Antony General Agrippa

Hello.
After reading about the 23 legions of Antony and the coinage related to them, I would like to see coins of General Marcus V. Agrippa. After all it appears he was the victor at Actium. I would love to buy a representative Antony Denarius as well, not caring what Legion. Ideas?

 

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Augustus, with Agrippa (27. B.C. 14 A.D.)
GAUL, Nemausus
Æ As
O: Heads of Agrippa left, wearing rostral crown and laurel wreath, and Augustus right, wearing oak wreath, back to back. IMP above, DIVI F below.
R: Crocodile right chained to palm branch with long vertical fronds; above, wreath with long ties, palms below; COL NEM flanking vertical palm.
Nemausus mint, 9-3 B.C
10.26g
27mm
RPC I 524; RIC 1 158


Agrippa (Died 12 B.C.)
Æ As
O: M. AGRIPPA. F. COS. III, head left, wearing rostral crown.
R: Neptune standing left, holding small dolphin and trident; S-C across field.
Rome mint. Struck under Gaius (Caligula)
27mm
9.72g
RIC I 58 (Gaius); MIR 3, 24-6; BMCRE 161 (Tiberius); Cohen 3

 

a well known and common coin:

 

Thanks, what are a couple of the better sites to purchase

 

Coins of Agrippa are common, but most are posthumous.

The most common by far is the As minted by his grandson Caligula, decades after his death. These are inexpensive (>$50) when well worn and corroded


But once you get nicer, expect the price to go exponential - this was my upgrade for about $120, without the weak lettering and corrosion on the reverse, I would expect $500+, and without the wear on the portrait, likely $1,000+

After this, Agrippa features on the popular provincial "dupondius" from Nemausus in Gaul, founded as a colony for retired veterans of Actium and the war in general. These are relatively affordable ($50-150 generally) although they include both lifetime and posthumous issues

Agrippa is on the left - my understanding is that if Augustus is wearing a laurel, it is most likely a later (post 12 BC) issue.

I'll hold off on commentary on Antony's legionary denarii as I only own two extremely worn examples (FYI, you can get worn-out legions denarii for as little as $20 - they were extremely common and circulated until the time of Marcus Aurelius due to their low silver content). IMO, the best Antony to get is the common cistophoric tetradrachm, which is usually the same price or cheaper than a comparable denarius

 

Thank you very much

 

Here's another example of the common Agrippa as with Neptune on the reverse, issued by Caligula. I think it's a perfectly nice coin with a clear legend and a portrait that stands out despite the wear (I like the "cameo" effect). Without getting too specific, I paid about $150 for it to a dealer on VCoins, within the past few months:

Agrippa (d. 12 BCE), AE As, Memorial issue struck by Caligula, 37-41 AD, Rome Mint. Obv. Head of Agrippa left, wearing rostral crown, M AGRIPPA L - F COS III / Rev. Neptune standing left, holding trident in left hand; dolphin resting left on his right forearm; S - C on either side of Neptune. RIC I Caligula [Gaius] 58, Sear RCV I 1812, Cohen Agrippa 3. 31 mm., 11.0 g.



And here's my example of the famous Augustus-Agrippa COL NEM dupondius, with a similar cameo effect:

Augustus AE (Brass) Dupondius, 9-3 BCE, Colonia Augusta Nemausus [Nîmes] (Galla Narbonensis province) Mint. Obv. Heads of Agrippa left and Augustus right, back to back, with Agrippa wearing combined laurel wreath and rostral crown, and Augustus wearing oak wreath, IMP above heads and DIVI F below [Imperator Divi Filius] / Rev. Crocodile right standing on two palm branches, chained to palm-shoot standing behind it, with tip of shoot leaning to right; wreath above and to left of palm-shoot, with long ties extending behind shoot to right, COL - NEM to left and right of palm-shoot. “Type III” of Augustus & Agrippa/Crocodile coin (see https://multicollec.net/1-mo-h/1h04). RIC I 158 (p. 52), RPC I 524 (see https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/search/browse?volume_id=1&number=524), Sear Greek Imperial Coins 157 (D. Sear, Greek Imperial Coins and their Values (1982)], Sear RCV I 1730 (ill.). [See Sear RCV I at p. 337: Commemorates conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE; influenced by Augustus’s settlement of veterans of Egyptian campaign in Nemausus after colony was founded in 27 BCE.] 28 mm., 12.09 g.



I can't help you with Mark Antony, I'm afraid -- the one legionary denarius I bought last year turned out to be a fake. Fortunately, the dealer accepted a return.

 

Here are my only coins of Agrippa. He would had been an excellent Emperor, and was the person who made Augustus.


