My very first Roman coin!

Nice coin @Only a Poor Old Man! Just let it sink in, perhaps you will turn to Romans more

Two thoughts: I personally collect Romans because of the direct historical link with my country. Romans shaped western-Europe, and many links still exist. And not just the old bricks and stones
Secondly, I am facinated by the coinage, because of the messages they contain. They were tools of propaganda. Some are very appealing, perhaps some can be called pieces of art. But I really like that each individual coin type sends out a message, and when I buy a coin, I also buy the message behind it, and I like to figure out the meaning and the message. But I agree, when it comes to style and art, Greek coins are really better looking!

 

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Here's an online article that provides a decent summary of the role of the moneyers during the Republic. And here, an exhaustive list of moneyers from 211-31 BC.

I don't have an Afranius, but here's one of the same design from around the same time, by Publius Cornelius Sulla. In many instances, very little to nothing is known about these moneyers, but Crawford speculates here that the Sulla who issued this coin might have been the grandfather or an uncle of the great dictator Sulla.


ROMAN REPUBLIC
AR Denarius. 3.89g, 17.5mm. Rome mint, 151 BC, Publius Cornelius Sulla, moneyer. Crawford 205/1; Sydenham 386. O: Helmeted head of Roma right; X (mark of value) to left. R: P.SVLA, Victory driving biga right; ROMA in tablet.

 

Here's my Cr. 206/1




I like RR coins...







ATB,
Aidan.

 

Thank you, Al. It seems the Pre-211 BCE Denarius Reform coins are not as noticed. I think they are all beautiful, and very Historic in Roman Republic History.

 

Roman Republic
AR Denarius 149 BCE
Pinarius Natta
Roma X -
Victory Biga whip NATTA ROMA
Cr 208-1 Syd 390

 

Indeed the first Roman silver coins were probably struckly at Metapontum and to Magna Graecia didrachm weight standards and are heftier than the later denarii.

For a long time (maybe still!), I couldn't bring myself to spending as much on a small 3.5-4g coin as on a 16-17g tetradrachm

Sydenham 1 - the first Roman silver coin. Not improved by a previous owner scratching it!





ATB,
Aidan.

 

That was a really nice article. It is quite interesting that until 80 BC you didn't have to be a major name to get that job and it is amazing that they had the relative freedom to put their names on the coins and even pick the designs. I imagine that there must have been some kind of an approval process and somebody must have once said 'You can't put that on a coin!'

I wonder if there were any moneyers that were really proud of their job and picked really nice designs and artists to a degree that it is noticeable today, in the same way that we notice the better artists of Magna Graecia.

 

....other than the few i already had..i started concentrating on RR coins last year...thanks to the good influence of our peeps here with their beauties......and here they are!

 

You aren't the only Orthodox Christian on this thread. I am also. I am a chanter and reader and directed Orthodox choirs for 40 years (retired). I once considered the Diaconate.