a Pertinax placeholder

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

93. AR Denarius (16mm, 2.06g). Rome mint. Laureate head right / Ops, draped, seated left on throne, holding two grain ears in right hand and left hand on seat of throne. Cf. RIC IV 8a.    my grade: aF/VG. (is this coin from the Alexandria mint?)

After 30 years of collecting I finally have a Pertinax.  I survived the latest FedEx shipping.  If they'd only fix that one, albeit super important, leg of the journey, the delivery, I'd be as pleased as punch with the service. It was super fast (or would have been had I not delayed them intentionally via fiddling around with the vacation delay. There was no way that I wanted it to arrive, dumped at the door, on Halloween night.  Also, it's not that terribly expensive, at least from Savoca, $21. Sure, I'd go with the postal way if they had an option, but they don't.  It was so fast, that's what created the havoc.  I ordered it on Thursday (to try to avoid Halloween, as I thought that they surely wouldn't have it by Monday).  They did.

FedEx pricing seems to vary wildly; it would have been hideously expensive from Dr. Busso Peus (although they're in the same country as Savoca) and it's generally more expensive than DHL Express.  Savoca's $21-22 price is much cheaper than normal.

I think the problem resides more with the primitive Delivery Manager than the drivers themselves.  The only place to put special instructions (and that's ridiculously short, probably 80 characters or so), is in the 'help us find your location' box. The delivery manager only offers generic dropdowns of front door/back door-patio, and a few others.  Well, I guess I could experiment with that and try a different drop-down, although that would be much more effort for the driver than my original, no effort, request.  I now doubt that the driver even sees what passes for 'special instructions.' 

I also tried to do what I did with DHL Express; see if I could deliver to a neighbor, with the location still being me, since that's where teh special instructions part is on DHL Express' version of a delivery manager . FedEx charges extra for the service to choose a date and time, which I'd pay (for a Saturday), but vcoins only offers one flavor of Fedex.

If they'd offer Saturday delivery, that would solve everything.  Except I don't think they do - I don't recall seeing FedEx vehicles on Saturday.  I could just delay via the vacation hold thing and have it come Saturday.  I don't think UPS does Saturday, either.  I could be wrong.  We wouldn't want to deliver on days where people are actually home.  Just drop home delivery on Monday or another weekday and add Saturday; problem solved.

There are the other options, but I'd rather drop a rock on my foot than go back to the FedEx HQ again, and there are no Fedex stores, that I know of, convenient to me.  Dollar General sure isn't an option (sure, I'll trust them  for coins, lol) and Walgreens probably is little better.  I sure hate stopping in Walgreens, but maybe I'll go there and ask about it.

Now, to the coin.  Pertinax is one of those emperors whom I don't want to spend a ton on, so this 250 Euro example (not bad for that price) fit the bill exactly.  There was a c. $200 example (Ancient Imports?) which stayed around on vcoins for a year or so.  I wonder if it could be the same coin, better photographed?  I remember thinking that one looked more like the wild style of Alexandria.

Except for Lucius Verus, Quietus, and perhaps Carus, I think I'm down to missing only the Pacatian-level emperors and the super-expensive fifth century ones, from the central Empire.

Feel free to post your coins of Pertinax.

Question; for international shipments like this, does Fedex offer Saturday home delivery?  Since all the other dealers whom I frequent offer either post office or DHL Express, this quandary really only applies to Savoca.  I've picked their low-hanging fruit, so I guess I'll pivot to other dealers for a while.

I haven't decided what I'm going to order for my next regular buy.

[ominus1]

....well Fedex finally delivered to my house after a 4 year hiatus of leaving packages at "a red house"...some where along that hiway...and Pertinax...i was in that frame of mind when i bought one, before it got to me, i bought another....:P...yours could be Alexandrian.....i thought my 'dark' one was, but it turns out to be from Rome.....which yours could be also

[mc9]

Here is my only Pertinax ,

IMP CAES P HELV PERTIN AVG

head laur. r.

AEQIT AVG TR P COS II

aequitas standing l. holding scales and cornucopiae

A.D. 193 ,  Denarius ,    2.41 gr  ; 17.15 mm

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

Should I put mine down as the Rome or Alexandria mint, respectively?

It seems to be Sear RCV II 6045? (which mentions Alexandria).  I have only volume I of RIC.

