My (two-thirds of) The Twelve Caesars as of September 6, 2023

This is my second time doing the Twelve Caesars. I'm up to eight of the twelve as of this posting, so 2/3 of the way done. My main criteria are a nice portrait and decent eye appeal.

The last time I did the Twelve, a decade ago, I was on a much smaller budget.

Here we go...

Julius Caesar: needed; want a lifetime portrait coin.

Augustus: AR cistophorus of Ephesus.





Tiberius: AR denarius ("Tribute Penny").





Caligula: needed; will probably go with a VESTA As.

Claudius: AE sestertius. Going back to NGC for reimaging and reholdering (for pix without those pesky prongs).





Nero: AV aureus.





Galba: needed; not sure what type I'll go for yet.

Otho: AR denarius; recent CNG win, off to NGC soon.





Vitellius: needed; will likely go with a denarius.

Vespasian: AR denarius; yes, it's a posthumous issue struck under Titus, but I love this coin (I have a thing for capricorns).





Titus: AV aureus; recent purchase from Palmyra Heritage Galleries. Will go back to NGC for reimaging and reholdering.





Domitian: AR denarius; as Caesar under Titus. A recent purchase from Apollo Numismatics. Will go off to NGC soon.

 

Finding: not so hard

Finding nice examples I can afford: more challenging.

 

I’m happy to have Otho out of the way. (For those not familiar, he ruled for only about three months in the year 69, which means he didn’t have time to strike as many coins as some of the others.)