After posting my Agrippina lately, here is her dad on a contemporary bronze, struck by his grandson Caligula. A common coin and his only type (apart from almost identical restoration issues under Domitian and Titus) - I like mine because of it´s reddish copper tone. M AGRIPPA L F COS III / S C As, Rome 37-41 RIC 58 (under Caligula)
I love this type, such a powerful portrait. (Combined with a cute tiny dolphin in Neptune's hand.) There are also some denarii under Octavian celebrating Agrippa's consulship; and the as of Nemausus plus a couple other provincial issues, I think.
I had one of these in spectacular relief. I sold it on eBay because it had aggressive bronze disease that I could not stop. (I fully disclosed the BD in the listing.) I think I got a mere pittance for it ($20?), but I would rather it go to someone who had good experience with BD than for the coin to deteriorate in my possession. Looking back, I wish I had kept it and kept working with it. Even pitted, it showed such good detail that I probably can't replace it for under $100 or more. It's probably my biggest coin regret. And a word about the coin: One of my favorite features is Agrippa's crown that terminates at the top in the shape of a ship's prow. This "rostral crown" in some traditions is given to a man who is first to board an enemy ship. I suspect here it just indicates Agrippa's admiralty. Both Agrippa and Octavian are only about 30 years old when they win at Actium. A remarkable coin for a remarkable man.
My Agrippa had bronze disease, which did a lot of damage before I purchased the coin. I treated it and it's been clear of BD for several years.
Here's a bad photo of my Agrippa with BD. This is after the coin had deteriorated, but you can still see a very strong portrait. Sigh. The one I let slip away. I wish I had tried harder.
nice coins of marc agrippa. i seemed to always find out some detail about the coins i have i didn't know from these post in the forums, this one being a dolphin in the hand on the reverse. he was key to octavian and the roman empire plus would have been caesar himself had he lived long enough. his decendants did become caesars. infamous maybe, but caesars none the less.
Nice portrait on that OP coin I really like that coin type very much Agrippa, As Posthumous issue of Caligula, in honour of his grandfather Rome mint, ca AD 37/41 M AGRIPPA L F COS III, head of Agrippa left with rostral crown Neptun standing left, holding trident and dolphin. Large S C in fields 10.9 gr Ref : RCV #1812, Cohen #3 The following comment is a (quick) translation I made from CGB about a similar coin : "Although Augustus associated his close friend Agrippa in his coinage, he didn't for him alone. Gaius honoured the memory of his grandfather, recalling he had been COS III in 27 BC while Augustus was COS VII at the same time. Gaius, however, as the new emperor would like us to remember his double filiation : Through his father, Germanicus, he's descended from Nero Drusus and Antonia, thus from Tiberius ; through his mother Agrippina the elder, he tells us Agrippa and Julia are his grand parents and he's a grand grand son of Augustus. Agrippa remained prestigious all along the first century CE, although he had died 12 BC. Titus then Domitian will also strike this type, seemingly very succesfull towards population (see RCV 2589 and 2894)" Q
Great coins in this thread. Without Marcus Agrippa, I wonder if there would have been a Roman Empire? Would Octavian have ever become Augustus? Would Antony have established an Eastern kingdom? Would Britain have ever become Roman? Would a Colosseum have ever been built? How different would history have been without Agrippa?
