Pertinax

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Alwin, Dec 4, 2020.

  1. Alwin

    Alwin Well-Known Member

    I would like to share with you an exceptional work: "Numismatic research on the Emperor Pertinax" by Olivier Lempereur. For all those who are interested in this period this book is essential.

    Pertinax.jpg

    You can find it (especially at CGB) with the following comment (in French, sorry):
    L'empereur romain Publius Helvius Pertinax a régné durant trois mois au début de l'année 193 ap. J.-C., après l'assassinat de Commode, le fils de Marc Aurèle. Ce court laps de temps a néanmoins permis aux autorités impériales et locales de faire frapper un nombre important de monnaies, dans quatre ateliers émetteurs : Rome, Alexandrie, Tomis et Prusa ad Olympum. On trouvera dans cet ouvrage le catalogue complet de ces monnayages, basé sur une recension de plus de 2000 exemplaires, avec un classement par coins de droit et de revers, ainsi qu'une étude détaillée de chacun des ateliers monétaires en fonctionnement sous Pertinax.
    Les volumes de métaux monnayés à Rome, l'estimation du nombre total de monnaies frappées dans les quatre ateliers et l'analyse des types et légendes permettent ainsi de préciser et de renouveler de façon significative la vision de ce règne. Les ateliers de Rome et d'Alexandrie sont traités de manière particulièrement approfondie : le fonctionnement de la Moneta romaine est appréhendé dans les moindres détails (organisation des officines), en s'appuyant sur des données et chiffres précis et non sur de simples suppositions.
    L'atelier d'Alexandrie, à la suite des travaux inédits de Roger A. Bickford-Smith, se voit quant à lui attribuer un monnayage de deniers à légende latine, en plus des frappes classiques. Ce livre s'adresse ainsi aux historiens, chercheurs et étudiants qui y trouveront un résumé de la vie de Pertinax, avec un point important sur son règne, mais surtout une synthèse basée sur des recherches inédites.
    Les réflexions politiques ayant conduit aux choix des types monétaires sont analysées et expliquées. Pour la première fois, le monnayage entier d'un empereur, comprenant frappes romaine et provinciales, se trouve regroupé en un seul volume et fournit un instrument de travail complet et novateur. Cependant, ce nouveau volume de la collection Numismatica Antiqua intéressera également un plus large public, comprenant les archéologues, les conservateurs de musées, les numismates/collectionneurs et plus généralement les amateurs d'art.
    Les monnaies de Pertinax étant rares et onéreuses, elles ont été depuis le XVIIIe siècle particulièrement recherchées et mises en valeur dans les médailliers publics et privés. La publication complète du monnayage de Pertinax est l'occasion pour les Institutions et les particuliers d'améliorer leurs classements, de vérifier l'authenticité de leurs exemplaires et de les comparer avec d'autres monnaies.
    Les très nombreuses planches de fin de volume (presque 100) offrent une illustration intégrale de toutes les combinaisons de coins de droit et de revers répertoriées, et les figures placées dans le texte permettent d'appréhender facilement toute la richesse du répertoire iconographique du règne, des portraits monétaires de l'empereur et sa famille aux types figurant sur les revers (dieux...). Ces illustrations permettront ainsi à un large public, français et international, amateur ou professionnel, de mieux connaître un règne souvent oublié, voire la numismatique romaine en général.
     
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  3. Ricardo123

    Ricardo123 Well-Known Member

    Rare emperor with 2000 coins...
     
  4. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    Wow! Mine is stamped 323 of 2000.

    :)

    PERTINAX

    [​IMG]
    Roman Empire -
    Pertinax (193 A.D.)
    AE sestertius. Rome mint, 19,60 grs. 28 mm
    Obv: LAETITIA TEMPORVM COS II.
    IMP (CAES P HELV - PERTINAX AVG) Head, laureate, to right..
    Rev: LAETITIA TE -MPORVM COS II / S - C Laetitia standing l. holding wreath and sceptre.
    Ref: RIC 17. C. 21
     
  5. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    He is the last guy I need to have "the five emperors.."
     
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  6. Cucumbor

    Cucumbor Well-Known Member

    Looks like an interesting and educationnal book. Thanks for sharing @Alwin

    Q
     
  7. johnmilton

    johnmilton Well-Known Member

    Given that it's in French, I'll have to remain ignorant. :wacky:
     
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  8. Cucumbor

    Cucumbor Well-Known Member

    French is easy, here 3 yo children speak it fluently :D

    Just kidding of course, french is not an easy language, but when it comes to a somewhat technical vocabulary (in business, technics, medicine, etc...) it doesn't use that many words that it would be unattainable (I read auction catalogs in german, sometimes with the help of Google translate, but don't find it is impossible, even though german is a very foreign language to me :))

    Q
     
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  9. Julius Germanicus

    Julius Germanicus Well-Known Member

    I do not really understand French, but haven´t shown my Pertinax for a while:

    Bildschirmfoto 2020-12-04 um 23.29.53.png

    IMP CAES P HELV PERTINAX AVG - laureate Head of Pertinax right
    PROVIDENTIAE DEORUM COS II S C - Providentia standing left, holding up right hand to large star, left hand on breast
    Sestertius, Rome, ca. late Jan-28.Mar 193 (second emission of Pertinax)
    30 mm / 21,06 gr
    Woodward (“The Coinage of Pertinax”, Numismatic Chronicle 1957, pl. XII, 1 (same dies, obv. 11/rev. I.D, citing specimen in Paris); RIC 22; BMCRE 28-30 and pl. 2, 3; Cohen 52, Banti 20 (13 specimens)
    ex Stack´s Coin Galleries Sale 17.07.2002, Lot 420
     
  10. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    I don't know German either, but I can still read coin descriptions -- all one needs to know is a handful of relevant vocabulary. In the same way that I've been able to carry out very productive genealogical research for the last 25 years in German-language documents, many of them handwritten and from the 18th and 19th centuries, after learning to decipher the various kinds of old German script. (Before that, the handwriting is just too different.)

