A coin from every Roman emperor?

Gavin Richardson, your assessment sounds accurate. After the death of Commodus, the orderly & predictable transition of becoming emperor became more chaotic. The conquest of powerful generals & an empire too large to control led to many pretenders.

 

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Like many things, ancients seem to follow the "80/20" rule; you can get 80% of the Roman emperors for 20% of the cost of a full set. Especially if you are willing to break away from doing a solid run of a single denomination for each (and add provincials to the mix) you could make a very respectable collection on a budget of $100 per emperor.

It's easier if you break it down into groupings and focus on knocking them out one by one:

"12 Caesars"
Julio-Claudians - Easy to complete if you do provincials, but tough to stick to Imperial, especially in high grades.
69 AD civil war - Expect $200+ for Galba and Vitellius, $300+ for Otho
Flavians - Easy to complete, except for the women

"Nerva Antonines"
Nerva - Available, but pricy at $100+
Trajan - Common
Hadrian - Common
Aelius Caesar - Scarce and tougher to get, usually $150+
Antoninus Pius - Common
Marcus Aurelius - Common
Lucius Verus - Common, but scarce in high grade
Commodus - Comon

193 Civil War
Pertinax - Expect $200+ even for low grades
Didius Julianus - $300+ for low grades
Pescennius Niger - $300+ for low grades
Clodius Albinus - $100+ for coins as Caesar, more for coins as Augustus

Severan dynasty - Mostly common and very cheap ($50 will buy an AU denarius). Macrinus is more pricy at about $150+

"Crisis"

Maximinus Thrax - Very cheap even in top grades; a common-type denarius in mint state can be bought for $100 or less!

238 Civil War
Gordian I - $500+
Gordian II - $500+
Pupienus - $300+
Balbinus - $300+

Early crisis - very common and cheap, except for Hostilian ($100+) and Aemilian ($150+).

Middle Crisis (Valerian + Gallienus dynasty) - Easy to get, but exponentially pricier in higher grades.

Late Crisis (Claudius II - Carinus) - Generally affordable, but Florian will set you back a bit (although only about $100 for a high grade)

Tetrarchy - Easy to get at about $50-100 for a nice AU follis

Constantinian dynasty - Very common and affordable, even in top grades.

Valentinian dynasty - Very common and affordable in middle grades, but higher grades are scarce to rare.

Theodosian Dynasty - Very common, but bronze becomes degenerate and small. Gold is reasonably affordable.

Late Western empire - After Valentinian III, all emperors are almost prohibitively rare. Many only issued gold, and fetch thousands of dollars even for low grades. Romulus Augustulus alone will usually fetch tens of thousands at auction. I've heard it claimed that all of the Western emperors who ruled in the two decades from the death of Valentinian III to the fall of Romulus Augustulus issued fewer coins than Otho did in his three month reign.

Late Eastern Empire - Affordable if you stick to the dumpy monogram bronzes; you can also get gold fairly cheap, about $200 for a tremissis, $500 for a solidus. After Anastasius, the Byzantine Empire begins from a numismatic standpoint.

 

I agree with the sentiments above that you can only get about 85-90% of the emperors and usurpers. Some usurpers are known only from a few coins that have made their into museums or hands of collectors. If you branch out and collect wives, daughters, and other figures (like Agrippa) your collection will be much more representative. In a sense it is impossible to collect coins of every ruler because some known to history (such as the usurper Achilleus in Egypt) issued no coinage.

I also collect Byzantine coins but consider them separate from Roman coins at the time of the monetary reforms of Anastasius at the end of the 5th century. He introduced large bronze coins once again after decades where emperors issued infrequent quantities of tiny low-grade bronze coins. This new coin sometimes called a follis was worth 40 nummi.

 

I am finding it an interesting journey. I focus mainly in the Roman Republic, but most people speak about the Roman Empire, including Augustus onwards, within these threads. I began by having a few people gift me some coins, I would purchase reasonable cost coins, get some bonus coins while negotiating, etc. I even purchased a couple albums that list and hold the Emperors in order.

I have over 150 Roman Rulers (coins depicting Emperors, Usurpers, Wives, Sons, other family, etc.). There is probably another 75 or so that I would need to “complete” the set. (NOT including what is called Byzantine.) However, many of those coins are exponentially more expensive, only 1 or 2 coins are known, or some Emperors / Usurpers have no known coins.

I never intended to pursue the Rulers, it just kinda happened as I was focusing on my target Historical areas (all in the BCE time periods.) I hope to pass on the Roman Ruler collection to my Grandkids as a span of historical placemarkers...

