We have a tradition in my family.. my parents and extended family are Irish.. so I don't know if this is a family tradition, an Irish tradition, a generally European tradition or what?... but when a baby is born in the family my aunts and uncles always gave a silver dollar as a gift (along with diapers, clothes and things to help out, of course..). So my kids have some very nice Canadian silver dollars .. various commemorative types to keep in the baby box. They don't think much of them but some day they may.. So my big brother became a Grandad the other day (old fart!)... thinking of gifting an ancient instead... a chance to really give something meaningful that perhaps my great-nephew will appreciate when he gets older (maybe not - but there is always hope!). So I thought it would be interesting to ask the good people here what coin they would suggest? My first thought is perhaps something with a Fortuna reverse? But my niece is in the military so maybe Mars... lol Any good ideas out there? I have a lower end budget - that's just how I roll...
You need some bad roaches.... No, not those bad roaches....these types here: Gordian III roaches are silvery, the quality of the mint work on them is high, and they are cheap and plentiful. Perfect gift for someone with a limited budget to get to someone else.
How about something with: Bonus and Bona The epithet Bonus, "the Good," is used in Imperial ideology with abstract deities such as Bona Fortuna ("Good Fortune"), Bona Mens ("Good Thinking" or "Sound Mind"), and Bona Spes ("Valid Hope," perhaps to be translated as "Optimism"). During the Republic, the epithet may be most prominent with Bona Dea, "the Good Goddess" whose rites were celebrated by women. Bonus Eventus, "Good Outcome", was one of Varro's twelve agricultural deities, and later represented success in general. SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS AR Denarius OBVERSE: L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP IMP II, Laureate bust right REVERSE: BONA SPES, Spes advancing left holding flower and lifting skirt Struck at Laodicea, 194 AD 3.1g, 18mm RIC 4a, SS 444, p. 151 Ex Doug Smith collection, #892; ex JAZ Numismatics
How about a Sassanian drach? They are can be relatively inexpensive and are kind of large, like a silver dollar?
Is the name of this lil' one related to any emperor or character from those ancient times ? Would be easy if the parents have had the good taste of naming him (you wrote "he" thus I assume he's a boy) Alexander or Pacatian or whatever similar If he's called Bob, well, I don't know.... Q
All three are good suggestions. Gordian and Septimius have Fortuna. It would be Fortuna Redux if the recipient came back to ancients in fifty years and appreciated the coin. If I could have just one Sasanian, I'd go for something like a Peroz which are thicker than the common, later ones.
@Clavdivs I REALLY like the idea! I give all my Grandkids coins every Xmas. They are usually a Silver Dollar, but I also give Ancients. I might suggest giving a Modern birth year Coin AND an Ancient... but keep in budget! The Modern so that as they grow up, they can associate a coin to their present time and knowledge. However, also giving them a coin 1500 to 2500 years old REALLY gives them something thought provoking when they compare it to the Modern coin. "Wow, my coin is OLD cuz it was made when I was BORN!" But when they compare it to the Ancient you gave them, being 2000 years old will REALLY blow their mind, and think! There are a lot of reasonable cost Roman Republic Denarii made BEFORE the Common Era: RR Julius Bursio 85 BCE AR Den Apollo Mercury Quad Sear 268 Cr 352-1a
I thought the tradition was to give a coin of the birth year. I have the 1922 silver dollar given to my mom, which was her birth year.
Clavdivs - Maybe a coin to celebrate some kind of peace, whether or not achieved by military means. A newborn baby is representative of the future, and one wouldn't want to see him, or her, as victim of a wartorn world.
Gordie III my avatar says you need one. Here's my antoninianus...but I would get one with a MARS VLTOR or MARTEM PROPVGNATOREM reverse. Lots of great Gordies out there.
This is 2018 which is a 0 difference from 218 in which year we got coins from Diadumenium, son of Macrinus. His Provincials can be quite reasonable with or without dad. Marcianopolis Antioch (a cheap one)
