Three different periods of minting have been identified according to the obverse legends of Domna’s coins; the first period of production from 193-196 bearing the legend IVLIA DOMNA AVG; the second period from 196-211 with IVLIA AVGVSTA; and the last period from 211- 217 with IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG. During the first period, Domna appears youthful in her obverse portraits—her eyes are large and round and her cheeks and mouth appear soft. I am particularly enamored by the portrait on this first-period dupondius, which is rendered in a very fine style. Some 75-80 different reverse types are to be found on Julia Domna’s coinage. Of these diverse types, only personifications of Fecunditas, Venus (most often as Genetrix), Vesta, and Mater, each a representation of motherhood and fertility, were minted during all three periods of The empress’s coinage. The embodiment of fecundity is the most consistent image on Julia Domna’s coins, suggesting the importance of this quality to a Roman empress of Domna’s time. I have several dozen coins of Julia Domna. I'd have to say this is my favorite of all. Post your favorite Julia Domna coin or whatever you feel is relevant! Julia Domna, AD 193-217 Roman orichalcum dupondius; 10.61 gm, 24.2 mm Rome, issue 6, AD 195 Obv: IVLIA DOMNA AVG, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: FECVNDITAS, Fecunditas enthroned right, nursing one child, second child stands before her. Refs: RIC 844; BMCRE 494; Cohen 43; Hill 126; RCV 6639 Notes: Ex Ars Classica VIII, 1924, Bement Collection, lot 1184. Die-match to BMCRE-494, pl. 21.4 And for comparison, here's the accompanying denarius: Julia Domna, AD 193-217 Roman AR denarius; 3.46 gm, 18.5 mm Rome, issue 6, AD 195 Obv: IVLIA DOMNA AVG, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: FECVNDITAS, Fecunditas enthroned right, nursing one child, second child stands before her. Refs: RIC 534; BMCRE 46; Cohen 42; Hill 137; RCV 6639 Notes: Ex @Barry Murphy collection, seen here online.
What an excellent coin, and with a nice old pedigree too. I can see why it's your favorite. My favorite coin of Domna has a similarly youthful-looking portrait. JULIA DOMNA AR Denarius. 3.19g, 19.4mm. Rome mint, AD 196-211. RIC 572; RSC 150; BMC 62. O: IVLIA AVGVSTA, draped bust right. R: PIETAS AVGG, Pietas standing left, veiled, sacrificing on altar to left and holding incense box.
I've been taking an interest in her silver of late. Those are both nice denarii, the first early, the second not so early.
This is not my favorite Domna but it was my first. I have owned it since 1963. In 1974, I was i hard times financially and sold my collection except for three coins of which this was one. It is a common Venus Victrix (VENERI VICTR) reverse but was overstruck on an earlier coin (perhaps Commodus). The portrait strikes me as a bit tired like Manlia Scantilla so I suspect this was one of the earliest Domna denarii issued before the mint workers were familiar with her appearance.
Here is my favorite Julia Domna: 27-24 mm. 10.16 grams. as IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG VESTA, Julia sacrificing over altar, accompanied by 3 Vestal virgins. Domed circular temple of Vesta showing 4 columns in the background. Sear 7137. RIC 607. BMC 473.232. Struck at Rome in 214 as mother of Caracalla. Sear says "The temple had been restored by Julia Domna some years earlier." There are books about architectural types of Roman coins. Part of this temple still exists in Rome and wikipedia has a page on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Vesta
Julia Domna is the first Empress I've added to my small collection. The female types are quite interesting to me with the variation in hair styles and effigies. Mine falls into that second period with the IVLIA AVGVSTA obverse, but she looks rather young here to me. JULIA DOMNA, wife of Severus, (d. 217). AR Denarius. Rome, AD 196-211. Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA - Draped bust right. Rev: SAECVLI FELICITAS - Isis standing right, left foot on prow, nursing infant Horus held at her breast, rudder resting against altar behind. 19.05mm, 3.37g. Toned aXF RIC IV 577 (Septimus Severus), RSC 174 Pretty awesome to trace your dupondis back to Clarence Sweet Bement - he was a Mineral collector first and foremost. J.P. Morgan bought the mineral collection in 1901 for $100,000 and donated it to the American Museum of Natural History. The catalogue entry and plate photo for your coin if you have not seen it yet: Catalogue de monnaies romaines antiques: en or, argent et bronze ; composant la collection de feu Clarence S. Bement de Philadelphie (U.S.A.) ; dont la vente aura lieu aux enchères publiques les 25, 26, 27 et 28 juin 1924 dans les salles de l'Hôtel Schweizerhof à Lucerne (Suisse) (Katalog Nr. 8) — Genève, 1924
Julia Domna, AD 193-211 Roman AR denarius; 2.4 gm, Rome mint, AD 207 Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, r. Rev: FECVNDITAS, Terra reclining l. under tree, left arm on basket of fruits, right hand set on globe, spangled with stars; in background, four children advancing r., representing the four seasons. Refs: RIC 549; BMCRE 21; Sear 6579 My favorite type and the only quality level affordable on my budget. One of the very few coin types I know of that has the Earth deity as Gaia/Terra with the four seasons depicted under the sacred Tree.