 

I only have 45 different Emperors/ Empresses. There are so far and counting....
35 AV Aurei/ Solidi/ Semissis/ Tremissis
45 AR Denari
Even at that small number....probably spent over 400K
Hope to add 10 more in 2019 (25 coins) AV/AR
John

 

This is a very popular set based on Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars, a collection of biographies written during the reign of Hadrian. The downside of collecting the 12 Caesars is that they include some very short-lived and to most people obscure emperors whose coins are very hard to find and expensive.

Fortunately, there are alternatives if you want a historically interesting set of imperial portraits. Here is what I aimed at when I started to collect Roman coins:

1. Julio-Claudian Dynasty, in bronze

It makes sense to aim at attractively worn middle bronzes with good portraits. Denarii of most Julio-Claudians are much more expensive and in some cases hard to obtain. Provincial coins often differ extremely from imperial coins when it comes to portrait style and quality, therefore they are out of the game.

We are going to start with Augustus (r. 27 BC–14 AD), who in 27 BC was the first who was granted the title augustus. Historians therefore often take 27 BC as the starting date of the Roman Empire.

Augustus, Roman Empire, as, 15 BC, Rome mint, moneyer: Lucius Naevius Surdinus. Obv: CAESAR AVGVSTVS TRIBUNIC POTEST, bareheaded head of Augustus right. Rev; L SVRDINUS III VIR AAAFF, large SC. 26mm, 10.62g. Ref: RIC I, 386. Ex Brian Bucklan.

Augustus is easy to get as an as, as is his successor Tiberius (r. 14–37 AD). If you like, you can consider to even get a denarius (somewhat misleadingly dubbed a "Tribute Penny") for Tiberius, though these can get expensive:

Tiberius, Roman Empire, denarius, 15–18 AD, Lyon mint. Obv: TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS, laureate portrait right. Rev: PONTIF MA[XIM], Livia as Pax seated right on chair with ornately decorated legs, holding sceptre (or spear) and branch. 18mm, 2.8g. Ref: RIC I 28; RSC II 16b; Sear 1763; Giard: Le monnayage de l'atelier de Lyon 1 (1983), group 2, 146.

The next emperor, Caligula (r. 37–41 AD), presents a bit of a challenge. Likely due to his short and chaotic reign, his coins are somewhat scarce. You might have to search for a while before finding a reasonably priced and moderately attractive coin, yet, this is certainly possible. The most common type for Caligula are his Vesta asses:

Caligula, Roman Empire, As, 37–38 AD, Rome mint. Obv: C CAESAR GERMANICVS PON M TR POT, bare-headed head left. Rev: VESTA, Vesta seated left holding patera and sceptre. S–C. 28 mm, 10.18 g. Ref: RIC I, 38. Ex Spartan, ex D. Pichler.

While searching for a bronze of Claudius (r. 41–54 AD), which shouldn’t present a problem, you might want to read Robert Graves’ splendid novels “I, Claudius” and “Claudius the God.” Two wonderful books!

Claudius, Roman Empire, as, 41–54 AD, Rome mint. Obv: [TI] CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP, bareheaded head of Claudius left. Rev; S–C, Minerva walking left, brandishing javelin and holding shield. 29mm, 10.35g. Ref: RIC I, 100.

Finally, we have the infamous Nero (r. 54–68 AD). He is not as hard to find as Caligula but not as easy as Augustus. Look out for an as with a victory reverse, since these tend to be quite affordable:

Nero, Roman Empire, as, 62–68 AD, Rome mint. Obv: NERO CAESAR AVG GERM IMP, laureate head of Nero right. Rev: S-C, Victory with shield walking left, inscription on shield (SPQR) worn away. 28mm, 11.09g. Ref: RIC I, 312. Ex André Cichos.

After Nero was killed in 68 AD, civil war broke out and four emperors ruled in quick succession. The year 69 AD thus is known as the “Year of the Four Emperors.” In this set, we are going to skip the short-lived and expensive emperors Galba, Vitellius, and Otho. You can always try to add them at a later point in your collecting career.

2. Flavian dynasty, in silver

Both Flavian bronzes and denarii are in the price range of an average collector. Yet, if you try to get the Julio-Claudians in bronze, it might add some interesting diversity to your collection to search for the later emperors in silver.

When the rubble cleared in 69 AD, the former consul and successful general Vespasian (r. 69–79 AD) emerged as the new emperor. Denarii of Vespasian, one of the best rulers Rome ever had, are quite common and often very attractive. I like the portrait on this one:

Vespasian, Roman Empire, denarius, 77/78 AD, Rome mint. Obv: CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG, laureate head of Vespasian right. Rev; ANNONA AVG, Annona seatedleft, holding corn ears. 19mm, 3.33g. Ref: RIC II, 964.

