Hello all, I was just organizing some of my coins and I came across Nero and noticed how his portrait aged over the years. I guess his coinage is one of the most notable for this feature. I was wondering who has coins of an emperor or family members showing the aging process. I will start it off with Nero: 51 AD 60-61 AD 63 AD 64 AD 65 AD 66 AD 67-68 AD
Very interesting. One can see how Marcus Aurelius aged from a beardless Caesar to a full grown mature beard by the time of his death. Severus also might show some aging. But in the third century most of the emperors were so ephemeral that there was no time to show this, with the possible exception of Gallienus (15 years). But in the 2nd half of his reign the coinage had devolved to the point where most of the portraits were not the most realistic.
Are you including coins depicting individuals as children and later as adults (a status often signified by adding beards), such as Geta, Caracalla, and Elagabalus, or are you asking specifically about aging in depictions of people who started out as adults?
Two Geta examples: Geta. As Caesar, 198-209 AD. AR Denarius (3.59 gm). Rome mint. Struck 200-205 AD. Obv: Bareheaded and draped bust right. Rev: Felicitas standing left, holding caduceus and cornucopia. RIC IV 9a; RSC 38a. Geta, as Caesar. 198-209 AD. AR Denarius (18mm; 2.22 gm; 6h). Struck 209 AD. Obv: P SEPTIMIVS GETA CAES, bare head right, bearded. Rev: PONTIF COS II, Genius standing left, holding grain ears in left hand and patera in right hand over burning altar to left. RIC IV 59b; RSC 114.
here's Constantine II on a coin issued A.D. 317-318 and he looks older than he actually was, since he was only about 2 years old at the time. and here he is in his full glory, with sideburns and moustache, before his death in A.D. 340, so around 24 years old.
The youngest Caracalla portraits show him as Caesar 196-7 AD. The oldest are TRP XX unless you want to count his posthumous issues. In the strange but true category, the meanest looking portraits came a couple years before the end of the reign.
Constantine I in A.D. 307 about 35 years old Constantine in A.D. 335 and not looking any older, actually maybe even a little younger though he is actually 63 years old.
I've always liked this Geta coin issued the year of his death in 211. He looks so much older than his earlier coins. It gives me the feeling of promise never realized... but as I understand it, in reality Geta was nearly as bad as his brother.
Teen mom Faustina II: Faustina II, AD 147-175/6. Roman Æ as, 9.72 g, 25.7 mm, 5 h. Rome, AD 147-150. Obv: FAVSTINAE AVG PII AVG FIL, draped bust wearing band of pearls around the head, right. Rev: HILARITAS S C, Hilaritas standing right, adjusting veil and holding long palm. Refs: RIC 1396b; BMCRE 2151-52; Cohen 115; RCV 4725. Grandmother* in her forties: Faustina II, AD 147-175/6. Roman orichalcum sestertius, 23.49 g, 29.0 mm, 11 h. Rome, AD ca. 174-176. Obv: FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: MATRI MAGNAE S C, Cybele seated right, holding drum in left hand on left knee; to left and right of throne, lions, seated right. Refs: RIC 1663, BMCRE 932-935; Cohen 169; Sear 5281; MIR 25; ERIC II 205. Notes: One of the last lifetime issues of Faustina II. Ex-Morris collection. *Her first-born child, Annia Galeria Aurelia Faustina, and her husband, Senator Gnaeus Claudius Severus, had a son, Tiberius Claudius Severus Proculus, who also became a senator.
