Rare Syria sestertius of Antoninus Pius

[Diederik]

Of late I have a lot of luck finding very rare coins; yesterday I bought this sestertius:
ANTONINVS - AVG PIVS :dot:P :dot:P laureate head right /
SYRIA around, S - C  in fields, [COS II] in exergue. Syria standing left, slightly lifting right leg, holding crown/box and cornucopiae; river-god Orontes swimming at her feet.
It is RIC 590, Cohen 794, BMC 1200 and Strack 798 ( his 797 has the same obverse die as mine).
Hope you like it.

Frans

[okidoki]

hello Frans,

a very nice find, indeed.
info found in CNG CNG 75, Lot: 1071
Banti 401. Extremely rare. Banti records only one example.

[Charles S]

Very rare find indeed.  I have two varieties, one with SYRIA around and COS II in ex.; the other with SYRIA in ex. and COS II around.

[Diederik]

Charles,
most enviable pieces they are! Curtis once explained that practically all possibilities of placing texts on the coins were possible: name around; COS II around; name in exergue and even both S- C and COS - II in fields and nothing in exergue seem possible. Not all varieties of the Coronarium series have been found or exist, though.
I didn't have any of the SYRIA sestertii, so now on for Sicily

Frans

[Charles S]

I didn't have any of the SYRIA sestertii, so now on for Sicily

Really ?  Is Sicily the only one you are lacking ? !

In that case you are way ahead of me ... still having to find my first Alexandria, Armenia (R4?), Hispania, Mauretania (R2), Scythia (R3) ...

[Meepzorp]

Hi folks,

Antoninus Pius minted coins in Sicily?!!!

I wasn't aware of that.

Meepzorp

[Charles S]

Hi folks,

Antoninus Pius minted coins in Sicily?!!!

I wasn't aware of that.

Meepzorp

Hi Meepzorp,
No, it is a type belonging to a series with on the reverse, the personifications of the various provinces offering a crown.  This series is therefore sometimes referred to as the 'Crown series' or 'Aurum coronarum'.  Issued to commemorate Antoninus' remission of half of the special tax ("aurum coronarum") levied on the provinces at the time of an emperor's accession.  They were all minted in Rome.  It is a real challenge to collect this series, because they are all rare to extremely rare...  Here under my Silcily specimen of that series.