I just wanted to share my limited Licinius collection. I got two out of uncleaned lots, a few for $3 ~ $10 on eBay and paid more for a few from dealers. Many find the Jupiter reverse boring.. I do not - I think it's a very detailed and meaningful reverse.. but yes I guess it can get a bit repetitive! I have since added a couple with some variety. What fascinates me the most are the portraits. Yes he had a long reign of 18 years - so you expect some change but the difference is striking!.. the change in portrait style and artwork is very interesting. I know this is the same with most rulers of this era. Could we pick the real Licinius out of a Police Line Up? (click image for a closer look....) I thought for fun I could ask members to post two coins of the same Emperor - with portraits that do not look similar at all!
My collection is too narrow to really make such an illustration (if I have duplicates, they are usually quite spread throughout the emperor's life). I can make the famous illustration of Maximinus I, the Emperor that the Mint Didn't Know What He Looked Like 1st - Modified Severus Alexander 2nd - His chin is big? Surely it can't be that big? Bigger? You gotta be joking, right? 3rd - We got the official bust in, finally. Oh jeez, he really does look like that?! @Orfew, how about your Galba denarii? IIRC, you had a pretty impressive variety of portrait styles
Nice post...always a lot of variation in the portrait styles between different mint cities, but especially with LRBs. That’s one of the (many) things that I love about collecting ancients, there is just so much variety. Here’s a denarius of Caracalla from Rome and a tetradrachm of Caracalla from Tyre with very different portrait styles. Caracalla- Tyre Caracalla- Rome
My collection is the exact opposite of Finn's. Below are Septimius Severus denarii from Rome mint in 193 AD. All are quite different in my view so they are not duplicates. Virtus reverse: Victory reverse: All of these were struck within a few months of eack other while Septimius was out of town dealing with Pescennius Niger in the East. In the years that follow, the mint standardized the portrait a bit more. These are from the earliest part of 194 AD (IMP II period). Did Septimius change during this period or did the mint get a better idea of his appearance? Often the earliest coins of a ruler show a bit of 'development' before settling down on the look deemed appropriate (correct or idealized?).
Nice lineup! I think I'd have identified Licinius in all of them except the second left-facing one. That one really is quirky. Here are two very different looking Vespasian portraits. Well, except for the neck and Adam's apple. He certainly looks much younger on the first.
When it comes to portraits, things get really wild with Provincials. I suggest you try this brilliant Provincial Portrait Quiz that @TIF came up with last year. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/quiz-roman-provincial-portrait-quiz-2.321132/
Two contemporaneous coins from my Constantine I collection: Antioch mint, A.D. 321-323 RIC 34 Obv: IMP C FL VAL CONSTANTINVS P F AVG Rev: IOVI CONS-ERVATORI - Jupiter, leaning on eagle-tipped scepter, holding Victory on globe; eagle with wreath at feet to right, captive to left SMANTB in exergue; X over IIM (truncated) in right field 19 mm, 3.1 g. (Looks like a character from the Simpsons.) Nicomedia mint, A.D. 321-324 RIC 43 Obv: IMP C FL VAL CONSTANTINVS P F AVG Rev: IOVI CONS-ERVATORI - Jupiter, leaning on eagle-tipped scepter, holding Victory on globe; eagle with wreath at feet to right, captive to left SMNB in exergue; X over IIM (truncated) in right field 19 mm, 2.7 g.
As requested, here are my Galba denarii. All of them have interesting portraits. RIC 9 RIC 23 RIC 31 RIC 48a RIC 62 RIC 105 RIC 193 RIC 236
At one time Hugh Cloke told me he was going to use coin portraits of Constantius such as these to illustrate his steady decline in health through the years. I never did ask him if he followed through with that. Constantius portraits - London mint folles RIC VI, Londinium, No. 14a, Constantius, Caesar of the West: CT (Cloke & Toone), No. 2.01.010 (3), c. AD 296-303, Rarity: C FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB C .............................. GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI Laureate, cuirassed, bust. Small head on a tall neck. Reminiscent of Carausius/Allectus Mint "long neck" Antoniniani Maybe the work of former Carausius/Allectus Mint die engravers? 9.8 gm. RIC VI, Londinium, No. 20, Constantius, Caesar of the West CT (Cloke & Toone), No. 2.01.010 (1), c. AD 296-303, Rarity: C FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB C ........................... GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI Laureate, cuirassed, bust with long ribbon tie laying on neck. London style lettering. 9.8 gm. RIC VI, Londinium, No. 22, Constantius, Caesar of the West: CT (Cloke & Toone), No. 2.01.013 (5), c. AD 296-303, Rarity: C CONSTANTIVS NOB C ................................. GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI Laureate, cuirassed, bust. Cuirass with wave design 11.9 gm. RIC VI, Londinium, No. 37a, Constantius, Caesar of the West: CT (Cloke & Toone), No. 3.01.024 (2) , c. AD 303-1 May 305, Rarity: C CONSTANTIVS NOB C ......................... GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI Laureate, cuirassed, bust. 11.7 gm. RIC VI, Londinium, No. 47, Constantius, Augustus of the West CT (Cloke & Toone), No. 4.02.003, 1 May 305 - 26 July 306, Rarity: S IMP CONSTANTIVS PIVS FEL AVG ....................... GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI Earliest obverse legend style. Laureate, cuirassed, bust. 9.9 gm.
