I managed to make myself so enamored of this subject and this coin that I bid on it, and for the first time, I think, from a major printed
auction catalogue, won it by the skin of my teeth. It was listed as same
reverse as Commodus's (as a
youth) in
Ruzicka, but, though the same design, it is not the same die--the sequence of the
reverse legend is different. So far as I have been able to determine, the
Marcus Aurelius is
still unpublished except for the
catalogue (
Freeman &
Sear Auction 12). So here it is, and thrilled as I am to have it, I shall re-new this
thread (which already contains all the comparanda) rather than make it my Coin of the Day.
14 11 05 Æ29/32 21.01g
axis ~6h
Pautalia. Issued by Asel. Aemilianus.
Marcus Aurelius, laureate,
head to r. [A]N[T]ÔNINOS
AVR K[---(?).
Rev., Cult
snake with
lion or
wolf head, bearded, and
fish tail, in specially designed winding (besides Commodus's corresponding
snake,
cf. Caracalla's at
Nicomedia, RG pl. XCIV no. 226, with human
head, which
Waddington calls Glycon; it was the Glycon
snake that changed the aspect of its
head in real time at Abounoteichos, so the ID does not seem too bold). Although FS 12, lot 257 said that the
reverse is
Ruzicka pl.
VIII, 18, no. 180, and this is, I think, certainly the same issue,
Marcus Aurelius has
his own
reverse die (the
legend on this one starts hHGE opposite the serpent's snout, and on Commodus's it starts opposite the tail. If Marcus's were more regular in shape, they would be the same size, but the
Berlin Commodus is even heaview than my
Marcus Aurelius. Even the Oneratus
snake on the
altar is more nearly the usual quatrefoil-coiled
snake than this one and those at
Nicomedia.
Also, I found the
complete text of the Lucian essay at the Gutenberg.org site, in a wonderful translation by H. W. Fowler (and
his brother), the author of "Modern English Usage" and "The King's English". It is too long to paste here, and since it is not .jpg, I can't just attach it.
Patricia Lawrence