FINALLY found a denarius I need at my LCS :)

So as many of you know I’m trying to collect a denarius from each of the “Five Good Emperors” as well as the “Twelve Caesars” mentioned by Suetonious.

My LCS called me today letting me know they got some denarii in since they knew I was a collector of denari and I managed to snag this nice denarius of Marcus Aurelius!


Now I have Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius & Marcus Aurelius. I just need Nerva.

Unfortunately his denarii are all much more expensive in my experience. :/

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Sharp!

That's the easy part- a straight denarius run of the 12 Caesars is not for the faint of heart! I'd wager that most members here have never owned a Caligula denarius.

Nerva is out there, but I agree his denarii are ridiculously expensive, given that they really aren't *that* rare. You should be able to get a decent one if you budget about $200.

 

$200 isn’t bad at all considering this Marcus Aurelius was a lot more than that.

I think with some proper searching a Caligula denarius could be found at a good price.

His aureus though is like $30,000

 

Did these mint workers even know what Marcus looked like?!

 

He looks like this. Duh!




& of course his son Commodus was RIPPED.

 

A nice sharp portrait of the philosopher emperor.

 

Should probably mention that I base my pricing on raw coins sold at auction, not slabbed ones sold at retail.

I missed out on both of these, sadly - either would have been a solid deal for a Nerva



I've never understood Hollywood's obsession with depicting Marcus Aurelius as some crotchety old geezer (he wasn't even 60 when he died!) and Commodus as a clean-shaven effeminate man-child (he was a kid when he became emperor, was heavily bearded, and apparently a jock more than anything - in an imaginary fist fight between all emperors, he'd likely come in near the top).

 

Well I understand why they up the age of Commodus.

It’s probably so viewers today take it more seriously since watching a 16 year old as Emperor in a movie or show would be hard for people today to take seriously even if it’s historically accurate.

Like in the movie Gladiator they were going to have advertisements in the Colliseum but they took it out because they felt people would think it was made up even though it’s also historically accurate.

Gladiator had much bigger inaccuracies though. Like the fact that the Germanic tribes the Romans were fighting were wearing outfits from the Stone Age despite the movie taking place in the 2nd century.


But it was still a good movie and seeing it as a kid is what first piqued my interest in Ancient Roman history just like 300 piqued my interest in Greek History even though both of them had ALOT of historical inaccuracies.

 

P.S. In all fairness I think Commodus does look like a strong jock in this one even though he is older than in reality.

He certainly looks strong and like he could win fist fights. His arms are much bigger & stronger looking than average and in his shirtless scenes he has a very well toned physique.



This is the actor who portrayed him and he does have the same kind of jock build I think Commodus had in reality.

 

Thanks mate! I’m glad you noticed!

I’m trying to get all of my denarii in XF condition or better so that the portraits of the Emperors are decent and give an idea of what the Emperor looked like rather than being worn out and hard to identify what they look like.

Hopefully I get to a point where I can put all of my denarii on display from earliest to latest and people who see the display can get an idea of what each Emperor looked like. Even if it’s not a very accurate depiction.

Although I noticed Nero ALWAYS has a fat neck on all of his coinage. It seems like Nero gained a lot of weight as Emperor based on his pre-reform & post- reform coins.

Notice the huge difference in neck size and the way his face is fat and puffy in the later years of his Emperorship?

 

Great idea! It would be a nice display of portraits as you are building up your collection.

Interesting comparison. I always think about Nero's post-reform portraits, and never actually noticed his pre-reform ones.

 

Yeah for sure . Another thing I think is cool is that since the denarius was debased over time the coins will go from being average sized and relatively pure silver and then get smaller and darker as the time period goes on and the coins were debased and got smaller and smaller with lower and lower silver content.

It’s a very poetic symbolization of Rome itself.

 

My Marcus Aurelius aureus was MUCH less expensive than that.
Like 97% less.

 

Very nice Marcus Aurelius! Now you just need a coin of his wife. And one of his cousin. And one of his step-sister. And you can get all three in one!!

 

@Gam3rBlake.......That's a lovely looking coin!
Here's my 5...

 

Great OP coin, congratulations.

Marcus Aurelius' Denari are pretty common of course, so I the favorite from my collection is a less common historical type.

M ANTONINVS AVG GERM SARM // TR P XXXI IMP VIII COS III PP / DE GERM

Date: December AD 176 to Autumn AD 177

The coin marks the victory that ended the first Marcomannic war. The war had ended in AD 175, but the revolt of Avidius Cassius in 176 delayed the triumph which was held on 23.12.176.
The Marcomanni were a Germanic people that lived in what is now Czechia and Slovakia. Some historians thing that Marcus Aurelius waged these wars needlessly with significant military incompetence, at great cost to the Empire and with little long-term benefit.

 

Blake, Nice score on a perfectly centered high-grade gem !

 

Thanks Al!

It’s my most expensive denarius but I’m really happy with the good strike and centering as well as the solid luster and surface.

 

I blame Faustina the Younger for the revolt of Avidius Cassius.

She seduced him with her promiscuity when she thought Marcus Aurelius had died.