Very interesting Orfew... your Galba RIC 9 seems quite close stylistically to your Julius Caesar denarius.. perhaps it is just the thinner features and longer neck. But that is what I thought of when I first saw it. Perhaps I am looking at too many of these
Yes, you are right. That Galba RIC 9 does look a bit like a Julius Caesar portrait denarius. Good eye!
Here's mine with a somewhat hopeful reverse type of FIDES MILITVM...physicians speculate that he had Acromegaly, so yeah that chin is the real mccoy.
Here are images of two Bourgey electrotypes of Constantius gold multiples from Trier struck in AD 297 and 305 which appear to document his physical decline.
Comparing the portraits of an emperor across a range of mints over a range of years is almost always going to produce a wide range of portrait styles and it will take study to familiarise yourself with recognising the emperor and mint directly from the portrait. During the Tetrarchy this becomes almost impossible at some mints as they homogenised the portraits. I thought it might be worthwhile looking at the chronology of a single emperor across their reign from a single mint as an example of how the image of the emperor can change over a relatively short period. I have (almost inevitably) chose Probus from Lugdunum as a starting point. I have used Bastien as the source of the Issue allocation and dating. Emission 1. October 276 A.D. (Portrait is generally based on that of Florian, reverses are based on types from Tacitus and Florian) Emission 2. November – December 276 A.D. (similar portraits to issue 1 but using new reverse types) Emission 3. Start A.D. 277 (the portrait is changing subtly especially around the shape of the nose and the beard) Emission 4. Mid to End 277 A.D. (again there are further subtle changes especially around the beard) Emission 5. End A.D. 277 to Early A.D. 278. I don't have a directly equivalent bust but have chosen the nearest equivalent. There is a more pronounced change in the portrait here. More cuirass is visible and the portrait that had evolved by emission 4 is scaled down slightly accordingly but the facial features remain from emission 4. Emission 6. 278 - 279 A.D. The portraits remain fairly consistent now through to the end of the reign with differences primarily down to the skill of the engraver. There is potentially some indication of the emperor aging in the later issues Emission 7. A.D. 280 Emission 8. Autumn to Late A.D. 281 Emission 9. January to August A.D. 282 A similar exercise of showing similar busts from different mints from the same time period might also be useful but I might jut be boring people at this stage.
NERO RI Poppea-Nero BI tetradrachm of Alexandria LI yr10 63-64AD Milne 217 RPC 5275 Antioch, Syria Nero Regnal year 8, Caesarian year 110, (AD 61/62) AR Tetradrachm 25 mm x 14.05 grams Obverse: NERWNOS KAISAROS SEBASTOU, Laureate bust right, wearing aegis. Reverse: Eagle standing left on thunderbolt, palm branch before, H/IP behind. Ref: RPC4182 Ex: @Ancientnoob hoard
@Clavdivs, a fun rogues gallery of Licinii. Here are several emperors whom I would be very challenged to pick out in a line-up: This empress, I find recognizable by her nose & chin, even with changing hairstyles - here are 3 Faustinae (the II or Junior) all from denarii of the Rome mint and in RCV only labelled as 161-175 AD. RCV 5252 Rome 161-175 AD - Fecunditas : RCV 5253 Rome 161-175 AD Fortunae Muliebri ("Feminine Fortune" - one for @Valentinian's list of reverses unique to one emperor with more on this reverse here from @Roman Collector): RCV 5256 Rome 161-175 AD Venus: