Two things: When Mr.
Sear commented on the scarcity of Mercury reverses, he was talking about
Roman Imperial coins. The fellow on
Provincials with Greek legends is considered
Hermes and is much more common on
Provincials than
his Latin namesake.
Second: When he was calling Mercury
scarce, Mr.
Sear probably meant that few rulers used a Mercury
type (true). However, the few that did (
Gallienus and
Marcus Aurelius come to mind)issued enough that the coins are not terribly
rare or valuable just because they have Mercury. There is a similar case with
Ops who was only used by a couple of the Emperors but is probably the most commonly seen
reverse of
Pertinax and brings no premium over other reverses of this ruler.
