A Rare Sestertius and a cautionary tale to check original sources

[numismaticman]

   I managed to buy this Marcus Aurelius Sestertius recently at a reasonable price .
   The obverse has year ending XXVII and the reverse is the GERMANIA SUBACTA type with captive seated facing left
 
    My first check is Wildwinds website and this variety is not present there . After a brief search on the Internet I locate
   the specimen in the Hunterian Museum website which gives references RIC 1054 BMC 1432 .
    Thinking job done I mention the coin to a US collector - friend who has much better references than I who tells me that
   the Hunterian references are incorrect RIC 1054 has obverse with a cuirassed bust and a reverse with captive facing right .
     He informs me that my coin is in fact not in RIC but in Cohen No 217 and BMC 1432A
     He gives me further references a Banti No 96 2 specimens lnown , the Hunterian example which is a die duplicate and
    BMC 1432A which is the same obverse die but a different reverse die . The variety is also Cayon No 80 and the only one
    of the 10 GERMANIA SUBACTA varieties rated as Rare .  

[HELEN S]

 

 thats the way to do it i like the word RARE   

[curtislclay]

Apparently this sestertius is commoner with TR P XXVI than XXVII.

TR P XXVI: 3 spec. in BM, all Germania seated l., var. with Germania seated r. mentioned in note.

TR P XXVII: BM 1432 with Germania seated r., 1432A (acquired Münzhandlung Basel, 1938) with Germania seated l. as on your coin.

The exact date, and whether Germania sits l. or r., will hardly affect the market value of the coin however, since most collectors of ancients are not aiming for completeness so won't pay extra for mere rare varieties.

It's not quite right that your coin is not in RIC. The main purpose of the early volumes of RIC was to rearrange Cohen chronologically, so barring slips anything that's in Cohen will also be in RIC. Cohen 217 was indeed taken over by RIC 1049. The only difference to your coin is that Cohen says Germania is surrounded by shields. But I wouldn't consider the addition or omission of weapons in this type to be a deliberate variant, just something that some engravers added and others didn't. So your coin can be called Cohen 217 = RIC 1049, adding "var." if you like.

The Glasgow catalogue does not give the wrong references for their coin corresponding to yours: the footnote to 183 says "Cp. C 222, RIC 1054, BMC 1432 (but obv. head laureate r. and rev. Germania seated l.)". So Miss Robertson specifies how the Glasgow coin differs from the numbers she cites. It would have been better, admittedly, for her to cite Cohen 217, RIC 1049, and BMC 1432A, which are exactly like the Glasgow coin, except for the shields around Germania mentioned by Cohen and RIC.

[numismaticman]

  Many thanks for the further clarifications , Curtis . I was taking my notes from the Hunterian website which simply gives RIC 1054 and BMC 1432 without qualification rather than the catalogue which of course most of us cannot afford 
  I have details but have unfortunately deleted my photos of a seemingly totally unpublished Marcus Aurelius Sestertius variety . If you are interested send me a message and I will give you the details .
 

[curtislclay]

Sure, but why not just give the details here, others too may well be interested!

[numismaticman]

  Ok , will do but expect lots of messages saying photo please  but sorry I deleted those in error .
 
   Marcus Aurelius Laureate bust legend ends with TRP XXIX
    Reverse  Legend IMP VII etc with at first glance Annona standing with modius with cornears at feet but she is holding a patera and sceptre rather than a patera and cornucopia . My US friend tells me that patera and sceptre are the attributes of Clementia but not with a modius and  says there is no similar coin in Banti or Cayon .

[curtislclay]

Assuming the attributes weren't altered by tooling, possibly an overstrike producing a combination of the elements of two reverse types.

But, as you warned, it will be impossible to say without the image!

Maybe your friend still has the image?

[numismaticman]

   I will ask him if he has kept the image . I was the underbidder on the coin which was bought by a Swiss dealer/collector .

[numismaticman]

   I have found the pics !!!

[curtislclay]

Heavily tooled on both sides, unfortunately.

Rev. should have IMP VII, but the tooler removed the last stroke, leaving just VI.

The figure probably started as Annona with wheat ears and cornucopia, but her wheat ears have been tooled into a patera and a scepter has been added behind her, though much of her cornucopia also seems to survive.

[numismaticman]

  Thanks for the info , good that I did not buy it , as mentoned it went to a Swiss dealer/collector .

[Jay GT4]

Heavily tooled is an understatement! 

[numismaticman]

  The obverse has TRP XXVII not as my memory recalled XXIX therefore IMP VI would be correct . AFAIK there are no Annona reverse Sestertii for year XXVII .  Therefore if IMP VII has been altered to IMP VI the obverse year must also have been altered .

[curtislclay]

You are correct, Annona doesn't fit with TR P XXVII.

Another possibility: started as

obv. TR P XXIIII

rev. SALVTI AVG COS III S - C, Salus standing l., feeding from patera serpent rising from altar and holding scepter.

Obv. altered XXIIII to XXVII, on rev. snake eliminated and altar transformed into modius (it's awfully tall and thin for a modius, and the "wheat ear" on l. look like the remains of the snake), SALVTI AVG altered to IMP VI.

What the original types were doesn't particularly matter; the key is to recognize that they have been extensively altered, so are just a modern invention, not a genuine new type!