Today some very nice coins came in, including my first Lucius Verus (161-169), or so I thought. According to the seller, this is an AE of the city of Amphipolis in Macedonia, the reverse showing Artemis Tauropolis standing left, holding long torch and branch. "SNG ANS 193 var. (torch and branch in other hand)". What fascinated me, was the youthful portrait of the emperor, not with the abundant curls and the forked beard you usually see on Lucius Verus - only a small mustache and (this type of beard I had to look up) a soul patch. Could it be a Caesar coin? But I didn't find Lucius Verus figuring as caesar anywhere. However, an unadorned head with the text ΚΑΙCΑΡ ΟΥΗΡΟC ('Kaisar Oueros') could hardly mean anything else than 'Verus Caesar'. I won the coin (it was not expensive) and now I looked it up in my old Sear. There I found the solution: So it was Marcus Aurelius as caesar after all. His full name, starting from 139, was Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus Caesar. His forefathers carried Verus as one their family names. Marcus being born in 121, this coin is from the 140s or 150s. AE Marcus Aurelius Caesar, Amphipolis (Macedon). 139-161. Obv. ΚΑΙCΑΡΟΥΗΡΟC. Bare head right. Rev. ΑΜΦΙΠΟΛEΙΤΩΝ. Artemis Tauropolis standing left, holding long torch and branch. 17 mm, 3.83 gr. Sear 1542. Yellow color.
The full names of the emporors is always a source of confusion for me! Cool portrait on that provincial, I wouldn't have even guessed it to be MA...looks different!
Cool @Pellinore ... Fun research. Nice coin and thanks for the info... Interesting... A couple months ago, I captured a Marcus Aurelius as Caesar... RI MARCUS AURELIUS AR Den as Caesar TR POT VI COS II - Genius stg at altar hldg standard And, I have had this Lucius Verus for a while... RI Lucius Verus 161-169 CE AE As 24mm Mars w Trophy
In fact I always wanted a Marcus Aurelius as Caesar because of the nice portraits of these coins: a prudent young man, promising to be a wise emperor. Now I bought one without knowing!
Nice coin. I have nothing to add except two poor photos of worse coins each having Verus in the name. This is common on early Marcus Provincials. I really need to reshoot these but don't know it will make them legible.
Interesting coins with more curly and less mustachy portraits of the caesar. The lower reads 'Adrianopoleit' (very nice with the archer!), but the upper one I can't read.
@Pellinore I really like your coin! Nice post... Yep, Marcus' family name was Verus and he gave that to Lucius who was originally named Commodus before he dropped that and became Verus. Pretty confusing, huh?
The upper is Nikopolis ad Istrum with the Apollo Sauroktonos reverse. I am quite fond of that reverse for reasons explained on my website and early examples are not all that easy to find so I was able to talk myself into buying this dog of a coin. Severan examples are easier. The Hadrianopolis coin is also an Apollo but shown shooting a bow which is more common for his sister Artemis.
