IMP CAES DOMIT
AVG GERM -
COS XII CENS PER P P
Bust laureate r. with
aegis on shoulders
GERMANIA - CAPTA around, C S in
exergue,
Trophy, at base of which mourning
German woman seated l. on crossed hexagonal shields; and
German warrior standing r.,
head turned l.,
hands tied behind back, l.
leg bent and touching ground with toes, on ground to r. helmet and hexagonal
shield.
34-35.5 mm, 25.43 g,
axis 7 h; dealer's picture below.
The seller called this coin a "
medallion in
Paduan style, imitating a
sestertius". But these dies are not in Klawans' book on Paduans, and stylistically they closely resemble Rome-mint originals, for example the two formerly in the
Mazzini Collection that are shown in the second picture below. The
obverse of my coin is almost a die match for Mazzini's first coin; while the
style and details of its
reverse are closely similar to those of Mazzini's second coin, which however has the correct S C in
exergue. So I think these dies must go back to the
mint of
Rome, yet the coin perhaps lacks the sharpness to be a struck original; maybe it is only a
good modern
cast of such an original.
In that case other
cast twins might be expected to exist, though there are none in Forvm's
Fake Reports,
nor in
CoinArchives Pro, and
Carradice and Buttrey apparently knew of no such piece, for otherwise they would probably have reported its engraving error C S for S C on
reverse in their revised
RIC II of 2007, no. 463. Has any
Forvm member seen a
cast twin of my piece, or a similar genuine
COS XII sestertius with this C S error on
reverse?