NEWP, Julia Domna Denarius, Cybele

This is my first purchase of the year. Some weeks ago, I had mentioned my interest in the Cybele types of Julia Domna. Doug Smith recommended this coin to me, but I had to sit on it until the holiday expenses were well in my financial wake, hoping that nobody would swipe it out from under me.

The details on the reverse of this coin are really quite astonishing, and perhaps you'll agree with me that they more than abundantly make up for the somewhat irregular and cracked flan...



Julia Domna. Augusta, AD 193-217. AR Denarius (19 mm, 3.25 g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck under Septimius Severus, circa AD 205. Draped bust right / Cybele, leaning on tympanum (drum) and holding branch and scepter, seated left on throne flanked by two lions. RIC IV 564 (Septimius); RSC 123. Good VF, lightly toned.

 

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Beautiful coin JA, but is that a clown nose on Cybele? Good detail especially on the reverse, and the obverse ain't bad either.

 

She's the mother of all bozos.

 

The lion under the throne is GREAT.

 

At the risk of incurring Doug and Martin's ire for having so few Severan coins, I'll admit to owning only one denarius of Septimius, and now one of Julia. But they do make a lovely couple...

 

Wow Big J, details on the reverse are awesome, very nice couple!!!!

 

Nice denarius. I have noticed three different portraits of Julia Domna so far, might be more. Yours look right in the middle of realistic and cartoonish. btw, I'm aiming to get at least one Julia Domna coin too.

 

Two nice coins with as much that is different about them as there are links between them. A lovely yet somehow disparate pair of coins.

 

She had a wide face, and a slightly largish nose, but she was not unattractive. It's the hairstyles that seem cartoonish today...

Link

 

Well, I meant the way she looks on the coin. The hairstyle is always the same but the face is not. The eyes, mouth and chin are the most noticeable changes on certain types of coin depicting her.

 

I looked through a few pages of her denarii at vcoins, and I see what you mean. Some of portraits are pretty, some masculine, others seem like caricatures. Very interesting.

 

Wow JA, that's a fantastic coin ... man, you've blasted out of the blocks in 2015!!

=> yup, you're like Usain Bolt!! (congrats to your great start!!)



Well, sorry but I'm still the same guy that I was in 2014, so I'm still gonna proudly post my only Julia Domna coin (I like you and I figured that you'd want another awesome cartoon hairdo to look it, right?)




Oh and I agree with Martin => that's a fantastic lion (I have coin-envy)

 

That's a magnificent coin, Steve! The style and detail on the biga are superb.

 

nice coin and super headcoupe. i love it.

 

I'll go with the three portrait count for Rome if you are cutting it to the minimum but you could split a couple of them into sub types if you want to get picky. JA's is first and Steve's is third so I'll put up a second type from the late period while Septimius was alive. Note the back part is a lot like the earlier one while the part over the ears is more like the late period.

 

Sweet, a type I have wanted.

 

Man, that's a super coin, JA!

 

Nice coin JA. The detail on the reverse is outstanding! But I like the portrait too.

 

I'm enjoying the flurry of activity and 2015 buying activity on the board. Great new addition, JA... the reverse is truly fab!