New Herennia Etruscilla Sestertius

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Julius Germanicus, Jan 10, 2018.

  1. Julius Germanicus

    Julius Germanicus Well-Known Member

    Even though it could be improved detail- and shape-wise, I think this Sestertius of Trajan Decius´ wife is above average in quality for a mid third century bronze coin, with full legends and a big flan.

    Also it does not show Herennia´s usual reverse, Pudicitia, but the rarer Fecunditas type that was introduced only in 251, presumably to promote the flourishing dynasty after Herennius Etruscus and Hostilian had both been promoted to Caesars.

    P2110266.jpg

    HERENNIA ETRVSCILLA AVG - Diademed, draped bust right, hair ridged in waves, seen three quarters from the front, wearing stephane
    FECVNDITAS AVG S C – Fecunditas, wearing long dress and cloak, standing left, holding cornucopia in left hand and placing right hand over child standing in front of her and raising both it´s hands.
    Sestertius, Rome (6th officina) early 251 a.D. (fifth emission of Trajan Decius)
    31 mm / 17,55 gr
    RIC 134a (R), Cohen 9, Banti 3, Sear 9504

    P2110281.jpg

    After the further elevation of Herennius Etruscus to Augustus around June 251, the reverse legend was expanded to FECUNDITAS AVGG (RIC 135 a), but these are quite rare as both Decius and Herennius perished in the swamps of Abritus just a month later and the new ruler Trebonianus Gallus had no intent to keep promoting the fertility of the old dynasty that was still represented by Herennia and her surviving son Hostilian, who was promoted Augustus by the Senate before the general managed to enter Rome.

    The only surviving sculpture of Herennia Etruscilla may be the lady depicted on the lid of the famous Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus which is kept in Mainz, Germany (the sarcophagus itself is in Rome):

    Bildschirmfoto 2018-01-10 um 11.33.01.png

    If that is indeed her, it would make it easier to identify the "owner" of this magnificent piece of art.

    https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-great-ludovisi-sarcophagus.301896/#post-2835092

    Interestingly, Bulgarian archeologists have recently claimed to have discovered the battlefield of Abritus:

    http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/20...-battle-of-abritus-near-bulgarias-dryanovets/
     
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  3. Mikey Zee

    Mikey Zee Delenda Est Carthago

    Very nice...and I always love a historical perspective to bring the coins to life:)
     
  4. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    I like your eye for bronzes.
     
  5. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    I like the condition and shape. For one thing, it makes it unique if nothing else.
     
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  6. TJC

    TJC Well-Known Member

    Real nice sestertius and write-up!
     
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  7. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    I very much like these late sesterces. The value of the weight of brass may have been worth more than the low silver metallic content of the double denarius of circa 250 AD which was notationaly eight times that of the sestertius. Within a few years the public would figure this out and the mints would cease to issue brass coins of this denomination.
     
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  8. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Very nice sestertius. I also have a soft spot for the sestertii that were struck between the reigns of Severus ALexander and Gallienus/Valerian. Some great portraits before things started falling apart at the mint of Rome.
     
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  9. dougsmit

    dougsmit Member

    Mine is much more ordinary and illustrates the standard 'unroundness' to be expected. I would call your coin a 'keeper'.
    ro1360bb1297.jpg
     
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  10. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    Lovely coin. Mine also has the typical squarish flan:

    Etruscilla Fecunditas Sestertius.jpg
    Herennia Etruscilla, AD 249-251
    Roman orichalcum sestertius, 14.04 gm, 28.3 mm
    Rome, AD 250-251
    Obv: HERENNIA ETRVSCILLA AVG, diademed and draped bust, right
    Rev: FECVNDITAS AVG SC, Fecunditas standing left, right hand extended to child standing at her feet; holding cornucopiae
    Refs: RIC 134a; Sear 9504; Cohen 9; Hunter 12.

