Nomos AG
Auction 18 5 May 2019
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Marcus Aurelius, 161-180. Sestertius (Orichalcum, 33 mm, 25.67 g, 12 h), Rome, summer-December 166. M AVREL ANTONINVS - AVG ARM PARTH MAX Laureate head of Marcus Aurelius to right (but with the features of Lucius Verus?). Rev. TR POT XX IMP IIII COS III / S - C Victory standing right, inscribing VIC / PAR, on round shield propped on palm tree. Banti 431. BMC 1289. Cohen 807. RIC 931. A splendid piece with a very attractive apple-green patina. Very rare, indeed, with what seems to be a portrait of Verus combined with a legend for Marcus! See the note below. Extremely fine.
From a Swiss collection.
What is intriguing about this coin is the portrait: it does not quite look like the usual way Marcus is portrayed. In fact, it looks rather like Lucius Verus; yet the legend clearly indicates that we are meant to be viewing the head of the senior emperor! Could it be that when the master engraver who was responsible for the portrait delivered the die to the legend engraver, the latter forgot what he was doing and engraved a legend inappropriate to the portrait?.
From a Swiss collection.
What is intriguing about this coin is the portrait: it does not quite look like the usual way Marcus is portrayed. In fact, it looks rather like Lucius Verus; yet the legend clearly indicates that we are meant to be viewing the head of the senior emperor! Could it be that when the master engraver who was responsible for the portrait delivered the die to the legend engraver, the latter forgot what he was doing and engraved a legend inappropriate to the portrait?.