I just received this in today's mail. The images do not show it well, but the coin still has most/part of it's silver wash. AURELIAN Antoninianus OBVERSE: IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG, radiate cuirassed bust right REVERSE: / ORIENS AVG, Sol advancing left, holding globe & right hand raised in salute, treading on left of two captives at foot, P in ex. Struck at Rome,272-4 AD 4.4g, 22mm RIC 61 The reverse legend translates to: Oriens Augustus - the rising Sun of the Emperor This type refers to Aurelian's defeat of Zenobia's Palmyrene Empire in the east. The captives wear Parthian caps and are typically attributed as Persians. The real captives were more likely Palmyreans. Typical of Roman propaganda, Zenobia's Sasanian supporters are depicted to glorify Aurelian's victory and mask that this was an internal revolt and civil war.
Yes, but in hand it is not quite so red. It's a very pretty coin with sunstantial size and weight. Very pleasing.
Yummy-yummy, Bing => awesome new pickup (congrats) ... ummm, I only have one Aurelian example (but I ordered the extra-long neck!!) ... => I bought the bobble-head, Aurelian!!
Nice coins. Bing, I couldn't tell that coin is silver in the picture it looks kind of brownish and red. Still looks good though.
=> neither of our Aurelians are silver, my friend => they're AE antoninianii ... they merely have silvered "coatings" (that sadly wear-off over time)
Ummm, I'm not sure if that's Floridian English, or what? ... I love ya brother (yes, my coin has some silvering) *night*
All my pictures are a mess so i'm taking new ones... I got a new camera, stand, macro lens.. Aurelian..274-275AD Antoninianus Rome mint 22mm x 3.28g.
an attractive Aurelian bing....which I don't have (an attractive one anyway). cool reverse...sol has an iron man thing going on...
There's alot of interesting redness going on there, but you can definitely see the toned silver as well. If it's not as red as the images, then the silver-red mix reminds me of this Carus of mine, particularly the reverse. On the other hand, this fully silvered Aurelian from Serdica is almost painfully shiny and white.
It's Rome mint. The letter is just the officina indicator. From what I can tell, it could be any number of letters.
That coin's got everything I would want from an ant of Aurelian: a lovely patina with some silvering, a good portrait, and a strong strike on the reverse. If you look through a hundred Aurelians you might find a dozen with full reverse details, and that's always the deciding factor for me. I find silvered coins tough to image. Here's one of my ants with a lot of silvering, but my image makes it look mushy when it really isn't. When you hold it in your hand and move it around in the light, you can see the contrast between the bronze and silver, and it's quite beautiful - it shimmers.
My only Aurelian and I just read this guys biography and I like him a lot. He was a bold dude and tried to reform the money. This coin is (I think) one of the first reform radiates (isn't it?) with the XXI? Aurelian AE Antoninianus O: IMP AURELIANVS AVG, turreted and cuirassed bust left R: RESTITUTOR EXERCITI, Aurelian on right, holding scepter in hand, standing left, extending right to Victory on left who crowns him B in middle lower field XXI in exergue RIC 369 21.72mm, 3.51 gms. Mint: Cyzicus
I have several Aurelian's, most of which are in pretty good condition. Here are two of my favorites: AURELIAN Antoninianus OBVERSE: IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG, radiate bust right REVERSE: RESTITVT ORBIS, female on the left presents a wreath to Aurelian, holding a sceptre, Gamma in ex. Struck at Antioch,270-5 AD 3.6g, 22mm RIC V 386 AURELIAN Antoninianus OBVERSE: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG Radiate, cuirassed bust right REVERSE: VICTORIA AVG, Victory facing, wings spread, rising up between two shields, pearl diadem in hands star over P in right field. first officinae Siscia Struck at Siscia, 270-5 AD 4.1g, 21mm RIC 238
There's enough variety in these coins to keep a collector very busy, and most of them are common enough to not break even the tightest budgets.
