Ancients: Otho

I haven't intended to build a Twelve Caesars set but I find myself half-way there with this latest acquisition. I purchased this coin from ForumAncientCoins where I was pleasantly surprised to see it for sale. It comes from the Jyrki Muona collection, the defacto Otho specialist.



Silver denarius, BNF III 25; RSC II 11; BMCRE I 9; RIC I -; SRCV I -, Superb EF, light toning on luster,good strike with fresh dies but very highest points a little weak, Rome mint, weight 3.614g, maximum diameter 19.7mm, die axis 180o, 9 March - 17 April 69 A.D.; obverse IMP OTHOCAESAR AVG TR P, bare
head right; reversePONT MAX, Ceres standing left, grain-ears in right, cornucopia in left; from the Jyrki Muona collection; rare;

After the suicide of Nero and the start of a civil war, Rome was struggling. The year AD 69 saw four emperors and their short tenure resulted in all of their coinage being rare. Each of these four had larger-than-life personalities which are reflected in the numismatic portraiture and told in historical accounts.

In the emperor Otho, as in his successor Vitellius, one can find little to admire. Born in AD 32 to a wealthy family, Marcus Salvius Otho grew up as a pampered playboy with a taste for the finer things in life. He had a peculiar abhorrence for bodily hair and removed all hair from his entire body, including his head. To cover his baldness, he then wore a carefully made wig, clearly visible in this outstanding coin portrait.

Otho was the first to openly attain office through the murder of his predecessor. When Nero's regime collapsed in AD 68, Otho was governor of Lusitania, a position given to him by Nero which he resented. Otho was one of Galba's earliest supporters and expected to be named successor to the then 70-year-old Galba. However, Galba chose a young aristocrat instead and Otho retaliated by immediately began plotting his assassination.

Otho took on a substantial amount of debt in order to bribe the Praetorian Guard to murder Galba, under whom they were suffering. After Galba's brutal murder in public view, the terrified senate hailed Otho emperor. Otho’s reign was as brief, chaotic, and desperate as it was degrading. Few in Rome would have wanted to be emperor since the German governor Vitellius was leading his army toward Italy at a rapid pace.

His reign culminated in a battle at Cremona in the north of Italy where Otho and the Praetorian Guard attempted to hold the line against Vitellius at the River Po. The battle went decisively against Otho and as many as 40,000 Roman soldiers died.

His generals urged him to keep fighting, but being clearly disheartened by the carnage, he decided to spare Rome further bloodshed. Retiring to his room with a dagger, he stabbed himself in the heart the morning of April 16 or 17, AD 69. His noble end gained him a respect that had eluded him in life.

In a surprising omission, the late C. H. V. Sutherland, author of Volume I of Roman Imperial Coinage, does not list this issue among denarius types for Otho on the basis of a counterfeit example which had resided in the British Museum since 1867 (sharing an obverse die with a fake aureus) even though a number of perfectly genuine examples have long been known and are in both public and private collections.

The inscription "PONT MAX" referes to Pontifex Maximus, Otho claiming himself to be "the High Priest (Chief Pontif)"

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

another fantastic coin and write up by AJ!

 

Yup, only s.o.b I need, forums are too pricey for me. But lovely coin and congrats.

 

A superb example. One could hardly ask for anything more from an Otho.
Congrats.

 

Another absolutely fabulous addition to your collection of superstar coins!

 

Very nice Otho AJ! I've been looking at Otho Denarii recently and yours is a great example. Very tough to find in that grade. Otho's hair seems to be his defining characteristic on his coinage portraiture, and until I read your write up, I didn't know it was a wig.

Thanks again for a fine contribution to the forum.

 

This is a very nice coin and quite a find from Forum Ancient Coins -- it's unusual for them to have a coin of this quality in their inventory.

Otho is a very difficult Caesar to find in decent condition. Due to the high relief of his hairpiece, most obverse portraits have a bit of strike weakness (not due to wear) in the curly rows of his hair. In addition, complete legends are unusual -- they're usually missing tops of the lettering at least in some sections.


My Othos are both of the Pax Orbis Terrarvm variety:

OTHO Jan. - Apr. 69 A.D.
AV Aureus (7.26 g.) Rome 73 A.D.
IMP M OTHO CAESAR AVG TR P Bare head right. Rev. PAX ORB - IS TERRARUM Pax, dressed, standing l. holding branch in r. hand and caduceus in l. RIC 3





OTHO Jan. - Apr. 69 A.D.
AR Denarius (3.54 g.) Rome
Obv. Bare head of Otho r. Rev. PAX ORBIS TERRARVM Pax standing left, holding branch and long caduceus RIC 4

 

Nice Otho coins all. I'll show my poor man's version:

OTHO AR Denarius
OBVERSE: IMP M OTHO CAESAR AVG TR P, bare head right
REVERSE: VICTORIA OTHONIS, Victory standing left on globe, wreath extended in right, palm frond in left
Struck at Rome, Jan-Feb 69 A.D
3.179g, 18.7mm
RIC I 17, BMCRE I 25, SRCV I 2165 var (exergual line instead of globe)

 

It has a nice smirk Great coin.

 

Id be happy with it, any otho that identifiable is worth having.

Still searching for one I can swing....

 

Wow, very cool new Otho ...

=> nothing but winners in the AJ camp, eh? (congrats)

 

While strike and wear are always major factors in a coin price, I'd point out that the OP denarius has exceptional style in the portrait. The long neck is unusual. The pug ugly brutish face is more usual. Otho's coins in good style are not always easy to find. Add that to the condition and this is an exceptional coin. Bing's coin (poor man or not it is a lot nicer than mine) is the type I would prefer for my one and only Otho since it has the unusual naming of the ruler in the reverse legend Victoria Othonis.

 

Thanks - the style was my primary reason for acquiring it as well. It was the first coin of Otho which received the Seal of Approval™ from my wife who is very aesthetically minded.

 

Beautiful aureus, and yet another very well-timed purchase.

 

I agree its a way above average specimen. The style is much finer, more regal, than almost any I have seen. I don't collect them, but admit looking at them when I notice them since I am also follcly impaired, and find the emphasis on his wig fascinating.

Plus, look at that reverse! I usually hate standing goddess reverses, but I sure wouldn't if they were all cut in such fantastic style, by such a skilled celator. That is a beauty.

 

Fantastic Otho!
I do not yet have one.

 

i googled worn denarius of otho and your coin came up in it. i'm looking at one now to buy that's really worn.

 

I have an unusual Otho. It was probably minted a little too far away to get an Official Statue Bust to pattern for the dies...


RI Otho 69 CE BI AR Tet 23mm Egypt Helmeted Roma

 

I got mine from FAC, but I do not have any providence for it. It is listed in RIC as rare (R3)

 

''In the emperor Otho, as in his successor Vitellius, one can find little to admire. ...Otho grew up as a pampered playboy with a taste for the finer things in life.

..Otho was the first to openly attain office through the murder of his predecessor.

Otho’s reign was as brief, chaotic, and desperate as it was degrading''.


Not much more to say about Otho, really.

However, he did still have enough honor left in him after defeat to take his own life, rather than to cause the deaths of innumerable people in a futile civil war.

My example of Othos coinage. (Same type as the O.P's):