Graffito anyone

I find it interesting what ancient people left on money, and I would like to see
others out there, particularly damnatio if you have one. Here is mine

Graffito giving Eros long hair, but he is a male deity.....
I can imagine a bored soldier doing this.

Antiochus IX
Unknown mint in Phoenicia
114 to 95 BC
Obvs: Bust of Eros right, dotted border.
Revs: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIOXOY ΦIΛOΠATOPOΣ, Nike walking holding wreath. Control/cornucopia to left
19mm, 5.1g
Unpublished with this control mark.

 

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Can anyone define "damnatio"? Vcoins seems to list anything with a few scratches. I thought in ancient times, they would have gone for the eyes.

 

"Damnatio" refers to the practice of "damnatio memoriae," but its very rarely seen in numismatics. The only officially sanctioned examples, to my knowledge, are the erasures of the name of Sejanus from Spanish mint bronzes, and of the portrait and name of Geta from bronzes of Stratonikaea.

 

The ones I'm aware of are when the emporer collected all the coins containing the name of a rival and literally chiseled it off. After ward he reintroduced those coins back into circulation.

 

I don't think this actually happened as such, at least not in any official capacity outside of the two examples I listed. The emperor, with the Rome mint at his command, is more likely to have simply melted down and restruck coins bearing the image of his rival. I think there is evidence of this happening under Septimius Severus.

 

Here's a Caligula sestertius where the name of Caligula in the obverse legend was effaced in antiquity, a "damnatio memoriae" of Caligula, after his assassination.

AD 37-8, issued by Caligula. Imperial Rome mint
AE sestertius 27.63g, 6h, 34.5mm.
Obv: C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PON M TR POT, Caligula laureate head left
Rev: AGRIPPINA DRVSILLA IVLIA, The three sisters of Caligula standing side by side to front, each draped with hair knotted at back; on the left, Agrippina; in center, Drusilla; on right side, Julia, SC in ex.
Ref: Cohen 4; SR1800, BMC 36; BMCRE p. 152, 37; RIC p. 110, 33.
Ex Sternberg, Zurich, 1981. Ex Triton XVII, lot 616 (CNG). Ex. A.K. Collection.

 

Nice!!!

 

I was thinking the same. If I were running the manufacturing, I would just let the offending coins circulate back to the government, and either overstrike (as they did a lot), or just re-melt the metal. The negatives would be: Too much work to deface, you could still recognize WHO the offender was, and then still re-issue faulty and offending coinage.

Personally, I feel that DEFACED coins were regular folks who used the coin, but did not like the damned person, then just scored it out, or wore out the offending name. THAT is interesting history...

 

Interesting!!

The only 'damnatio' I have is a couple of holed fourree denarii and most of my 'graffito' seem more like scratches to me than intentional markings...but what do I know LOL.

 

Here are examples of defaced vs damnatio from my collection.

What were they protesting by defacing this coin? There are other similar defaced examples of this type out there.


Mysia, Pergamum. Pseudo-autonomous issue. Defaced.
MYSIA, Pergamum. Pseudo-autonomous issue. Circa AD 40-60. Æ 20mm, 3.4g
O: Turreted and draped bust of Roma right; ΘЄAN PΩMHN.
R: Draped bust of Senate right; ΘЄΩΝ ϹVNKΛHTON
- RPC I 2374; SNG France 1964-71.


And my Nero damnatio:

Nero Damnatio
MACEDON, Thessalonica. Nero. AD 54-68. Æ 21mm 8.4 g.

O: Bare head left; ΘEC in rectangular punch across - Howgego 537; face erased by second stamp; third countermark on neck?

R: Legend in three lines, eagle standing left above; all within oak wreath. - RPC 1603

Howgego notes that the ΘEC countermark was probably applied in A.D. 68/69, validating the coin as still being legal tender. He also notes that the application of the countermark was not directly connected with the erasure of Nero's face.

For a second example see http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-14314

 

To the right of Zeus's staff

Alexander's cheek / left of caduceus, north of zeus's arm.

 

@Nemo haha that person really disliked Nero

 

There was a countermark removed on the AE35 Septimius/Domna of Stratonicea. There is no way of proving that the mark removed was damnatio or that it matched the one on the Caracalla/Plautilla.

 

It's amazing that someone would actually make a hole to remove the countermark. I've never seen that, thanks Doug!

 

I agree. That punch was hit hard to wipe off every detail.

 

Curious, or were they just making a necklace featuring the goddess on the back?

 

LOL, yeah that was one pee'd off Dude wiping Nero's face off! They were bound and determined that he was a block-head!

 

The British Museum is doing a new exhibition in October called "Defacing the past: damnation and desecration in Imperial Rome". FYI FWIW.

 

I saw a 1628 AV 20 Dukaten coin from Salzburg, where some "idiot" back in the day etched "XX" on the obverse, I guess some member of the nobilty wanted to show the coins value. Many of the larger gold issues did not show value....which was kind of stupid.

 

Well, I'm reminded of this coin.


The large scratch on the obverse. Might be a test mark, or someone was bored?