I don't think your coin was struck from aureus dies, which by the time of Marcus had deviated from denarius dies, being a little broaded and in higher relief than denarius dies, and often using different bust types. Gold and silver quinarii continued to be struck from the same dies, but I don't think I know of any denarii struck from aureus dies after the first year of Hadrian's reign. It would have been physically possible, but seems never to have happened, or at any rate only very exceptionally.
What would you say about this
Commodus denarius from
Lanz? It stands out from other
Commodus denarii of this period - I have not found any fancy busts on
Commodus denarii for the period TR P VI
IMP IIII until TR P
VIII IMP VI (about 3-4 years). However, most of
aurei were printed with fancy busts during this period. So this one from TR P VI
IMP IIII
COS III PP/Walking
Mars is very distinctive with its very nice appearance of
cuirassed bust in high relief. Sorry I have now only ob. pic saved from
Lanz...I can do pictures of both sides when at
home if interested.
The
weight is 3,31 g - and it's 18mm, and it's much smaller than it could be, as you can see - the edges of the die could be cut to fit with
denarius standard...so, could this be a candidate for
aureus dies given its distinctive
bust style, and its dimensions?
RIC 42 (
bust variant)