Vespasian was succeeded by his elder son Titus (r. 79–81 AD), whose short reign saw a number of major disasters. Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD and we all know what happened to Pompeii, Rome burned down in 80 AD, and rebellions broke out in Britannia and Asia Minor. Unlucky Titus died of a fever in 81 AD, only two years after he had become emperor. Due to the shortness of his reign, his coins are less common than those of many other emperors. Thus, if you don’t want to break the bank, you might have to make some compromises when it comes to grade:

Titus (under Vespasian), Roman Empire, denarius, 75–79 AD, Rome mint. Obv: T CAESAR IMP VESPASIANVS, laureate head right. Rev: IOVIS CVSTOS, Jupiter standing left, holding patera and sceptre; altar at left. 19mm, 3.2g. Ref: RIC II, 176 (Vespasian). Ex Sphinx Numismatics (their picture).

The last Flavian emperor was Domitian (r. 81–96 AD), Vespasian’s younger son. Here is an attractive and nicely toned denarius of a type which tends to be rather affordable:

Domitian, Roman Empire, denarius, 88/89 AD, Rome mint. Obv: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM PM TR P VIII, laureate head of Domitian right. Rev: IMP XIX COS XIIII CENS PP, Minerva standing left holding thunderbolt and spear, leaning on shield. 19mm, 3.22g. Ref: RIC II (2007), 669.

 

3. The Nerva–Antonine dynasty, in silver

Almost all of these emperors are available and affordable as denarii. It is of course also possible to collect them bronze – they produced excellent chunky sestertii, for example. This is up to your budget and what you like best.

In 96 AD, Domitian was assassinated after years of quarelling with the senate. The senators now elected Nerva (r. 96–98 AD) emperor – actually, this was the first time a Roman emperor was elected. Already 65 years old, childless, and in bad health, Nerva was a safe choice for the senate which didn’t aim at establishing another family dynasty. Since his reign lasted only 15 months, he is the only “good emperor” whose coins are a bit hard to find:

Nerva, Roman Empire, denarius, 97 AD, Rome mint. Obv: IMP NERVA CAES AVG GERM PM TR P II, laureate head of Nerva right. Rev: IMP II COS IIII PP, Aequitas standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae. 18mm, 2.98g. Ref: RIC II, 40.

Not having biological children but desperately needing a capable successor, the aging Nerva adopted the young and popular general Trajan (r. 98–117 AD), who succeeded him after his death in 98. Trajan is often considered Rome’s best ruler, the optimus princeps. The empire reached its peak of power under the Trajan, whose denarii are often very appealing:

Trajan, Roman Empire, denarius, 101/102 AD, Rome mint. Obv: IMP CAESAR NERVA TRAIAN AUG GERM, laureate head of Trajan right. Rev: PM TRP COS IIII PP, Victory standing facing, holding wreath and palm branch. 18mm, 3.04g. Ref: RIC II, 58.

Trajan followed Nerva’s example and adopted a successor, Hadrian (r. 117–138 AD). There is a great novel about him by Marguerite Yourcenar (“Memoirs of Hadrian”), which I can strongly recommend.

Hadrian, Roman Empire, denarius, 119–122 AD, Rome mint. Obv: IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG, laureate head of Hadrian right. Rev: PM TR P COS III, Pax seated left, holding Victory on globe and branch. 18.5mm, 3.05g. Ref: RIC II, 95.

Hadrian in turn adopted Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161 AD), whose reign was the most peaceful period of time Rome ever saw. Nonetheless, someone defaced his portrait on this denarius:

Antoninus Pius, Roman Empire, denarius, 145–161 AD, Rome mint. Obv: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS PP, laureate head of Antoninus Pius right. Rev: COS IIII, thunderbolt on altar. 16.5mm, 4.02g. RIC III, 137.

Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180 AD)is well known not only as the last of the “good emperors,” but also as a capable Stoic philosopher and author of the Meditations. He initially shared the throne with Lucius Verus (r. 161–169 AD), who died of an illness in 169 AD. I really need to upgrade my Marcus Aurelius:

Marcus Aurelius, Roman Empire, denarius, 163/164 AD, Rome mint. Obv: M ANTONINVS AVG IMP II, head of Marcus Aurelius right. Rev: TR P XVIII COS III, Minerva standing left with branch, spear, and shield. 17mm, 2.4g.


Lucius Verus, Roman Empire, denarius, 167/168 AD. Rome mint. Obv: L VERVS AVG ARM PARTH MAX, laureate head of Lucius Verus right. Rev: TR P VIII IMP V COS III, Aequitas seated left, holding scales and cornucopiae. 18mm, 2.62g. Ref: RIC III, 595. Ex Coast to Coast Coins.

