My sestertius collection so far. What you all think?

[MrZun]

The last one is an screenshot since i Just buyed It and its coming to me. No Trajan, Aurelius or hadrian, since those are quite expensive lol, might get one in a long future

[KenDorney]

Excellent examples, all of them!

[Kali]

Great pieces!

[CPK]

Very nice! I really like that Gordian III portrait especially.

[ambr0zie]

The Gordian is exceptionally well struck and preserved. 

1 hour ago, MrZun said:

No Trajan, Aurelius or hadrian, since those are quite expensive lol,

If you want to keep the same quality level, yes. But if you are willing to accept some wear (without buying ugly coins) AND you have some patience, you will not break the bank. 

My favorite sestertii:

42 euros +fees

32 euros + fees

AND...

This was from my first lot of coins, with a price of ~4 euros per coin. 

[TIF]

Terrific coins, congrats 🙂

[Octavius]

I think you've done very well !!! There's something about that Maximinus that I find very attractive.  Nice job.

[Sulla80]

nice start  - nicer than my first coin : a valerian sestertius

I was given this one as a gift ~1975-1976...

Edited July 26 by Sulla80

[hotwheelsearl]

Deals to be had everywhere… would you believe I picked up Lucille’s, Crispina, and Marcus Aurelius for $30 each?? Granted, extremely sketchy seller with about 80% fakes, but wade through the eBay muck and eventually you’ll strike gold

[Al Kowsky]

5 hours ago, MrZun said:

The last one is an screenshot since i Just buyed It and its coming to me. No Trajan, Aurelius or hadrian, since those are quite expensive lol, might get one in a long future

Looks like a great start 🤩.

[Romismatist]

This Hadrian sestertius was $US 70 including shipping and a handful of additional LRBs thrown in. Like @hotwheelsearl said, you sometimes get lucky trawling around the EBay muck...

 

[Julius Germanicus]

A long way to go but you have made a great start! This is how far I got in 7 years:

[MrZun]

10 hours ago, Romismatist said:

This Hadrian sestertius was $US 70 including shipping and a handful of additional LRBs thrown in. Like @hotwheelsearl said, you sometimes get lucky trawling around the EBay muck...

 

Quite a beautiful piece. Congrats on finding It!

[MrZun]

6 hours ago, Julius Germanicus said:

A long way to go but you have made a great start! This is how far I got in 7 years:

:0 loved it! The amount of colours that these Coins have is amazing

[MrZun]

11 hours ago, hotwheelsearl said:

Deals to be had everywhere… would you believe I picked up Lucille’s, Crispina, and Marcus Aurelius for $30 each?? Granted, extremely sketchy seller with about 80% fakes, but wade through the eBay muck and eventually you’ll strike gold

Fear is what keeps me not doing It 😂

[MrZun]

11 hours ago, Sulla80 said:

nice start  - nicer than my first coin : a valerian sestertius

I was given this one as a gift ~1975-1976...

Looks great to me

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Hmmmm...that Gordian is very nice

 

My latest sestertius...Clodius Albinus...

Not especially rare, but not especially common, either

 

 

Edited July 27 by Ancient Coin Hunter

[DonnaML]

13 hours ago, Julius Germanicus said:

A long way to go but you have made a great start! This is how far I got in 7 years:

From the bottom row of the first tray, 2nd & 3rd from left, now mine (I purchased them from Leu in July 2023, but they didn't arrive until October!). I couldn't bear to separate them -- the two were so happy together, after all! -- so I felt compelled to buy both of them.

Commodus (son of Marcus Aurelius), AE (Orichalcum) Sestertius, AD 186, Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate head right, M COMMODVS ANT P FELIX AVG BRIT / Rev. Concordia, draped, standing front, head to left, holding vertical standard with legionary eagle in each hand, P M TR P XI IMP VII CO[S V PP] (around), S - C across fields; in exergue, CONC MIL (for CONCORDIA MILITVM, “[dedicated to] harmony with the soldiers”; see Numiswiki at https://tinyurl.com/mr9ta53k). RIC III Commodus 465(A), BMCRE IV Commodus 576 (1^st ed. 1940) (ill. Pl. 106, no. 8 [rev. only]), Sear RCV II 5738, cf. Cohen 55 corr. (COS V not IIII as Cohen states). 29 mm., 20.19 g., 12 h. [Deep cut or flaw on obv. across emperor’s neck.] Purchased from Leu Numismatik AG, Winterthur, Switzerland, Web Auction 26, 11 July 2023, Lot 4520 [purchase canceled & refund obtained 20 Sep 2023, repurchased 6 Oct 2023], from Collection of Jens Georg Feierabend, Hamburg, Germany; ex Roma E-Auction 58, 20 June 2019, Lot 1137, Roma E-Auction 52, 10 January 2019, Lot 853, and Roma E-Auction 46, 5 June 2018, Lot 663.* 

*Accompanied by David R. Sear A.C.C.S. [Ancient Coin Certification Service] Certificate of Authenticity dated April 2, 2020, issued to Jens Georg Feierabend, No. 981CR/RI/E/O, grading coin as “a strong VF with light brown patina, struck on a typical short flan and with deep cut across emperor’s neck,” and stating, among other things, “This orichalcum sestertius, worth one-quarter of the silver denarius, was struck in the early  months of AD 186 following the downfall of the praetorian prefect Perennis and the rise of his rival Cleander. There was some military unrest at this time and the ‘war of the deserters’ in Gaul and Spain had to be put down by the future emperor Pescennius Niger. The reverse of this issue appeals to ‘the harmony of the soldiers’ (concordia militum) at a time of uncertainty when the emperor was clearly at pains to court the support of the armed forces. It is tempting to see in the deep slash across Commodus’ neck an expression of hatred for the regime, possibly following the emperor’s murder.”

