Claudius and the Praetorians

RIC I 25 (Rome); von Kaenel Type 21, 302 (V331/R336); Lyon 40 (unlisted dies); Calicó 361b; BMCRE 23 (Rome); BN 43-4; Biaggi 206

For my first thread, I thought I would post an image of my example of my favorite type.

The Praetorian Guard appointed Claudius emperor after his nephew Gaius’ assassination. Claudius was supposedly found cowering behind a curtain in the imperial palace and, after being found by the Praetorians, was removed to the Praetorian Camp (which is depicted on the reverse of this aureus). This version of events was popularized in the novel and miniseries, I, Claudius. Claudius would remain under the “protection” of the Praetorian Guard for some time, though it is unknown whether he was their guest, or their prisoner. Upon his release and subsequent assumption of the role of princeps, Claudius proved to be a shrewd politician and an efficient ruler. After guaranteeing his safety with the payment of a generous donative, Claudius would go on to improve the imperial bureaucracy and expand the Empire (the first such expansion since Augustus). His was a notably long and peaceful reign.

This aureus was likely issued as part of a donative to the Praetorian Guard, and serves to commemorate the events of his ascension. Eventually, I would love to pair the piece with a Praetor Recept of Claudius, though those are somewhat harder to find in higher grades.

I purchased this piece at Triton in 2019, although I had been searching for an example for significantly longer. While I purchased it with only a 2007 pedigree, I have since had some luck tracing it back to Munz. Basel 8, 1937, lot 575 (where it was purchased by Cahn). The angle the image was taken at in 1937 is slightly different, but the marks help identify this piece. At that point, I realized there was a cataloguing error and the dies are in fact cited in Von Kaenel, though they are not illustrated. That yielded an additional provenance: Gerhard Hirsch 3 (April 1956), lot 224.




I would love to see everyone else's Imper Recept and/or Praetor Recept issues! Please post them here!

 

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Doesn't get much better than that. Congrats.

Makes my Tets look like used rags.


Claudius (41 - 54 A.D.)
AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm
O: TI CLAVD CAES · AVG, bare head left.
R: COM ASI across field, distyle temple of Roma and Augustus, enclosing standing facing figures of Claudius, holding scepter, being crowned by Fortuna, holding cornucopia; ROM ET AVG on entablature.
Ephesus mint. Struck AD 41-42
10.08g
28mm
RIC I 120 (Pergamum); RPC I 2221; RSC 3; BMCRE 228; BN 304-6


Claudius (41 - 54 A.D.)
Egypt, Alexandria
Billon Tetradrachm
O: TI KLA[UDI KAIS SEBA GERMANI AUTOKR], laureate head of Claudius right; LB to right.
R: ANTWNIA SEBASTH, draped bust of Antonia right, wearing hair in long plait.
Dated RY 2 (41/2 AD)
23mm
11.62g
Dattari 114; Milne 61-64; Emmett 73.

 

Welcome to CT ancients! Great coin to show up with... is it yours or do you have Claudius coins to share?
Ps, LOVE your avatar!

 

Yes, its mine!

Thank you! It was my first aureus! I will do a write up soon.

 

You certainly made one grand entrance into the CT ancients forum. A beautiful coin.

 

Welcome to CT ! , you have two gorgeous coins.

 

Thank you! I hope to be much more active!

 

Thanks!

 

Oh my!
I've.Claudius, but not in gold!
Here's some little gems of his (scales & qaudrans):

 

I love the portraiture on Claudius' silver! Yours is quite artistic!

 

..that's a dandy collectors item @Cicero12 ..welcome to CT ancients...i have just one As of ole Claudius.. being a pleb meself

 

Fabulous coins! Welcome and hope to see more.

Several more of my Claudius'...

 

That's an amazing coin! And welcome to the board!

How about a rare and very worn denarius?


Or a dupondius, which is not rare, or scarce, but does not appear that often in auction/in shops? The beautiful green patina is a great feature on this one.

 

Such a fantastic coin! Nice sleuthing on the additional pedigree .

I would gladly do so if I had one .

 

Welcome to the forum! The IMPER RECEPT is one of my favorite types as well. Yours is a tremendous example, made even better by the great pedigree and the benefit of buying at the absolute bottom of the market in aurei and getting the steal of the century!

Here's mine: no pedigree found yet, but not for a lack of trying:

 

Wow, that's a blindingly awesome coin, @Cicero12. And, welcome to the club!

 

Welcome to CT, @Cicero12 , although I sense you are very much a Veteran with Ancient Coins! Congrats on your wonderful Aureus.

Here is a Claudius (just to be a little different, struck under Claudius and featuring his son):

Roman Principate
Judaea
Claudius w-Britannicus
CE 41-54
Æ Prutah
17mm 2.8g
Antonius Felix-procurator
Dated RY 14 54 CE
2-crossed shields spears -
Palm tree BPIT K AI L IΔ date
Hendin 1348

 

This particular type is, from a historical viewpoint, my favorite 12 Caesars aureus and your example is stellar. A notable oversight in not being included in Berk's excellent 100 Greatest Ancient Coins.

Every time I view this coin I'm reminded of the line from I Claudius:

"As for being half-witted: well, what can I say, except that I have survived to middle age with half my wits, while thousands have died with all of theirs intact. Evidently, quality of wits is more important than quantity."

Kudos for being able to track your coin's pedigree so far back. Would you provide some tips for the collectors here on how you traced its provenance?

And for the sake of completeness, my own example of this type:



CLAUDIUS 10 B.C. - 54 A.D.
AV Aureus (7.79 g.) Rome 44 - 45 A.D. RIC 25
Obv. TI CLAVD CAESAR AVG P M TR P IIII laureate head r. Rev. Battlemented wall IMPER RECEPT enclosing praetorian camp, Fides Praetorianorum left.

Ex. Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection (Sotheby's, 10 November 1972, lot 35). Lustrous.

 

On this particular piece, I happened to luck out as I was perusing Acsearch and stumbled across the image. However, I have had success with a number of other pieces as well (posts to follow in due course), and collecting Roman gold with "lost provenances" has become a focus.

I think the most important step I took was compiling a database of as many freely available PDF catalogs as I could find. The BNF, Newman Numismatic Portal, and University of Heidelberg all have great collections of scanned catalogs (many of them annotated). Of course, I have tried to compile a large physical library as well, but that can get very expensive very quickly, and I have had just as much if not more luck with the PDFs

Absolutely stunning coin with a great pedigree! By the way, in case you did not know, this coin was published in 1938, and again in 1942!
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