I have a couple of 2017 purchases to post and this is one of them. This was a last minute December snag. I do not have many Julia coins and tis is my first Julia Maesa. It has a couple of green deposits and that I at first thought it could be signs this coin was a fouree but now the coin is in hand I believe that the green deposits are just that deposits not underlying corroded base metal. I like the narrative reverse with the star and pitch fork style caduceus. Age of Good Times for sure! Just don't pay attention to adolescent in charge O: JULIA MAESA Denarius. Diademed & draped bust right Rx: SAECVLI FELICITAS, Felicitas standing left by altar, holding patera and caduceus, star in left field. 19 mm, 2.8 grams BTW, post your Julia Maesa's
LOL!! The coin comes with a star in the right field, too. The meaning of the location of the star is not clear, however, and may indicate different emissions or different officinas within the mint. Julia Maesa, AD 218-225 Roman AR denarius; 3.15 g, 19.5 mm, 7 h Rome, AD 220-222 Obv: IVLIA MAESA AVG, bare-headed and draped bust, right Rev: SAECVLI FELICITAS, Felicitas standing left, with long caduceus, sacrificing out of patera over lighted altar, left; star in right field Refs: RIC 271; BMCRE 79; Cohen 45; RCV 7757; CRE 472; Thirion 419 My favorite Maesa, though, is this sestertius: Julia Maesa, Augusta AD 218-225 Roman Orichalcum Sestertius; 21.28 gm; 29.2 mm Rome mint, AD 218-220 Obv: IVLIA MAESA AVGVSTA, diademed and draped bust, right Rev: PIETAS AVG SC, Pietas standing left, sacrificing over altar and holding incense box Refs: RIC 414; Cohen 31; BMCRE 389; RCV 7763; Thirion 408. It came with this nearly 45-year-old dealer tag, recording a purchase made in March, 1973:
JULIA MAESA AR Denarius OBVERSE: IVLIA MAESA AVG - Draped bust right REVERSE: PVDICITIA - Pudicitia seated left, pulling veil and holding scepter Struck at Rome, 218-222 AD 2.6g, 19mm RIC 268, BMC 76 (Elagabalus), S 7756, C 36
I love that caduceus, it does look a trident rather than the typical loop with the snakes' heads making "horns". Here's mine, same type as yours, same location for star, but Maesa is shown with a distinct double chin. Julia Maesa. AR denarius, Rome mint, struck 220–1 CE; 2.88g. BMCRE 81, RIC 272, RSC 45b. Obv: IVLIA MAESA AVG; draped bust right. Rx: SAECVLI FELICITAS; Felicitas standing left sacrificing from patera over lighted altar, holding caduceus, star in left field. EF
I only have Julia Domna, not Julia Maesa. What strikes me about the Maesa coins is that these portraits are not idealized; Maesa seems to have a face for radio--wrinkles, a double chin, etc. Maybe it's sexist of me to expect a kinder treatment of the female portrait, but I might expect it to be in the mint controller's self-interest to encourage stylized portraits that "photoshop" her flaws. But there they are. Interesting. Maybe Romans were supposed to venerate the "wise Roman matron" in Maesa, especially if she hailed from the somewhat distrusted East. BTW, if you have Amazon Prime, this documentary streams free. I give it 3 stars out of 5. But episode 3 spends some time on the Severan women: Mothers, Murderers and Mistresses: Empresses of Ancient Rome 2013. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071CVGSLD
Nice Maesas everyone. I have one like Bing's and Mikey Zee's. As Gavin notes, her coins do tend to feature a very lifelike, unflattering likeness. Too bad about Elagabalus...don't spoil the grandkids, I guess.
I see a star in the right field of the reverse. In what sense "no star?" Most of the time the coins of Julia Maesa show a rather dour expression, as we can see in this thread. This thread is helping me see that the degree of the doubling of her chin has a lot to do with that impression. There are some exceptions in which she has a pleasant appearance, and one such is on this antoninianus which is among my top picks for my specialized new purchases of 2017:
Amazon has quite a number of ancient history documentaries, of varying quality. Much more than, say, Netflix, which caters to more contemporary and popular fare.
Funny enough one of my last purchases of the year was this "looker" of a lady. Now mine might not be as "glamorous" as some of yours. And it appears she was having too much of a "good time", as is evidenced by the large "cold sore" on her lip. But if Liz Taylor can play Cleopatra then Scarlett Jo is who I'd have idealize up this ancient mama named Maesa.