    By the same token, French shouldn't be an obstacle. I own the little French book on the zoo coins of Gallienus, and happen to read French pretty well, but even if I didn't I think the book would still be useful.
     
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  11. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    Sometimes the online translation engines produce a text that make you wish you did read the text. For example, what I might call an officina seems to have been rendered 'pharmacy'??? The problem is that a book made from dead trees does not allow cut and paste which made the below not hard work but answered my curiosity about what was said about the Alexandria mint. The 2000 number refers to the number of examples (copies) seen which is really a small number of coins for a serious study but a lot when there were only 39 RIC numbers involved (remember that aurei and denarii share numbers, RIC ignored the two Alexandria denarius types and there are about 30 Provincial varieties). People who do not collect ancient coins have no concept of just how many of the things exist.

    I used to tell people I read enough French to use Cohen but those were the old days when Cohen was the best book I had. As I read the (blue) gibberish below, the book also discusses coins of the Provincial mints of which I have none but would love to find one sleeping somewhere.

    Everything below the photos of my two Alexandria mint denarii is from the machine translation. These two are rather common on the market as long as you are not too picky about condition. I would enjoy seeing the book but I only have these two coins and have no likelihood of adding more ---- and I am not a 3 year old so learning French would be harder for me.
    rd0020bb1155.jpg rd0030bb1735.jpg

    The Roman Emperor Publius Helvius Pertinax reigned for three months at the beginning of the year 193 AD. AD, after the assassination of Commodus, the son of Marcus Aurelius. This short period of time nevertheless enabled the imperial and local authorities to have a large number of coins minted in four issuing workshops: Rome, Alexandria, Tomis and Prusa ad Olympum. This book contains the complete catalog of these coins, based on a review of more than 2000 copies, with a classification by right and reverse corners, as well as a detailed study of each of the coin shops in operation under Pertinax.
    The volumes of metals minted in Rome, the estimation of the total number of coins minted in the four workshops and the analysis of the types and legends thus make it possible to specify and significantly renew the vision of this reign. The workshops in Rome and Alexandria are treated in a particularly in-depth manner: the functioning of the Roman Moneta is understood in the smallest details (organization of pharmacies), based on precise data and figures and not on mere guesses.
    The Alexandria mint, following the unpublished work of Roger A. Bickford-Smith, is given a coinage of Latin legend, in addition to the classic minting. This book is therefore intended for historians, researchers and students who will find there a summary of Pertinax's life, with an important point on his reign, but above all a synthesis based on unpublished research.
    The political reflections that led to the choice of monetary types are analyzed and explained. For the first time, the entire coinage of an emperor, including Roman and provincial mintages, is grouped together in a single volume and provides a complete and innovative working tool. However, this new volume from the Numismatica Antiqua collection will also be of interest to a wider audience, including archaeologists, museum curators, numismatists / collectors and art lovers more generally.
    The coins of Pertinax being rare and expensive, they have been since the 18th century particularly sought after and highlighted in public and private medalists. The complete publication of the Pertinax coinage is an opportunity for Institutions and individuals to improve their classifications, to verify the authenticity of their copies and to compare them with other coins.
    The very numerous end-of-volume plates (almost 100) offer a full illustration of all the combinations of right and reverse corners listed, and the figures placed in the text make it easy to grasp all the richness of the iconographic repertoire of the reign, monetary portraits of the emperor and his family to the types appearing on the reverse (gods ...). These illustrations will thus allow a large public, French and international, amateur or professional, to better understand an often forgotten reign, or even Roman numismatics in general.
     
  12. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    Regarding rarity, acsesarch returns 3594 hits on Pertinax but some of those are duplicates or ringers from other emperors. This also does not include the vast number in museum collections and coins that have not sold in this century. I'd still say they have thousands of coins so you can do a study on your own and publish the results in a language of your choice. If everyone in the world who collects ancient coins wanted a Pertinax, would there be enough?
     
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  13. Julius Germanicus

    Julius Germanicus Well-Known Member

    If you want a SESTERTIUS of Pertinax however, you will have a hard time. For my die study I could find no more than 130 published specimens. I wonder how many the author of this new book could locate in museums or elsewhere.
     
  14. gsimonel

    gsimonel Well-Known Member

    There are a lot of little kids in my neighborhood who speak Spanish already. As far as I'm concerned, little kids who speak in foreign languages are just showing off.
     
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  15. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    When I lived in Wales, UK, I sent my American kids to the local school in Wales. The Welsh language was compulsory, and they spoke Welsh frequently with their friends. My youngest learned conversational French (much different from the ridiculous American teaching in the States), as well as Japanese. She used French all over Europe in our travels, and used Japanese when she was an exchange student in Japan.
     
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