One of my favorites is a NON-Denarius version: RI Julia Domna 196-211 CE AE As Hilaritas cornuc RIC IVa 877 @Roman Collector ... I went back and studied your Dupondius again... really nice coin! Just looks great!
Just got in a lot of 11 pitiful ancients, and I am bringing back this thread because I just got an example of the OP and there are very few examples out there, RC's OP being by far the best one I could find. There have been a couple of informative threads on the wide variance in sizes for the Severan as and dupondius and I think my poor specimen compared with the OP is a good example. Despite the size - both weight and dimension, I believe mine is a dupondius. These are my reasons: Color: mine has suffered a harsh cleaning, revealing the base metal in many places. It is very brassy. Below is a comparison with a Caligula copper as from the same lot. Weight: OCRE lists RIC 844 separately as an as and dupondius. For each listing, there is only one example, with the sizes of these two as follows: Dupondius: 8.76 grams 24 mm. As: 8.22 grams / 25 mm. http://numismatics.org/ocre/results..."Dupondius")+AND+portrait_facet:"Julia+Domna" On OCRE, the as is actually larger in diameter and only .54 grams lighter. The dupondius version has the SC in the fields, not exergue, which leads me to believe it is an error. The examples are pretty poor, so I can't really decipher much of them. Here's mine - not a die match to RC's, but the portrait shares some similarities perhaps: Julia Domna Æ Dupondius (or brassy As?) (193-194 A.D.) Rome Mint IVLIA DOM[NA AVG], draped bareheaded bust right / FEC[VNDITAS], SC in exergue, Fecunditas seated right nursing child, second child standing before her. RIC 844; BMCRE 494. (7.87 grams / 22 mm) Here's a color-comparison with a Caligula as that came in the same lot (note the size difference after 180 or so years) - copper vs. brass: That Caligula as is the only coin I own that can stand up on its side. Two areas of the edge have been hammered flat. What a beauty! In the same lot came anther Julia Domna, this one a provincial from Serdica (nearly full reverse legends!). I cannot find an attribution for it - Hera on the reverse with longer legend in this size just isn't coming up anywhere. Guidance from a Thrace expert appreciated. Julia Domna Æ 28 (193-217 A.D.) Serdica, Thrace [IOYΛI]A ΔO[MN]A CEB[A], draped bust right (with stephane?) / OYΛΠIAC CEPΔIKHC, Hera standing facing, head left, holding patera and scepter. (14.61 grams / 28 x 26 mm) Attribution Notes: I could not find an example of this; similar to Varbanov 1994 but this is smaller (about 25 mm and 9 grams) with a shorter reverse legend (CEΡΔΩN). These all came from a very ugly lot on eBay. It was $11 for 11 ancients, the kind of "bargain" I am a sucker for - and I wanted that Domna as/dupondius. Below is the whole grubby lot - the bottom far right is not ancient - a worn slick hal'penny of some sort (Rosa Americana maybe?). The whole bottom row I've written off as unattributable except for the Byzantine Anonymous follis which is going in the junk bin. The top row shows the pick of the litter. The one in the middle is a Byzantine follis for Constans II from Syracuse which isn't too much of a disaster. Next to it on the right is a Constantius II FEL TEMP from Thessalonica that had just enough left to secure an attribution, barely. Two Domnas and a Caligula that stands up!
Well, since I have so few coins, I'll jump at any opportunity to post one of them. This being my only Julia Domna (and I know I've posted it plenty of times already), of course it's "my favorite", but I love it because of the portrait - as I say every time I post this coin, I believe this is an accurate depiction of Julia Domna at the time it was minted, when she would have been in her mid 50s and having endured the death of her husband and the recent murder of her son Geta. The coin has no special pedigree - I just fell in love with the portrait.
Thank you RC - that is closer than anything I came up with. The only problem I see is that the sceptre is being held in the crook of her arm, not touching the ground. I came across several examples like this in the smaller form. Mine has the sceptre grounded. Here is a Wildwinds example - like mine but with the short reverse legend (and somewhat smaller):