[DonnaML]

12 hours ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

Should I put mine down as the Rome or Alexandria mint, respectively?

It seems to be Sear RCV II 6045? (which mentions Alexandria).  I have only volume I of RIC.

It certainly looks like this example of Sear RCV II 6045 at Wildwinds (which also would make it RIC Pertinax 8.1, BMCRE Pertinax 21, and RSC Pertinax 33a). The description given is Obv. IMP CAES P HELV PERTIN AVG Laureate head right / Rev. OPI DIVIN TR P COS II, Ops seated left, holding two corn ears, left hand on top of throne.

According to Sear RCV II at p. 428, this type supposedly resembles some Eastern denarii of Septimius Severus attributed to the Alexandria Mint, which is why it has also been attributed to that mint -- even though it's a denarius, and, therefore, an "Imperial" type, rather than a "Provincial" type like most products of that mint up to Diocletian. If that's what this coin is, then the deity or personification on the reverse is Ops, whom John Melville Jones describes at p. 227 of his A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins as a Latin abstraction meaning "Power, prosperity, aid," and also as the name of the wife of Saturn, sometimes equated with Cybele. "She appears only twice on Roman coins, on issues of Antoninus Pius and Pertinax. . . . The message of these rare coin types seems to suggest that the goddess, working through the emperor, protects and aids Rome."

Edited November 6, 2022 by DonnaML

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

Thanks!  The Alexandria denarii certainly have a distinctive look.

 

[dougsmit]

The coin is certainly Alexandria mint.  The identification of these to that mint began about 30 years ago but a good percentage of professional sellers still can't get with the program and copy ID information from Rome mint listings of the past.  I believe I am correct that the Alexandria mint Pertinax denarii are more common than the Rome mint ones.  When I got mine (1995 and 2005) many good dealers were confused on the matter.  Many now don't care since it makes so little difference in price.  We see two reverses form Alexandria.  Ops is most popular since there are few other coins showing her but Providentia Deorum is a nice coin, too.  Many will show that classic Alexandria eye as on my Providentia coin but not so much on my Ops.  Both here are Alexandria but both types were also made at Rome. .  In Rome, Pertinax was usually more slender but I do not own one to show. 

 

Opinion:  I don't believe the Alexandria Pertinax coins were made while he was alive but possibly when Alexandria was uncertain who to support in the Septimius vs. Pescennius matter.  Serious numismatists don't believe this but I am just an old fool who looks at coins. 

[Julius Germanicus]

Here is my Sestertius of the man:

IMP CAES P HELV PERTINAX AVG - laureate Head of Pertinax right PROVIDENTIAE DEORUM COS II S C - Providentia standing left, holding up right hand to large star, left hand on breast

Sestertius, Rome, ca. late Jan-28.Mar 193 (second emission of Pertinax) 30 mm / 21,06 gr

Woodward (“The Coinage of Pertinax”, Numismatic Chronicle 1957, pl. XII, 1 (same dies, obv. 11/rev. I.D, citing specimen in Paris); RIC 22; BMCRE 28-30 and pl. 2, 3; Cohen 52, Banti 20 (13 specimens)

ex Stack´s Coin Galleries Sale 17.07.2002, Lot 420 

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

4 hours ago, dougsmit said:

Opinion:  I don't believe the Alexandria Pertinax coins were made while he was alive but possibly when Alexandria was uncertain who to support in the Septimius vs. Pescennius matter.  Serious numismatists don't believe this but I am just an old fool who looks at coins

That's exactly what I was thinking (mind blown emoji), or at least a variant thereof.  It took quite a while for news to travel and even after the news, there probably would have been a period where they were figuring out what to do. I could have been either a continuation, or your theory. 

A Sestertius!  Very nice, Julius Germanicus!

Imagine my surprise to seeing a FedEx Ground truck outside my house Sunday. I grabbed the latest envelope and flew out there, but unfortunately the driver was very young and in training, and didn't know if I could get FedEx Express from Europe on a weekend.  That would solve pretty much all my FedEx problems.

Ugh, leaf time.  It was windy enough yesterday that my front yard is clean, but I can't say the same about the backyard.

[Qcumbor]

A Pertinax is something everyone enjoys when they can finally acquire one, well done !

Q