A copy of the Sear Certificate:

Bought at the same time at the same auction, consigned by the same previous owner (our fellow-member @Julius Germanicus ) :

Crispina (wife of Commodus), AE (Orichalcum) Sestertius, AD 178-182, Rome Mint. Obv. Draped bust right, hair waved in curls across head and fastened in chignon behind, CRISPINA - AVGVSTA / Rev. Salus seated left on throne, resting left elbow on its arm, holding patera in right hand and feeding from it a snake rising before her from altar at her feet, SALVS around, S – C across lower fields. RIC III Commodus 672a, BMCRE IV Commodus 422 (1^st ed. 1940), Sear RCV II 6010 (ill. p. 423), Cohen 33. 30 mm., 22.23 g., 12 h. Purchased from Leu Numismatik AG, Winterthur, Switzerland, Web Auction 26, 11 July 2023, Lot 4530 [purchase canceled & refund obtained 20 Sep 2023, repurchased 6 Oct 2023], from Collection of Jens Georg Feierabend, Hamburg, Germany; ex Ira & Larry Goldberg Auction 109, 29 Jan 2019, Lot 2194; ex Classical Numismatic Group, LLC (CNG) Auction 76, 12 Sep 2007, Lot 3330, from Collection of J. Alan Seeger; previously privately acquired from Tom Cederlind.*

 

The CNG photo from 2007, which is a bit closer to the coin's true color:

*Accompanied by David R. Sear A.C.C.S. [Ancient Coin Certification Service] Certificate of Authenticity dated 5 Jun 2019, issued to Jens Georg Feierabend, No. 907CR/RI/N/D, grading coin as “VF, with attractive portrait and nice glossy brown patina,” and stating, among other things, that “[t]his attractive orichalcum sestertius features a sensitive portrait of the teenage empress combined with a seated figure of Salus, goddess of health. Although a standard reverse type, the appearance of the goddess at this time may relate to an imperial pregnancy,” even though no surviving offspring are known to have resulted from Crispina’s marriage to Commodus. Sear also notes that the coinage of Crispina appears to have ceased four years after their AD 178 marriage, following the plot against Commodus in 182, despite the fact that it is unlikely that she was involved in the plot (by contrast to Lucilla). [Copy of Sear Certificate omitted..]

The happy couple together:

 

[DonnaML]

I have only eight other sestertii, so a total of 10. The Philip I SAECVLARES AVGG with a stag on the reverse was my very first.  Nothing before Hadrian, unfortunately: too expensive!

Hadrian:

 

Marcus Aurelius:

 

Faustina II:

 

Severus Alexander:

Maximinus I Thrax:

Gordian III:

 

Philip I:

Philip II:

[MrZun]

1 hour ago, DonnaML said:

I have only eight other sestertii, so a total of 10. The Philip I SAECVLARES AVGG with a stag on the reverse was my very first.  Nothing before Hadrian, unfortunately: too expensive!

Hadrian:

 

Marcus Aurelius:

 

Faustina II:

 

Severus Alexander:

Maximinus I Thrax:

Gordian III:

 

Philip I:

Philip II:

Nice collection! That Marcus Aurelius is awesome, and the thrax one too

[Amarmur]

A few of my Sestertii. 
 

1. Nero Claudius Drusus looks like it went through a war 

2.  Lucilla

3 Lucius Verus Armenia Capta

4. 2 Trajan Sestertii one with the Danube bride and 1 with Pax and a kneeling Dacian

 

Hoping to add a Hadrian Sestertius, maybe a Marcus Aurelius one

They are cool to handle and big

[Qcumbor]

That's an excellent start for sure @MrZun, looks like you have an eye for good style.

Here are some of mine :

 

Q

 

[GERMANICVS]

@MrZun has made a good start - I agree with @Qcumbor, he has a good eye for style (unlike me🙃 when I first started).

 

I started collecting Sestertii around 1990 when I found two sestertii of Vitellius at a collectors flea market. They were in low grade and damaged, but hey, Vitellius bronzes are tough! That got me hooked.

My best preserved sestertius is this Marcus Aurelius. The reverse is a bit mushy, but the obverse is superb - love this coin.

 

 

 

Edited July 29 by GERMANICVS

[Ursus]

@MrZun, your Maximinus Thrax gets bonus points for an interesting historical reference on the reverse, see here for further info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_at_the_Harzhorn. 

Edited July 29 by Ursus