RI Augustus oak crown Agrippa rostral crown L AE Dupondius 26mm 12.6g Type III 9-3 BCE Nemausus chained Croc wreaths RIC I 158



RI Agrippa AE As 28mm 11g Neptune-S-C Left

 

Augustus & Agrippa, AE Dupondius - Nemausus mint, after AD 10
4th type
IMP DIVI F PP, Laureate heads of Augustus looking right and Agrippa looking left, back to back
COL NEM, Crocodile chained to palm tree
13,52 gr
Ref : RCV #1731, Cohen #8



Agrippa, As - Posthumous issue of Caligula, in honour of his grandfather (died 12 BC)
Rome mint, ca AD 37/41
M AGRIPPA L F COS III, head of Agrippa left with rostral crown
Neptun standing left, holding trident and dolphin. Large S C in fields
10.9 gr
Ref : RCV #1812, Cohen #3

Q

 

I have a similar coin of Agrippa/Augustus, struck in Nemausus , as has been shown already. So i wont post it.
But when it comes to your question about a denarius of MA, and a legionary type: it depends on what you think is a representative coin. As mentioned before, these coins are abundant, so you could browse current auctions, vcoins and ma-shops, to see what is offered. It's a matter of how much you want to spend, vis-a-vis quality. If your intention is to go for a coin with a clear reference to MA, you'd best look for a type with clear obverse legend, i.e. mentioning 'ANTAVG'. In that case, the revere might be of less importance. If you want to focus on the reverse, and a cool legionary type, there are scarces issues, and rare issues, whereas I do believe the special legion-types are rare (I don't know how these are called, but e.g. LEG PRI and COHORTIS SPECULATORUM. But be aware, these demand a high premium!

 

Excellent coins posted by everyone. Here is a somewhat “scuzzy” example of the Restored (Restitution) issue of the above magnificent coin posted by “Q” , that is not often encountered.

AGRIPPA AS, TITUS RESTORATION ISSUE, 80-81 AD

BMCRE Volume II, Rome, Titus No. 281 (Pl.54.9.), 27mm, 10.00 gm.

Obverse depiction: Agrippa, radiate head facing left wearing rostral crown
Inscription: AGRIPPA L F COS III

Reverse depiction: Neptune standing left holding small dolphin and trident
Inscription: IMP T VESP AVG REST - S C (left and right)

Sir James (Title awarded by @Multatuli)

 

Even though it's not the time period I collect, I did buy this as of Agrippa in my earliest days as a collector, because I wanted a portrait of such an important figure. Sure, it's not that great, but since my focus is elsewhere, it'll do.

Agrippa (posthumous), As, Rome mint.
Obverse: M AGRIPPA L F COS III, head left, wearing rostral crown
Reverse: S C, Neptune standing left, holding dolphin and trident
RIC 58

 

Thank you so much. That really helps me

 

Very Nice, I hope to find one like it.

 

Sharing some comments about the Agrippa - Neptun As that I find very interesting:

Historically, why would Caligula want M. Agrippa on an obverse of a coin that was struck in bucket full’s according to the percentage extant/found in his short almost 4-year reign? Why would Tiberius want to have Agrippa on these coins for the years 14-37 AD, which with the percentage of coins extant for the Rome issue alone makes more sense.
Sydenham has already urged in 1917 that Caligula's reign was too short for so vast an issue, and after the publication of Sutherlands book, Carl Kuthmann argued in favor of attributing the whole issue to the reign of Tiberius, other Aes issues being, in his view, ample in number and size to fill Caligula's reign. (Schweizer Muenzblatter 4 1954 73-7). He suggested that the coins of Caesaraugusta, which Sutherland gave as his example of coins reproducing the design of Agrippa Aes, were probably struck not under Caligula, as Sutherland held, but under Tiberius in AD 37. He also suggested that the reign of Tiberius is the most likely historical context for this advertising of Agrippa, since there was a strong personal tie, through Vipsania, between Agrippa and Tiberius (CE Stevens has quoted Velleius 2. 127). But by the fact that Caligula was Agrippa's grandson, Mattingly has said in conversations, " that he still holds these historic considerations as weightier than the numismatic arguments against inception under Tiberius.” He believes that the bulk, at least, of this issue was produced between 22- 31 AD. S. Jameson, however, has argued, on the evidence of the die axis and of hybrids that occur, that one of these 3 groups into which she believes the issue can be divided began to be produced in about 22-23 AD.

 

Denarius struck at a moving military mint during Agrippa's lifetime, one of the only issues struck under the authority of Agrippa and one of the few bearing his name. It was probably minted in Gaul under Agrippa, who was named governor of Transalpine Gaul in 39 / 38 BC and names Agrippa as “consul designate”, in anticipation of his consulship the following year. It was in the latter year, that Agrippa but down an uprising of the Aquitanians.

Military mint moving with Agrippa in Gaul or with Octavian in Italy, 38 BC
17 x 19 mm, 3.485 g
Crawford 534/3; Sear CRI 307;

Ob.: IMP CAESAR - DIVI IVLI F, Bare head of Octavian r., with slight beard, border of dots
Rev.: M AGRIPPA COS / DESIG in two lines across field, border of dots

​

 

I didn't want to start a new thread for a Marcus Agrippa coin, so I'm rehashing this one, because I bought the very common Agrippa coin today (and I'm sure I grossly overpaid, but c'est la vie). It's not in fantastic shape, but I bought it for the portrait because I think it's one of the better, more lifelike, and less cartoonish Agrippa portraits I've seen on coins.

 

"I'm Agrippa"
"And I know one or two holds myself. So you wanna watch it, mate"
"He's the Captain. His name is Agrippa"
"Why couldn't he say so?"

From "Carry On Cleo"







I acquire a bronze coin the seller could not identify who it is but the legend clearly says "M Agrippa". The portrait differs from other Agrippa coins with deep recessed cheek and more of a snarl expression. 30mm but it weighs 15.53 grams heavier than usual.

 

I have a feeling my Agrippa coin is a very good fake.

 

The portrait is all wrong!