Watch List notes:

Commodus, 177-192. Sestertius (Orichalcum, 30 mm, 20.00 g, 12 h), Rome, 192. L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL Laureate head of Commodus to right. Rev. PROVIDENTIAE AVG Commodus, as Hercules, standing front, head to left, placing his right foot on prow and resting club on tree trunk with his left hand, holding thunderbolt together with Africa standing to right before him, wearing elephant-skin headdress and holding sistrum in her left hand; at her feet, lion standing right. BMC 718. Cohen 644. RIC 641. Rare. An attractive example of this interesting issue with a silvered obverse. Struck from a worn reverse die and with some scratches, otherwise, very fine.


The silvering of Roman bronze coins is a very rare phenomenon and most likely reflects private preference rather than an official practice. On this example, we clearly see that only the obverse was silvered, whereas the reverse was left in its original state.