This will probably be my last coin for a while. My 2004 Honda Pilot, with 215,000 miles, had to be replaced recently. Bummer because that was the best SUV ever! As we all know cash flow is king and new car payments are ungodly these days! (We can start the pity party now!) Anyway, I picked up a rather "rare" DIANA LVCIFERA coin by Valerian I. From what I can gather this would be a coin minted in ~218 AD for the birth of Gallienus. So far, OCRE has two examples, Vcoins has one and ACSearch has one of this type. That's a total of 5 including mine. DIANA LVCIFERA. Diana the bringer of light. Diana stands, holding transversely, with both hands, a lighted torch. In exchanging the bow and arrow for the torch, allusion is here made to her other titles and qualities, as Lucifera, or as Luna, whose light, being borrowed from the Sun, she was styled his sister.
Nice My only Diana Lvcifera coin is a Julia Domna: JULIA DOMNA Fouree Denarius OBVERSE: IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG, draped bust right REVERSE: DIANA LVCIFERA, Diana standing left, holding long torch with both hands Struck at Rome, 211-217 AD Struck under Caracalla 3,1 g; 18,3 mm RIC 373A [Caracalla]
I have a decent Gordian III...but for the life of me I am not sure why he would have minted one. He didn't have any kids! Maybe his father-in-law was being optimistic or minted one for himself. I have just started reading up on Gordian III but I believe his father-in-law had more pull in Rome than Gordian III did.
I don't understand: why would he have only minted denarii if he had kids? Understandably by the time of Gordian III, any denarii would've been AE anyways. I think I have a nice sestersius of Gordian III. Let me look.... I dimly recall this was around $80 when I bought it many years ago.
That's a coin I would gladly add to my growing, yet very small, Diana Lucifera sub collection. Here they are Congrats on a rare acquisition Q
Here's my Gordian III coin. So I have a new sub-collectin starting. Seems like I am always starting a new sub-collection..shaking my head.
Me too! For a 7th grade school project my son had to build a model employing shapes for which had to calculate the volumes and surface areas. He chose a sub: the U.S.S. Maine: SSBN 741. We wrote to the Navy and got a response back that the crew was delighted someone built a scale model of their ship. It had to be of paper & built from scratch. Of course I still have the sub model. A SSBN is a ballistic missile nuclear sub.
Nice addition to your collection, @Ryan McVay - and hard to find too. I recently got one of these and didn't find many other examples. Since Valerian wasn't ruling in 218 (that'd be Caracalla) this wasn't minted at that time for the birth of Gallienus, I suspect. I'm not sure why Diana was used - but as others show above, she did appear on emperor's coins from time to time. Here's mine: Valerian I Antoninianus (253-255 A.D.) See notes Viminacium Mint IMP C P LIC VALERIANVS AVG, radiate, draped bust right / DIANA LVCIFERA, Diana standing right, holding torch RIC V 212; Cohen RSC 51; Göbl MIR 36, 1560a; Cunetio 812 (3 spec.). (4.27 grams / 22 x 21 mm) eBay Nov. 26, 2023 Note: Dates, emission info: RIC/OCRE: 254-255 A.D. CNG: 253-255 A.D. 1st emission FORVM: Göbl MIR 1560d, SRCV III 9935, Cunetio 812 (3 spec.), RIC V-1 212 (S, Mediolanum), RSC IV 51 (Viminacium), Hunter IV - (p. xxxviii), FORVM & CGB.fr describe bust as draped and cuirassed. Sorry to hear about your vehicle - my 1991 Toyota Celica GT recently passed away (I bought it c. 1995 off my sister, the original owner) - it was a great car, but it literally was rusting in two! Bought another cheap oldie because I hate car payments (and am able to walk to work, so I don't drive much).
I just added my own Faustina/ DIANA LVCIF to my collection! That makes Gordian, Valerian and Faustina. I acquired an AE Severus Alexander with a torch bearer too. But it doesn't count in this grouping- it is identified as Selene.
Well, that's a nice collection! I stand corrected! Nowadays there's no such thing as a nice car with low payments! Kinda like trying to find nice sized Greek silver under $250!
