The Five "Good" Roman Emperors

ahahaha => good job, Bannon => you posted your coins at the exact same time as my last response ...


=> Dude, I am "lovin'" your gorgeous coins!!

cheers, brother!!

:cheers:

 

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The next couple:

Antoninus Pius; 142-144 AD
Silver Denarius; 18mm/2.6g
OBV: ANTONINVS AVG; PIVS Bust Laureate, Facing Right
REV: TR POT COS III; Pax Standing Left holding olive branch and cornucopia
(RIC 51a)

Marcus Aurelius; (haven't attributed this one yet) it's in the mail on the way to me. Here's the seller's desription though:
Reverse..............................marcus Aurelius Sacrificing over tripod alter
Type...................................Sestertius (30mm)
Date....................................161-180 AD
Weight................................22.62 grams.

 

And lastly here's the link the Nerva I've been eyeballing on the 'bay. I think this guy's asking a bit much though.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NERVA-97AD-...608?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35c29cad70

 

Nice coin, but that seller is outrageous. He marks his coins up to ridiculous levels. He accepts offers, but hey, he has a long way to deal.

 

He's one of the laughing stocks in the ancient coin community. He's got youtube videos that should be on americas funniest home videos.

Hes a crook pretty much.

 

Man, I'm totally terrified of e-bay ... I do "not" shop in those waters!! (you guys have bigger balls ... flotation balls)

; )

 

I see Commodus rather than his father.

If you collect the 5 'good', shouldn't you collect Aelius and Commodus as well?

 

Oops, I forgot Lucius Verus the wishy-washy.

 

Well Doug, if it turns out that coin's a Commodus rather than a Marcus Aurelius...then the answer is an emphatic yes!

I think I'm trusting your opinion over that of a dealer having visited your website and viewed your pages on ancient coin ID and grading. Just as an FYI your pages are often referenced on some of the other "grading ancient coins" websites but many of the links to your site are broken. I'd be glad to send you a PM if you want to know which ones.

 

Are you visiting the page at this link? http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/

The older one is just that, old and not updated anymore.

 

I love them, but can't afford them (right now)

 

I think that after collecting the twelve Caesars for so long, you will find the Adoptive Emperors and Antonines to be an exciting change. The number of portrait styles alone gives you vastly greater options, and those only multiply when you consider the myriad of fascinating reverse types. And since you are collecting gold as well, you have the ability to acquire some of the most stunning portraits in all of the Roman Imperial coinage. I know this period is considered the "silver age" of Rome but, for numismatics, this really is an artistic high point.

Here are a few types to consider:

Hadrian aureus showing the Genius of the "Golden Age" stepping through an oval frame. The sense of motion that the engraver conveys on the reverse is magnificent.



Trajan has a number of historically important architectural types.



And some of our empress collectors would do terrible things for a portrait like this one of Faustina Senior!

 

My focus in Roman coins is a few centuries after this era but will occasionally end up getting one from this era. My latest being my Trajan As:

 

Here is the best of my two Hadrians:

 

I do not collect the good emperors, but I happen to have one that I acquired from Mat, just because it's a lovely denarius.



I am collecting the Constantine family tree, but other than Helena, they were all rotten to the core.

 

Well, not much into Roman coins, less and less with time, but I still have 2 sestertii of Pius that I didn't part from... yet :too-cool-for:

 

=> sweet lookin' coins, fellas!!

 

Nerva:

 

I'm currently focusing specifically on the Five Good Emperors (more broadly, the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty, to include Aelius as well). I think it's a fantastic series and personally prefer them over the first Twelve due to their personalities and demeanor. The aurei of each are fairly easy to locate but have a wide range of visual styles to choose from, so I'm being very selective in my additions and only adding the precise types I'm looking for.

I've just sold a few aurei to make way for some new pieces but here are my two primary ones from the Nerva-Antonines:

Hadrian:


Antoninus Pius:


Depending on how the next month goes, I'll hopefully have a much larger family

 

Envious. Beautiful coins.