Unpublished Commodus Hybrid
Commodus. AD 177-192. Æ Sestertius (30mm, 22.45 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck AD 184. M COMMODVS AN TON AVG PIVS BRIT, laureate head right / P M TR P VIIII IMP VI COS III P P, Pax standing left, holding olive branch and cornucopia; S C across field. RIC III 404 var. (obv. legend); Banti 258 var. (same); BMC 530 var. (same); Cohen 452 var. (same); MIR 18, –. VF, dark brown patina, minor flan flaw on the reverse. Apparently unique hybrid.
According to Szaivert’s study of the coinage of Commodus (in MIR 18), the title BRIT was added to Commodus’ coin legends sometime late in AD 184, after he received his IMP VII. Moreover, this obverse legend appears as the second emission of coinage following the change to IMP VII. Nevertheless, similar hybrids are known for other sestertii in this period, combining BRIT obverses with IMP VI reverses, though with different types: RIC III 399a (Hercules) and 401 (Roma). The present piece is the first of these hybrids with the Pax reverse type.
