I'd like my coins to be minted in heaps and affordable, but also like to have some types that are scarce/significant that it costs in the 100s even at a low grade!
If they were rare and expensive, people would write exalted posts, celebrating that they finally had added the infamous Emperor Svessien to their collection; a long term goal. I think I’d like that.
Rare and expensive. Anyone that would not keep them in uncirculated condition would get re-educated. As for the plebs, they can barter!
I'd like them to be like those of Marcus Aurelius. Plentiful in aggregate, so everyone could have one in their collection, but with some rare and much-sought-after types to keep the specialists interested for their entire life in the hobby, such as the aureus of AD 173 depicting him on horseback in the pose on the famous equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius on the Capitoline Hill. Not my coin. Sold by Roma in 2015.
I would like them to be along the lines of Philip I coinage/ lots of diverse reverses/ esp. the ones with wildlife themes. For portraits I love the Gallic Empire/ Postumus/ so nice. However the best would be to have the money of a modern day Czar/ Vladmir Putin and buy every Aurei/ Denari thats avaliable You would even have free security guards to keep the coll on display in your palace.
I would like my coins to have an internal time screen and a warm on switch for winter. Nothing worse for a body in a toga than a cold breeze. By the same token, no pun intended, there would be a cool switch on the coin for the summer heat in those hot seats in the Coliseum. The time would display so you would know when to go to the Pub for happy hour after wagering on your favorite gladiator. The reverse would advertise my Chariot Company, WREXUS CHARIOTS, the need for speed.
Sort of in between I guess for emperor Michael (that's my name). Plentiful enough that the populace would be well-fed and happy. I would strike some Annona types along with Liberalitas (yes, I would also distribute largesse to the public). With regard to the military I'd offer a fair days pay but no extravagant donatives such as Didius Julianus'. I would not follow Septimius Severus' advice of "enrich the soldiers, ignore all others." I also would build an Arch of Michael in the Forum just to serve my vanity.
Nope/ that is for the trails. A Rottweiler would look very good as a reverse theme. As for clothes, Rome is so miserablely hot, never wear a shirt. Definately no "toga"I would have adopted "Persian" style pants from the enemy.
Imperator Robertus Pretium has a nice ring and falls softly from the tongue. A abbundanza of coins with Constantine I bust on obv and a large fist holding arrows on the rev. My wife says I looked like him in my younger days.
Numerous and cheap for me. For so many coins of me to have survived, it likely means I ruled a long time and the Empire was fairly prosperous to require so much coinage.
Alternatively, they would discuss the hyperinflation of King Diomedes.... I think I would have tied up some money velocity in my multiple aureii pieces.
Certainly, it could also mean the Empire was always at war during my reign and everyone was burying coins and getting slaughtered before they could recover them... but I'm taking the optimistic view
I think I would prefer a mix. For all my coins to be rare would mean my reign was short and therefore a failure and if my coins are really cheap and plentiful might mean that I had wrecked the economy and my rule resulted in a great deal of misery to my subjects. The one denomination I would like to introduce would be a four denarius coin in silver. Hopefully it would be popular enough to be minted in large numbers. I would like to have a great deal a variety on the reverses of my coins celebrating victories, building projects, and other events. Since we have already seen an aureus on this thread. Marcus Aurelius Av Aureus 165-166 AD. Obv Head right laureate Rv Felicitas standing facing head left. RIC 153 Calico 1899 This coin illustrated. Faces of Power 276 This obverse illustrated. 7.30 grms 20mm Photo by W. Hansen I do not look anything like Marcus Aurelius, for one thing in my youth I tried growing a beard and it looked like hell. I looked worse than Richard Harris did in the film Gladiator I kept it for a few years and got rid of it along with the long hair.