I picked up the third bronze for my 12 Caesars set. A Claudius AE Dupondius. I really like the greened patina, although I'm not sure what's going on with his shoulder. Could it be a die cud? Wikipedia cut and paste history: Claudius (Full name Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) was the grandson of Mark Antony, brother of Germanicus, and the uncle of Caligula. He was descended from both the Julian and the Claudian clans, as was Caligula. During the assassination of Caligula by the Preatorian Guard, Claudius hid behind some curtains on a balcony in the palace. He was convinced that he would be murdered as well because he was within direct family of Caligula, the last Emperor. A soldier checking the room noticed feet sticking out from underneath the curtains, and upon pulling back the curtains discovered a terrified Claudius. He acclaimed Claudius the new Emperor and took him to the rest of the soldiers, where they carried him out of the Palace on a litter. Claudius was taken to the Praetorian camp, where he was quickly proclaimed Emperor by the troops. According to Suetonius, Claudius suffered from a variety of maladies, including fits and epileptic seizures, a funny limp, as well as several disagreeable personal habits like a bad stutter and excessive drooling when overexcited. Suetonius paints Claudius as a ridiculous figure, belittling many of his acts and attributing his good works to the influence of others. Thus the portrait of Claudius as the weak fool, controlled by those he supposedly ruled, was preserved for the ages. Claudius’ dining habits figure in the biography, notably his immoderate love of food and drink, and his affection for the city taverns. His personal and moral failings aside however, most modern historians agree that Claudius generally ruled well. They cite his military success in Britannia as well as his extensive public works including the construction of two of the biggest aqueducts which supplied Rome with running water. His reign came to an end when he was murdered by eating from a dish of poisoned mushrooms, probably supplied by his last wife Agrippina in an attempt to have her own son from a previous marriage, the future emperor Nero, ascend the throne. Feel free to post your Claudius coins.
See big bronzes that look like this would scare me off because I would be worried about tooling. I dont know if this has been but I myself would ask seasoned collectors before making a purchase like this. It looks ok from matching the others on wildwinds. Looks like a nice coin though. Mine is below, can see the portrait a tad better in hand but it is still got wear. Its my favorite 12 caesars coin I own though. Patina is more green too. Claudius (41-54 A.D.) Attalea Lycia AE 19 O: Bare head left, R: ΑΤΤΑΛΕΩΝ, helmeted head of Athena right. Attalea mint 4.44g RPC I 3366 (2 examples)
Here is one of my favorite Claudius bronzes: Claudius AE As OBV: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TRP IMP P P - Bare head left REV: CONSTANTIAE AVGVSTI - Constantia standing left, raising hand and holding spear; S C across fields Struck at Rome, 42-43 AD 12.7g, 25mm RIC111
Race, good look'in coin, good color...nice pickup... Here's mine.. Claudius 41-54..AD.. AE..AS.. Ob. Claudius bare head left.. Rev. Libertas standing right, large S-C 28mm x 11.05 g.
There are mints other than Rome now recognized by some for the Roman denominations. I'm no expert on them but see Eng's coin as Roman and Bing's as another (Spanish???). It would be good to research that one. I'll show three, none Rome mint IMO. Brockages are a bit less common in bronzes.
Didnt even see my type of claudius listed on wildwinds, just sent it to dane so more then likely it will be published. Also see it was in a lot on heritage too. Cool. http://coins.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=231232&lotIdNo=11019
You are more the expert than most on this forum Doug; however, I took your challenge and am fairly convinced my specimen was struck at Rome (I would have preferred somewhere else). I think my coin is similar to RIC 111 the von Kaenel Type 076 as noted on coin project: http://coinproject.com/mint_coin_list.php?type=3&emp=Claudius&mint=Rome&sort=legend Of course, I'm open to correction or another opinion.
My opinion only, but the style of the obverse portrait doesn't look like a Rome mint. Here are my Rome mints (as, sestertius, denarius, aureus):
Assuming you and Doug are correct, where could one find definitive information regarding the mint of this coin?
Doug will be a better authority on figuring this out. My suggestions would be (1) verify that the obverse and reverse legends are correct; (2) search through RIC Volume 1, under Claudius, for mints other than Rome to see if there are any listings that match the obverse portrait and legends. Following that, I would use www.acsearch.info to see if there have been any auction coins that are similar to yours. Finally, I would try www.coinproject.com to see if that site has any coins similar to yours.
RIC I attributes all issues to Rome. The best study of the western mints of Claudius is Besombes & Barrandon: http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/numi_0484-8942_2000_num_6_155_2281 Here is an as in my collection from Iberian mint I: ROME. Claudius. AD 41-53. Æ As (28mm, 11.64 g, 6 h). Official issue. Iberian mint I, engraver A. Struck AD 41-circa 50. Bare head left Minerva advancing right, brandishing spear and holding round shield; S C flanking RIC I -; Besombes & Barrandon pl. V, 2/3 (obv./rev.) Bing, yours should be found in that article. The others posted in this thread should all be Rome, except for those noted by Doug.
I was searching and found this: http://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-western-mints-of-claudius.213506/ Yours has a similar look to the Spanish (Iberian) coin posted by Cucumbor.
...I don't have a "Claudius".... (left out) I like all the coins posted....but I really like Randy's photo skills, that coin looks sooo phat against the gnarly blue....
Here's the attribution that came with my coin from the seller. It appears to check good on Wildwinds. Claudius, 41-54 AD AE Dupondius, 29mm/11.3g; Rome Mint. Obv: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP. Rev: CERES AVGVSTA, Ceres seated holding corn ears and torch, S C below. (RIC.I.94)
This morning I woke up to find a reply from Dane on wildwinds who said my coin was misattributed, lol. Guess Heritage got it wrong. Its still unlisted though on wildwinds and will be added. Also got a good writeup from dane and a scan of the source Baydur 157, also BMC 13. So thankfully this thread had made me give a second look to my coin which resulted in correct attribution.