    This one from her husband is pretty square, too:

    Trajan Decius PANNONIAE sestertius.jpg
    Trajan Decius AD 249-251
    Roman Æ sestertius; 26 mm, 15.09 g
    Rome, AD 250-251
    Obv: IMP CMQ TRAIANVS DECIVS AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust right
    Rev: PANNONIAE S C, the two Pannoniae standing side by side, holding standards
    Refs: RIC 124a; Cohen 87; Sear 9407; Hunter 54.
     
  11. Julius Germanicus

    Julius Germanicus Well-Known Member

    I was notified that some of you pushed the "like" button for my OP coin yesterday eventhough it has been drowned down in the old posts graveyard for a long time :).

    I´ll take that as an excuse for some more random research:

    Banti lists 127 Sestertii of Herennia Etruscilla with the Pudicitia reverse (53 specimens in the Guelma Hoard), but only 10 with Fecunditas, like the OP coin (17 at Guelma).

    As all of the Pudicitia bronzes feature AVG on the reverse, they must be date from the sole reign of Trajan Decius and must have been the only Sestertius type he struck for his wife during most of his reign.

    The Fecunditas type must, due to it´s relative rarity, have been introduced late in his reign (8 specimens with AVG listed by Banti, 16 at Guelma) and, unlike the Pudicitia type, continued into the joint reign of Decius and Herennius Etruscus (2 in Banti plus 3 at Guelma with AVGG).

    There is an even rarer Sestertius (1 specimen in Banti, none at Guelma) of Herennia Etruscilla with a Concordia reverse which only occurs with AVGG and therefore must be her last type in bronze.

    Could it be that the AVGG on Herennia´s final coins does not even stand for Decius and his elder son, but for their successors Trebonianus Gallus and Hostilian? Concordia would be a fitting message then.

    Interestingly, there seem to be no Sestertii of Trajan Decius himself been struck during his joint reign with his son (none known with AVGG), just like there are no known bronzes of Herennius Etruscus as Augustus (even though his Mercury type Sestertii are inscribed PIETAS AVGG (like this one: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/new-herennius-etruscus-sestertius.311194/#post-3000557 ).
    Joint reign types of both father and son do exist as Antoniniani, which prooves that new types were introduced in silver first in order pay the troops and promote the new regime.

    There may have even been a short stop in bronze production at the roman mint altogether in the summer of 251.

    Sestertii of Hostilian struck during his tenure as Augustus during his joint reign with Trebonianus Gallus do however feature the AVGG, if only on his Securitas reverse, see here:

    Bildschirmfoto 2019-09-23 um 17.34.21.png
     
  12. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Herennia Estrucilla? No sestertius but I have a nice bronze from Viminacium about the same size/weight as a sestertius. I'll post it since this thread has been resurrected...

    Herennia Etruscilla, (249-251 A.D.)
    Wife of Trajan Decius

    AE 28 of Viminacium, 14.2 grams

    Obverse: HER ETRVSCILLA AVG, draped bust right, in staphane

    Reverse: PMS COL VIM, female figure (Provincia Moesia) standing, facing left, between bull and lion, AN XII in exergue

    Reference: BMC 32

    etruscilla1.jpg

    etruscilla2.jpg
     
  13. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

    I like my coins to have a pleasing appearance. Yours has that.
     
  14. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Some threads deserve a resurrection.

    Here is the only Henny Penny Herennia Etruscilla I have owned. A decent and respectable silvery ant. Not a trophy coin, by any means, but most of my first Roman collection wasn't. And I notice you scholarly and wise lot here don't set so much stock in trophy coins anyway.

    KCkSl3eOSmqFVMPq0D6R_RS056-HerenniaEtruscilla.jpeg

    (* Autocorrect didn't even fight me over "Herennia Etruscilla". Went right through. Amazing.)
     
  15. ancient coin hunter

    ancient coin hunter 3rd Century Usurper

    Oh yeah. I noticed I mispelled her name in the top of my post but got it right at the bottom...;)
     
  16. jamesicus

    jamesicus Well-Known Member

    How do you define “trophy coin”, m’lord?
     
