LIBERALITAS AVGVSTORVM

Reference : AYC #24, RIC 13

Weight: ?

Metal: Bronze

Diameter: 30.00 mm

Scarcity: Very rare

Type:

Obverse

Reverse

IMP CAES M CLOD PVPIENVS AVG

Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Pupienus right, seen from three quarters back.

LIBERALITAS AVGVSTORVM _ S – C

A citizen kneeling and raising his arms to a platform where are from left to right: Liberalitas standing, holding an abacus and a cornucopia; Pupienus, Balbinus and Gordian III seated. Behind them is a soldier standing and holding a spear.

Photo of a coin sold the 18/08/2019 by Heritage Auctions, Auction 271933, lot 35364, link to the sale: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=6179076, link to their website: https://www.ha.com/.

I observe that on most of Pupienus' coins the cuirass is almost invisible and the shoulder appears smooth. Although I have listed a variant with a non-cuirassed bust for other emperors from the same period, this bust of Pupienus seems to be cuirassed. We see streaks indicating a cuirass in the lower shoulder or at least an irregular lower shoulder showing a desire to display a cuirass. Here is an example:

On this photo the streaks are visible at the bottom of the shoulder.

However, we cannot exclude that only draped busts exist. So far, I haven't noticed an example where the shoulder is undoubtedly smooth.