When You Buy a Coin Because of the Portrait

Fantastic coin David with a great portrait and patina.

 

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Great Vespasian, David! The portrait on this Augustus from Philippi was what drew me in; that and the interesting reverse with Augustus and Julius Caesar.

 

Portrait appeal is important to me when I'm selecting additions to my denarii collection. I really loved the portrait of Julia Domna on this one. She has a very world weary look.

 

some really fine obverses ( and reverses) here and easy to see why one would buy these coins for that reason(@TIF , you know i'm in love with your Lucilla)..the coin that comes to by mind in my collection is/are this/these for that reason alone(not really "ancient" per say ) Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold l(1658-1705), House of Hapsburg 6 krutzer

 

I find it interesting that some earlier Domna portraits look wearier than those of a couple years later. The first two years of the reign were taken up by civil wars with Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus followed by some punishment tours against the people who supported the wrong side. After that, Septimius was firmly in charge and being wife of the greatest ruler in the region was an easier life than following him from battle to battle. Yes, the portrait is just what I would expect it to be for 193-194 AD.

 

yes, i really dig her hair style of the later ones, but all i have at the moment are those of the earlier type(work in progress)

 

Great portrait indeed David !
When I go through my Flavian coins, this is one of the best portraits I can find.
IMO this is what an emperor should look like

Vespasian, denarius
RIC II 702, RSC 364.
Rome mint, 74 AD.
Obv. IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG, laureate head right.
Rev. PON MAX TR P COS V, Vespasian seated right, branch in left hand, scepter in right.

 

I was going to narrow this down to my best Ancient Portrait, amd my best Medieval Portrait, but I had two lovely Ancient portraits that I just had to share:

Imperial Rome
Commodus, r. 177-192 A.D. (178 A.D.)
AR Denarius, 18.78 mm x 3.4 grams
Obv.: L AVREL COMMODVS AVG. Laureate Head of Commodus right
Rev.: TR P III IM(P) II COS P P. Salus seated left holding branch over snake rising from altar
Note: Letter P omitted by mistake by the celator


Imperial Rome
Plautilla, r. 202-205 A.D.
Rome Mint, AR Denarius, 18.82 mm x 3.15 grams
Obv.: PLAVTILLAE AVGVSTAE. Draped bust right, hair coiled in vertical ridges and fastened in bun on back
Rev.: CONCORDIAE AETERNAE. Caracalla standing left, clasping hands with Plautilla standing right
Ref.: RIC IV-1 Caracalla 361, p. 269


England
Stephen, r. 1135-1154 (c. 1136-45)
London Mint, AR Watford Type Penny, 19.17mm x 1.1 grams; Obv.: S[TIEFNE RE]X. Bust right, crowned and diademed, holding sceptre in right hand
Rev.: ADEL[ARD : ON : LVN]. Cross moline with fleur in each angle; Ref. North 873, SCBC 1278, CC99 ST1D-005, De Wit 3189

 

This sestertius has an exceptionally well-rendered and expressive portrait of Herennia Etruscilla:



And this sestertius of Faustina I is of unusually fine style:




And this mustachioed Gordian III is quite nice:



This denarius of Julia Paula seems to capture her visage quite faithfully:

 

Welcome to CoinTalk, @Marsman!

 

I like the portrait on this one, not because it looks like Maximianus, but because it looks more like Carinus. It's an early Rome issue and the mint workers did not know what Maximianus looked like.

Maximianus
A.D. 285- 286
22x23mm 3.3gm
IMP MAXIMIANVS P F AVG; radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
IOVI CONSERVAT AVGG; Jupiter standing left, leaning on sceptre and holding thunderbolt.
In ex. XXIZ
RIC Vii Rome 506




and a Carinus

 

Welcome to the Ancients Forum, @Marsman ! That's a beautiful denarius!

 

Ladies of the Empire! I forgot I had this one... I dig her portrait too!


And I know I already posted this one recently, but it was that portrait that was the reason I bought it.

 

Great coin and nice to see you here!

 

WoWiE Boy-O, do you know how to make an entrance! Wonderful portrait of Vespy. And Welcome to coin talk
Here's a Vespasian I got for the portrait...and the reverse

 

I have never seen this marble. Can you provide a link to where it is explained and identified? The hair is quite different. Have you seen a coin with anything remotely similar?

 

well...now that i think about it.. i bought this one because of her looks(it qualifies as an ancient).. i thought it was Otacillia Severa, as she was marked,but thanks to RC (@Roman Collector ), who corrected me and she is Herennia Estrucilia...but no matter, i still love her..^^..plus i just won her other son, Hostilian, tonite to break my losing streak on coin bidding and complete the family portrait...(i'll post it when it arrives)

 

The Amazons were a Greek mythological creation who were females who preyed on males. (I think)

 

Great collection of portraits! here's one I found irresistable:

I found both the dark patina and the portrait of Pacorus II on this coin appealing. Parthia A.D. 78-105 Sellwood Type 73 4.1g

Macro lens clipped onto an iphone was used to get the portrait detail.

Obv: Head facing left, wearing diadem, bearless head, earring visible
Rev: The archer is seated on throne facing right
Legend in 7 lines: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ΠΑΚΟΡΟΥ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΥ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝΟΣ

One of the few beardless parthian kings. The use of "ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ ΠΑΚΟΡΟΥ" (Arsaces Pakorus) rather than just (ΑΡΣΑΚΟΥ) indicates that his kingdom was disputed by rivals.

 

I think I'll double dip here. And that's a double entendre. As, I am posting twice in a single thread. Sin one. And this second one isn't even ancient. Capital sin! (Jk @ominus1)
Funny enough, the other night while I was justifying purchasing this medallion to my wife, I explained that the portrait is the same as my minds eye envisions that Napoleon looked like. For someone who died just a few years shy of 200 ago there are many different images of what he looks like. Long shaggy Ringo Star hair (presumably while out on campaign) to balding and fat (which he was at the end). Sometimes the only thing in common is the man's stature.
So for me, an almost exclusive collector of ancient coins, it was all about the portrait.