The Finest of Three Known
Marcus Aurelius. As Caesar, AD 139-161. AV Aureus (19mm, 7.42 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck under Antoninus Pius, AD 144. AVRELIVS CAE SAR AVG PII F, bareheaded bust right, slight drapery / COS DES II, Hilaritas, draped, standing left, holding long palm frond in right hand and cornucopia in left. RIC III 425 var. (no drapery) (Pius); Calicó 1835 var. (only represented by a line drawing, no drapery); BMCRE p. 73, note † (Pius); Adda –; Biaggi –; Jameson –; Mazzini –. Lustrous, minor hairlines, trace deposits. EF. Unpublished variety of an already extremely rare type. Apparently the third known, all struck with the same obverse die. This example is the finest of the three.
The bareheaded type is extremely rare (none found in CoinArchives) and is cited in the references above. The type offered here, with slight drapery, is not recorded in any publication, but there are two other specimens in CoinArchives: Vico 155, lot 321 and Künker 133, lot 8896.
