Take the nose. An extension of the face, I suppose To breath the perfumed air of the rose Or snort indignantly as one chose. It’s perched in noble profile Making a point all the while – For what would we do without the nose, Who knows? I recently picked up an Athenian tetradrachm from VCoins that I am 99% sure is an imitation. One give-a-way is the nose, resting on Athena's face as a promontory, a nearly geological feature of the face that would make Jimmy Durante green with envy. So I started thinking about how that most important aspect of one's profile is portrayed over the ages. Nerva was clearly proud of his proboscis, not only making it a prominent part of his profile, but supplementing it with a look of imperious authority. Which brings up the question - what other examples of the proboscis, both noble and ignoble, in all of its glory and ugliness are out there? Quite a few I would imagine.
I don't have any examples besides Nerva to post personally, but I think if you use one of the search engines like the cng archives to find portraits of Galba and even Tiberius, you'll find some impressively massive probosces (probosci?). Although I believe there's no question that Nerva takes the cake. (And nobody ever says anything about the fact that his ear is even bigger. Almost worthy of an elephant!)
My favorite proboscis by far...the monkey variety. His face would be right at home on a Roman coin: Here's my Nerva with quite the schnoz:
I have a pinnochio example of Gallus, which I think is either the product of some die wear or an odd piece of work by the celator:
Iberians liked to promote their proboscis... The Nose Knows Iberia Castulo Late 2nd C BC AE As 25mm Bust Nose Hand Sphinx Iberia - Castulo AE14 Quarter Unit Bust - BOAR w-star 2nd C BCE
And my Etrurians have prominent probosci, but this was stands out a bit... Etruria, Populonia 2-½ asses , AR 0.85 g (similar to Rome’s original AR Sestertius) 3rd century BCE Obv: Radiate female head r.; behind, CII. Rev: Blank. Ref: EC 104 (misdescribed, Female head with an Attic helmet). Historia Numorum Italy 179. NAC Comment: Of the highest rarity, apparently only the second specimen known. Dark patina and about very fine. Ex: From the collection of E.E. Clain-Stefanelli
That reminded me of one of my uncleaned coins from when I first started! I've never been able to identify it properly. But he definitely has quite the honker on him. Maybe a bull on the reverse?
CA #211. CNG 10-6-95 $99.00 - Silver coin (AR Denarius) minted at Rome during the reign of NERVA in 97 A.D. Obv. IMP.NERVA.CAES.AVG.TR.P.COS.III.P.P.: laur, hd. r. Rev. FORTVNA.AVGVST.: Fortuna stg. l., holding rudder and cornucopia. RCS #953. RSCII #66 pg. 79. RICII #16 pg. 224. DVM #8. RCVSII #3025. Nice Roman nose
Domitian has an underrated schnozz. Lucius Verus with a nice beak. Nerva is still the best amongst the Romans. But this guy has by far the number one nose in my collection.
DOMITIAN AR Denarius OBVERSE: CAESAR AVG F DOMITIANVS, laureate head right REVERSE: COS IIII, The Pegasus standing right with raising left foreleg Struck at Rome, 76AD 3.1g, 20mm RIC 921
One more: The pugilist - Celts in Eastern Europe AR Tetradrachm. Reiterstumpf Type, ex Hermann Lanz collection, 12.16 grams. Purchased in 2019.
My largest nose on one of my smallest coins. AE drachm, Danubian Kelts, "Kugelwange" type. 200-100 BC. Obv: Very big-nosed imitation of Phillip II (probably). Rev: not much left. To illustrate how big this nose actually is:
On the coins below, Tiberius goes from a rather "normal" nose to more of a "beak" due to the different styles of the engravers.
The more hook-looking the nose, the more similar one looks to the awesome Roman legionary eagle. I like this portrait because the forehead is basically missing and the chin sticks out like the rock of Gibraltar.
Good grief! Look at the size of Gordian III's nose on this one! Gordian III, with Tranquillina Roman provincial Ӕ Tetrassarion; 12.97 g, 26.7 mm, 7:00 Thrace, Anchialus, AD 238-244 Obv: AVT K M ANT ΓOPΔIANOC AVΓ CЄB/ TPANKVΛ/ΛEINA, laureate and draped bust of Gordian right, facing diademed and draped bust of Tranquillina left Rev: OVΛΠIANWN AΓXIAΛEWN, Athena standing facing, head right, holding inverted spear and resting on shield Refs: Varbanov 748; BMC --; Moushmov --
Here's a Tiberius fouree Tribute Penny. This could possibly be an accurate portrait, what with the engraver not to be found and executed by the emperor, with his big broken(?) nose. Fourree Ruler: Tiberius (Augustus) Coin: Bronze/Silver Fourree Denarius Fourree TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS - Laureate head right PONTIF MAXIM - Livia, as Pax, holding branch and sceptre, seated right; plain legs to chair with double line below. Mint: Lugdunum (Lyon) mint (18-35AD) Wt./Size/Axis: 2.80g / 19mm / 360 Rarity: Common References: RIC 1 30 (c), Group 4 (official) BMCRE I 48 (official) RSC II 16a (official) SRCV I 1763 (official) Giard Lyon, Group 4, 150 Acquisition/Sale: numismatellusstabilit Ebay $0.00 12/17 Notes: Jun 13, 18 - The Gary R. Wilson Collection