For some reason, Marcus Aurelius didn’t adopt a capable heir, but appointed his biological son Commodus (r. 177–193 AD) as his successor. After his father’s death, Commodus turned out to be a brutal megalomaniac. He was assassinated by his wrestling partner Narcissus in 192 AD, followed by an interlude of civil war, the “Year of the Five Emperors” (193 AD), and the rise of the Severan dynasty.

Commodus, Roman Empire, denarius, 182 AD, Rome mint. Obv: M COMMOD[VS ANTON]INVS AVG, laureate head of Commodus right. Rev: LIB AVG V TR P VII IMP IIII COS III PP, Liberalitas standing left holding counting board and cornucopiae. 18mm, 2.24g. Ref: RIC III, 36A.

 

Solid - yes, certainly - however you would also be jumping into the "deep end of the pool" expense-wise. You might do better (and become both less frustrated and less broke) beginning with, say, the House of Constantine. It's well documented, the coins are generally extremely common to pretty common. There are plenty of legitimate emperors as well as quite a few family members, women, Caesars who didn't survive to become emperor, etc. You may find your interest drifting from solely the roster of top bananas when you discover the fascinating cast of contributing characters without whom you can't really appreciate or properly tell the story of the march of the top dogs.

 

I considered collecting a coin from every emperor but bought the poster instead

 

Bit of irony being that this thread is directly next to a thread that has taken some pretty bad@$$ collectors plenty of begging and borrowing to amass a list of neeeear all of the emperors and kin.
Here's em all:


Augustus

Ae Diobol,
24 MM 8.65 GR
AE Diobol Year 41 =
11/12 AD, Egypt, City of
Alexandria. Head R. Rs.
LMA in the oak wreath.




Arcadius

383-408 CE Constantinople,
388-392. Pearl-diademed,
draped and cuirassed bust r.
R/ Victory walking l.,
dragging captive; CONS?.
RIC IX 86c.

...What!? Did I go to fast fer ya?

 

This is what happens when you are pursuing emperors to complete your collection: a thoroughly amusing thread on CoinTalk.
And this is an excellent rarity list (Table 2) to keep as a peg for your collection.

Not as a main pursuit, but on the side I'm trying to collect as many emperors (and wives and caesars) as possible. Occasionally snatching up a rarity (relatively). I'm content that I will never attain completeness. Often, collectors who find their collection complete, lose interest and sell it - trying to live with a void, the lack of a Pursuit.

So - there's a list of 202 personalities. Of these, I have about 88. The rarest I have is Tranquillina, 187 (I think she's not as rare as that), and the commonest I don't have is Tiberius, 90. I have been collecting diligently for six years. And a bit more interested in Provincial imperial portrait coins than in ordinary Roman coinage.
But beauty is not only in numbers - it is history that I love most, history must be as clear as possible, so I'm most interested in good condition. I'd love to have Romulus or Balbinus, but not when they are totally worn. Here's one of my Tranquillinas, of a nice Provincial town few people know.



Colybrassus in Cilicia, Tranquillina (Augusta, 241-244). AE18. Obv.: Draped bust to the right. CAB TPANKVΛΛЄINA. Rev.: Hermes standing left, holding purse and caduceus. KOΛVBPACCЄΩN. 18 mm, 3.06 gr. Bought it at an auction in Austria for a bit over $ 100. See here for some more information.

 

Forgive the old photo, but I felt inspired to dig it up. One of my proudest early accomplishments was to complete the Crisis emperors, which is not as difficult as you might think! All told, I spent less than $600 on this assortment:


Most of those coins are long gone, but I still have yet to find a suitable upgrade for my Valerian II, Saloninus, Tetricus, Carus, Numerian, Carausius, or Allectus.

*Edit to add, this lineup is missing Otacilia Severa, Herennius Etruscus, Hostilian, Aemilian, and Florian - I added them all within a year of taking the photo, and they bumped me over the $900 mark for the set. I'm still missing Magnia Urbica and Nigrinian, and likely will never add Cornelia Suprera!*

Conversely, I spent about 1.5 times that total amount on this one bad boy:
(Didius Julianus)

 

that's what i'm trying to do, get a coin of all available emperors,as a base, but i collect others too, i.e. wives, sons and daughters , "the 12" in silver, "year of the 4", "the 5 good" etc.. not to mention my keen interest in the republic, plus any and all ancient civs who had coinage and a history..some i will most likely never attain, but i will (try to) get most while aiming at all..