Greetings all – this is my first post here. With the arrival of Aelius today, I have completed my Nerva-Antonine + wives set (with the exception of Plotina in silver which I can’t see happening given the rarity and cost!). I spent some time messing around with a basic photo editor to try and squeeze them all together. The absent Verus was purchased at a coin fair in London, so I’ll attach a quickly spliced together photo shot with my aging phone. I know The Antonines/adoptives have featured on CoinTalk in the past, but I would love to see what others have collected over the years. I’m particularly keen on coins connected to campaigns or other unique events (having read a little about the ‘Concordia Augustorum’ between Verus and Aurelius, for example). I enjoy learning about these unique events or occasions. However, I’d love to see anything related to this group. I have gotten real pleasure learning about Roman history, collecting ancients (and from this forum) over the past 3-4 years.
nice...a gal or two and you'll be complete! ...i bid on Aelius coins a lot but but so far not enough...
Amazing set. I could stand to take a better pic of mine but I’ve only had it for 4 years so all in good time. Aelius. Caesar, AD 136-138. AR Denarius (17.5mm, 3.41 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck under Hadrian, AD 137. Bare head right / Felicitas standing left, holding caduceus and cornucopia. RIC II 430 (Hadrian); RSC 50.
Congratulations! It's a nice set, with good looking coins. Here's my digital tray of the set. I don't have the emperesses:
Great coins @GarrettB . I’ve shown my digital coin tray a few times so I’ll spare you all. I’ll show some coins with some comments on why I like them instead. Nerva doesn’t have much in the way of historical accomplishments in his short reign other than adopting Trajan. Therefore I went with the portrait. This portrait strikes me as a venerable old Roman senator. Not the biggest of the Nerva noses but it ain’t bad… Most people think this coin references Trajan’s bridge across the Danube into Dacia during his invasion. I wrote extensively that I think it may be a reference to the building of a canal and road system he undertook in preparation for the invasion. Either way it’s a cool historical tie in. You can’t get more historical than Hadrian’s “Travel Series.” This one commemorates his visit to Africa. This is another one dictated by the portrait… look at that handsome devil. It’s purple… nuff said. The vast majority of Faustina I coins are posthumous. This is a rare lifetime issue. This one commemorates the Germanic Wars that made up such a big part of Marcus Aurelius’ reign. Lucius Verus doesn’t get enough credit for his perfectly adequate performance in the Parthian War which he travelled to the east to oversee. This coin commemorates the victory of the Roman army in that war. This guy went nuts and thought he was Hercules! This is the perfect coin for his reign.
I have a very, very worn Aelius... luckily this sestertius was misattributed to Antonius Pius on VCoins... so I was very happy to spend $20 shipped for it... it fills a hole quite nicely. AELIUS (136-138). Sestertius. Rome. Obv: L AELIVS CAESAR. Bare headed and draped bust right. Rev: TR POT COS II / S-C. Fortuna standing right, holding rudder and cornucopia, Spes standing left, holding flower. RIC 1054. Weight: 24.5 g. Diameter: 30 mm.
Lovely coins - thanks for sharing everyone. Curtisimo, those are fantastic coins. I love the reverse on that Hadrian. I'll have to look more into that Hadrian travelling series.
My Nerva-Antonine dynasty set: Nerva Trajan Hadrian Aelius Caesar Antoninus Pius Marcus Aurelius Lucius Verus Plus some spouses and extended family members: Faustina Senior Faustina Junior I just need Commodus, Crispina, Lucilla, and Sabina to complete the set. I might get one of Plotina’s provincial bronze coins.
