, and feel free to share some Aelius Caesars.

@seth77 I really, really appreciate your help with this. I have updated my attribution accordingly - I do like to get these as accurate as possible and you really helped me improve this one. Thank you!