Featured Roman Imperial coin lettering & inscriptions

I have posted this header of a flyer I made up for a lecture I gave several years ago, previously. I wish I could have had access to the coins posted here by @octavius then - they would have been great teaching aids!


Please excuse the clipped-off right edge of the image.

 

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I am curious to ask what kind of pen(s) you use to write in these styles?

 

I use a variety of pens and inks for my lettering renditions. I mostly use cheap Osmiroid or Manuscript (trade names) fountain/cartridge pens with extra fine chisel edged nibs and bottled Waterman black ink these days (that includes for most of the lettering exemplars I have posted here) for convenience (and out of laziness). My favorite “upscale” calligraphic fountain pens have always been Mabie Todd “Swan” with very fine nibs. I have always liked Waterman fountain pen inks.

For formal presentations, etc. I use self prepared Goose or Turkey primary flight feather quills with home made reservoirs and grind my own stick ink (mixed with distilled water to the right consistency). On occasion I use ubiquitous reservoired steel nib calligraphy pens. I only write formally on Cowley’s calfskin manuscript vellum that I pounce myself using sandarac and finely powdered pumice.

I write informally (notes, letters, etc.) on nice (but inexpensive) regular correspondence paper.

 

Just passing interest: Elizabeth I was an accomplished Calligrapher - as a young princess she was tutored by Roger Ascham - a renowned British scholar who did much to introduce Italian Renaissance cultural influences to Britain. Ascham was himself an accomplished Calligrapher.

I own (or rather owned, for I cannot find it) the following coin of hers:



Obverse inscription: ELIZABETH DG ANG FR ET HIB REGINA
(Elizabeth by the grace of God Queen of England France and Ireland)

Reverse inscription: POSVI DEV ADIVTOREM MEV
(I have made God my helper)

She frequently wrote letters etc. in a fairly accomplished hand many of which have survived the passage of time.

Here is an exemplar of Elizabeth’s Italic (cancellaresca corsiva) writing hand:



She is the only monarch that was a practicing calligrapher that I know of.

 

I couldn’t remember why I chose the following sestertius of Philip I to illustrate the (approximate) beginning of the decline of the quality of Roman Imperal coin lettering …………


RIC IV 187a, Philip I, Date: 244-249 AD, 29.79 mm, 16.81 grams.

Obverse depiction: laureate, draped and cuirassed bust facing right.
Inscription: IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG

Reverse depiction: Salus standing left, holding scepter and feeding snake which arises from altar before her.
Inscription: SALVS AVG, S - C, left and right.

…………… then I remembered, it was because the commemoration of the one thousandth anniversary of the founding of Rome occurred during his reign. The traditional foundation date is April 21, 753 BC.

 

Following is a coin example from an ill-fated experiment of mine to create a different (eye-catching) coin show display of my Julio-Claudian coins -- it didn't work. The complete display took up too much room, it wasn't attractive, the cards took too long to make up -- and I didn't like it anyway!



However, the coin itself is a rather nice example of a dupondius minted by Caligula to honor his father, Germanicus. Unusual in that the inscriptional lettering is entirely horizontal.

 

A belated personal thank you, Pete!

 

I have encountered several slightly different definitions of patina and have personally seen them applied in different ways by different collecting groups (e.g. coin collecting, antique firearms collecting, antique and vintage hand tool collecting, antique furniture collecting {ala “The Antique Road Show”} ……… and so on).

My own favorite definition of patina is: “the surface of an object that has grown lovely through use and the passage of time”.

Please list your own favorite definition.

 

I like how the opinions on patina vary so much between industries. I am in the vintage musical instrument industry and there is almost no instance when an original patina is preferred to a well-buffed and shiny instrument.

the only exception is in the lacquering if vintage saxophone, as some purists claim that relacquer diminishes the sound quality. For all other woodwinds, a “factory fresh” appearance is always preferred

 

I have to say - I can understand too much work, and maybe too large, but I don't think "unattractive" applies.

I like your definition. I don't have a favorite description, however easy to point to coins from you and @octavius to illustrate. Here's a coin that meets my criteria for "nice patina":

Egypt, Alexandria, Valerian I, AD 253-260, Tetradrachm, dated RY 4 (AD 256/257)
Obv: A K Π ΛI OVAΛЄPIANOC ЄVЄV C, Laureate and cuirassed bust right
Rev: Nike advancing right, holding wreath and palm frond; L Δ (date) across field
Ref: Dattari (Savio) 5165

 

Thanks @hotwheelsearl. Very interesting information relating to vintage musical instruments that I wasn’t aware of.

 

That is a lovely coin that truly embodies “nice patina” as I define it in my eyes @Sulla80 - thank you for posting it.

