Imperator Caesar Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus Augustus Pius Felix
Reign: Commodus
Mint: Hierocaesarea (?), Lydia
Date: 180/192 AD
Nominal: Bronze
Material: AE
Diameter: 27mm
Weight: 5.96g
Reference: RPC IV.3 25060
RPC Online: https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/25060
RPC Online: https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/countermark/279
Rare: Specimens 1 (0 in the core collections)
Provenance: Savoca Numismatik Munich, Germany (Auction 166, Lot 921)
Pedigree: –
Special: RPC Online Plate coin
Special: Countermark (GIC 150) on obverse with laureate bust left (Caracalla ?)
Obverse: Laureate-headed bust of Commodus(?) wearing cuirass and paludamentum, right, seen from rear
Inscription: [ … ]
Translation: [ … ]
Reverse: Temple with four columns enclosing uncertain cult statue
Inscription: [ … ]
Translation: [ … ]
Comment: Uncertain mint. It is uncertain whether it is the bust of Commodus at all; equally uncertain is Hierocaesarea as the place of the coinage. The portrait style would fit well with other coinages of the Lydian region – as would the reverse depiction with temple and cult statue. Many coinages with this design were issued in the region during the Antonine period. The counterstamp with bust (Caracalla ?) could speak for Hierocaesarea – but Mostene could also be considered. An overview of coins with this counterstamp can be found here at RPC Online.