One of the serendipitous benefits of focusing on a particular period (e.g., first century / 12 Caesars) or emperor is that many times, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I discovered this when I completed my 12 Caesars collection in silver and created a virtual tray of those coins (posted too many times to count on this site) which (for me) really evoked thoughts about what it would have been like to live in Rome during that period. My recent focus on Hadrian's travel series has done much the same -- I find myself wondering about the value, effort and even the logistics of moving the emperor such large distances throughout the empire during times when travel would have been so time-consuming. How did this benefit the Roman people? How much time did Hadrian spend on the business of the Roman state vs. pleasure during his travels? Questions to which we'll never know the answers. I've put together a virtual tray of my small Hadrian travel collection to date (other than the she-wolf), in roughly chronological order, to provide a bit more insight into how the whole of the collection has stimulated my wondering and imagination about Hadrian's travels. I would especially like to see others' virtual trays where they felt that their whole collection or sub-collection was greater than the sum of its parts, along with their thoughts about their collection. If you have one, please post!
Wonderful tray @IdesOfMarch01 ! I enjoy virtual trays as well. I did one of my Nerva-Antonine in Imperial Silver collection and came to a similar conclusion to what you have. I’ve shown it many times but here it is again. Earlier this month I did a virtual tray to showcase the relative sizes of my Top 10 budget coins of 2021 which I think turned out nice. Your travel series collection is absolutely beautiful. Here are individual photos of mine. Roman Empire Hadrian (AD 117 – 138) AR Denarius, Rome mint, struck ca. AD 134 – 138 Dia.: 17 mm Wt.: 2.98 g Obv.: HADRIANVS AVG COS III PP; Laureate head right Rev.: AFRICA; Africa with elephant headdress reclining left, holding scorpion and cornucopia, basket of grain at feet Ex L. Rose Collection Roman Empire Hadrian, AD 117-138. AR Denarius, 18mm, Rome mint, struck AD 134-138. Dia.: 18 mm Wt.: 3.15 g Obv.: HADRIANVS AVG COSIII PP; Laureate head right. Rev.: ITA-LIA, Italia standing left, holding sceptre and cornucopiae. Ref.: RIC II 307; BMC 853; RSC 869 Ex DePew Collection
Gorgeous! I have no virtual trays at all -- just a whole lot of real ones! -- but here are my three denarii from Hadrian's Travel Series: Egypt, Asia, and, at the end of his journeys, ADVENTVS AVG, showing Roma greeting him upon his return.
Beautiful coins and great post, @IdesOfMarch01 ! I have fun doing these. Here’s my virtual Judaean tray followed by my 2021 Roman denarius tray.
Beautiful series IOM Indeed ! I'm pretty sure the 22 types of Trajan Decius Divi series antoninianii put together on the same tray have more appeal than the 22 individual coins Q
Here is a "tray" of all the 40 different known moneyers of Northumbrian stycas, 8th and 9th century coins from the petty kingdom of Northern Anglo-Saxon England. There are a few pretty rare ones that make completing this set challenging. I like the Hadrian travel series and am working on a set of these as well (hopefully will have a collage soon), though as a completionist, I strive for every location, and some (like Moesia, Nicomedia, Noricum, and Libya) seem so rare that I've never seen one!