 

@jamesicus - your write ups and info pertaining to epigraphy are so interesting and intriguing. Your calligraphy is outstanding. I am a lover of the Latin language, and I wonder if you have any thoughts about their cursive writing, since this was the style of the ordinary literate man on the street. Most all of the every day graffiti was written that way.

two books related to this subject some may be interested in are..
1. Scribblers, Sculptors, and Scribes, a companion to Wheelock's Latin textbooks , Richard LaFleur.

2. Latin Palaeography, Antiquity and the Middle Ages , Bernard Bischoff, Cambridge University Press.

 

That is quite a tall order @octavius. There is so much information to be covered and I cannot resist going into great detail. I think all calligraphers who are worth their salt are students of Paleography to some degree and follow the progression of Western writing hand historical development from Roman times until the present. There are a lot of gaps there, but I think it would be detrimental to this thread to go deeper.

Let me offer this: I determined early on, when I was a beginning student, that my Calligraphic path would be Practical everyday handwriting rather than, for instance, illuminated manuscripts and commercial presentation pieces. It is hard to explain all that in a few sentences. I have recovered one of my archived web sites and I provide a link to it below. Please read as much of that as you can, for it will, I hope, explain my calligraphic endeavors in great detail:

https://web.archive.org/web/20190208145817/http://jp29.org/itdr.htm

The pages load somewhat slowly now unfortunately and some of the links do not point to all of the accompanying images. You may be able to recover other pages.

 

One of my favorite DIVVS AVGVSTVS coins:


BMCRE Vol. I, Rome, Caligula, No. 88, Dupondius, 40-41 AD
RIC, Vol I, Rome, Caligula, No. 56, Dupondius, 40-41 AD

Obverse depiction: head of Augustus, radiate, facing left
Inscription: DIVVS AVGVSTVS in arc above, S C left and right (unusual on obverse).

Reverse depiction: Augustus, laureate and togate, seated on curule chair, holding olive branch in right hand.
Inscription: from lower left, CONSENSV SENAT ET EQ ORDIN PQR

Some unusual legend lettering there

 

Just as a point of interest, here is a Cowley invoice for vellum purchased by me - note the 1985 date - (extra letterhead included because I like them so).





Cowley - http://www.williamcowley.co.uk/ - is a unique source of parchment and calfskin vellum for Calligraphers, Bookbinders, Symphony orchestras (tympani), Military organizations (drum heads) and the British Parliament (all original bills are required by law to be recorded on genuine vellum). Cowley’s is a surviving industry from the past - a real anachronism. Newport Pagnell is a delightful old Buckinghamshire village, in addition to Cowley’s, the home of Morgan sports car manufacture. Side note: they serve excellent ale at the local Pub!

 

A Constantius London mint Follis that features some Pretty nice inscriptional lettering for the time:


RIC Volume VI, Londinium, Group I, (ii), folles, Class II, (b), No. 17-22, c. 300 onward, larger, laureate elongated head on shorter neck (10.8 - 9.0 gm). No. 20 - Constantius - Caesar of the west:

FL VAL CONSTANTIVS NOB C ..................... GENIO POPV -- LI ROMANI

Laureate, cuirassed, bust facing right

 

Here is a coin struck by Claudius that features nice lettering on rough surfaces:


RIC Vol. I, Claudius, dupondius, Rome, No. 92, 41-42AD, (12.7gm)

Obverse depiction: Antonia, draped bust facing right
Inscription: ANTONIA AVGVSTA

Reverse depiction: Claudius, togate, standing left, holding simpulum in right hand
Inscription: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG PM TRP IMP - S C (left and right)

 

It appears this thread has run its course and I have run out of things to say or add (although I will be glad to respond to any more posts).

I want to particularly thank the following Coin Talk members who took the time to post comments, questions or expressions of appreciation for my efforts - they mean a lot to me - besides they helped keep this thread alive and on page one!

@PeteB
@Sulla80
@furryfrog02
@AncientJoe
@hotwheelsearl
@octavius
@Valentinian

And thank you to all those who gave likes - they are much appreciated.

James

 

Thanks, James, for sharing your knowledge and artistry. My favorite posts change the way I see the coins that we collect - yours is one of these. This coin stands out, while not meeting the high standards of the Judeo Claudians, with more careful and slightly larger legends - did some regions (mints) value careful lettering more than others?
Probus (276-282 AD), silvered AE Antoninianus, Lugdunum, 282
Obv: IMP C PROBVS P F AVG, Radiate and cuirassed bust to right.
Rev: TEMPOR FELICIT, Felicitas standing front, head to right, holding caduceus in her right hand and cornucopiae in her left, B in field left.
Ref: Bastien 387; RIC II 129

You have me looking at the letter forms on my coins and pondering the relationship between the stone carver, the engraver and the calligrapher...