  17. Cucumbor

    Cucumbor Well-Known Member

    Interesting coins and writeups !

    [​IMG]
    Herennia Etruscilla, Antoninianus Rome mint, AD 250/251
    HER ETRVSCILLA AVG, diademed bust right, with hair ridged in waves
    PVDICITIA AVG, Pudicitia standing left holding transverse sceptre and drawing veil from her face
    3.78 gr, 21 mm
    Ref : RIV IV # 58b, Cohen # 17, RCV # 9494


    [​IMG]
    Herennia Etruscilla, Sestertius - Rome mint, AD 250
    HERENNIA ETRVSCILLA AVG, diademed and draped bust right, hair ridged in waves
    PVDICITIA AVG, Pudicitia seated left, holding sceptre and drawing veil from face, S C at exergue
    16.17 gr
    Ref : RCV # 9505 var,

    Q
     
  18. Marsyas Mike

    Marsyas Mike Well-Known Member

    I hope it is okay to bring up an old post, but it was so good, and so helpful to me that I felt compelled to...which is to say thank you, @Julius Germanicus

    So here it is, one of the Herennia Etruscilla Fecunditas sestertius with the AVGG reverse. It is on a small, very dumpy flan, but weighs a respectable 17 grams because it is so thick. The portrait is very nice, I think.

    upload_2024-1-23_5-48-47.jpeg

    Herennia Etruscilla Æ Sest. (c. June-July 251 A.D.) Rome Mint [HEREN]NIA ETRVSCILLA AVG, diademed & draped bust r. / FECVNDITAS AVGG, S-C, Fecunditas standing left, holding hand over child with hands raised, cornucopiae in left hand. RIC IV Trajan Decius 135a. (17.08 grams / 25 x 22 mm) eBay Jan. 2024
    Note: Dates, emission info:
    RIC/OCRE: 249-251 A.D.
    CNG: "Rome mint, 6th officina. 5th emission, AD 251 Cohen 12"
    Julius Germanicus, Coin Talk: After the further elevation of Herennius Etruscus to Augustus c. June 251, the reverse legend was expanded to FECVNDITAS AVGG (RIC 135 a), but these are quite rare as both Decius & Herennius perished in the swamps of Abritus just a month later..."

    Since nobody had posted one like this, though it was mentioned in the OP, I thought it justified bringing this thread back to the current decade :). But also I want to mention how useful this post was when I was attributing this coin - it came without much by way of attribution and I first thought it was the more common AVG type. But this post made me look again, and I found the second G in AVGG. So again, thank you @Julius Germanicus !
     
  19. Julius Germanicus

    Julius Germanicus Well-Known Member

    Wow, that is an awesome find! At least theoretically these should be just as rare as the Antoniniani of Herennius Augustus (with the ill-proclaimed Victotria Germanica type) struch in the same month or so.

    Or could it even be possible that they were struck during the following short co-reign of Hostilian and Treboniannus Gallus (who did not elevate his wife to Augusta in respect for Herennia Etruscilla who survived her deified husband and son?).

    In any case the small flan and low weight betray the desperate times the empire found itself in in 251 AD.
     
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  20. Marsyas Mike

    Marsyas Mike Well-Known Member

    This was a bit peculiar to research - an acsearch for "135" (which covers as/sestertius) comes up with the as mostly.

    https://www.acsearch.info/search.ht...de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1&currency=usd&order=0

    But some of these weigh as much as mine which seems to be in the sestertius range during that era: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1277301

    Narrowing the search to "135a" came up with the sestertii auctions, 11 of them, with weights all over the place - CNG has a 14 grams and a hefty 23.9 grams!

    https://www.acsearch.info/search.ht...de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1&currency=usd&order=0

    I suppose mine's an as, but in addition to the relatively heavy weight, it does have a brassy appearance on the highlights, so I'm still leaning towards sestertius.

    Anyway, thanks again for the OP - it saved me a lot of floundering around with the AVG/AVGG difference.
     
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