I sold off a number of Roman coins in early 2020... ... Also during that time, I created a college graduation gift for my niece, Julia, who is more like a daughter to me than a niece. Anyway, during 2021, I decided to rebuild and reunite my Roman coin collection. I’ll be posting more of my 2021 acquisitions in the coming days. *Here is my restored 5 Julias of Rome collection. All of these came from MA-Shops and VCoin dealers and I had great fun shopping for them. One trait had to be met—I hope I’m not sounding shallow because I’m not. My Julias had to have beautiful eyes. I think all of these meet that requirement in fact one, my first, Julia Soaemias appears to have some of the longest eyelashes I’ve seen on a coin. I’ve added my latest Julia Domna to this post.
Lovely, @Deacon Ray! "She prays like a Roman with her eyes on fire ..." Julia Domna, AD 193-217. Roman AR denarius, 3.45 g, 19.3 mm, 6h. Antioch (formerly attributed to Laodicea), AD 196-202 (or later). Obv: IVLIA AVGVSTA, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: PIETAS PVBLICA, Pietas, veiled and draped, standing left, both hands raised in prayer; at her feet, garlanded and lighted altar. Refs: RIC 643; BMCRE 612; Cohen 156; RCV --; CRE 381; ERIC II 121.
D. Ray, Nice set of Severan women with attractive portraits . The Julia Maesa portrait is a standout . The engraver didn't miss her double chin, making her look older than the other women .
Lovely ladies indeed, and fantastic presentation as usual. I kind of thought about doing a set of the Julias. I find your Julia Domna particularly appealing, for its cabinet toning and great portrait. (That Julia Paula is pretty sweet, too.) Ahh, but do any of them have seashell eyes?
Lovely ladies indeed @Deacon Ray and a beautiful presentation ! This far I bought only one of the Julia’s. What stops me from buying more of these ladies is that I always try to find coins with an interesting reverse and with those Julia coins that’s not easy, at least not for me. One of the exceptions for me is the Julia Domna coin with Isis feeding the child Horus. I love that mixture of Rome and Egypt.
I appreciate this sentiment and always prefer selecting reverse types that seem especially appropriate for the person on the obverse. Sometimes that will be nothing more than a 'someone standing there' coin. Perhaps we should not be surprised that sequential wives would have less interesting types than women of real power. Maesa was a strong woman but only for a shorter time. Most of her coins were, appropriately, Juno since Maesa was the real Queen even though she was the grandmother. Her daughters were puppets; the wives were decorations. To me, the 'interesting' type of hers is this Eastern mint Fecunditas - not what one might expect from an older lady. Domna was probably more a force and influence on her husband than most wives but, IMO, her most telling type is the moon and stars from 'Emesa'. Septimius married her because her horoscope foretold she would marry a king. She did. Most of her interesting types were from the East where the conventions of Rome were not observed.
Congratulations, @Deacon Ray. Here are my 5 Julias, purchased this year Soaemias Mamaea Maesa Paula Domna, where I also wanted some interesting reverses, this one being very attractive because of the importance IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG, Bust of Julia Domna, hair elaborately waved in ridges and turned up low at the back, draped, right / Rev: MAT AVGG MAT SEN M PATR, Julia Domna, draped, seated left, holding branch in extended right hand and sceptre in left hand and of course ... P.S. you corrected the descriptions in the presentation - congratulations for the elegant way you show your coins.
Another 2 coins from Maesa I feel very sorry about. Would have been smashing coins but they have corrosion areas, probably from some kind of incorrect storage from previous owners? There was a period where an auction house had loads of these - usually Severan era coins, all with great details but damaged, so most likely they were from the same original collection
Thanks to all of you for your comments and your beautiful Julias and apologies for my first posts and plethora of errors.
My first Julia came a few months ago after being outbid on it a few months earlier. (There's an interesting story which I'll share as part of my "Top 10" post, a list awaiting one more auction and a package stuck in customs) For the time being, here's my Domna with the Vesta temple reverse, ex. the Karnak Hoard.
If it makes you feel better, I didn’t notice any errors. That’s one thing about posting stuff on this board. If there is an error, somebody’s bound to spot it. Quite the brain trust here. And I say that mostly without sarcasm or irony.
Here are Sestertii of all six Severan Iulias reunited : The sisters Julia Domna (struck under Caracalla) and Julia Maesa: Maesa´s daughters Julia Domna and Julia Soaemias: Soaemias´ daughters-in-law Julia Paula and Julia Aquilia Severa: