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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;gsimonel, post: 5243898, member: 82549&quot;]We recently had a post about the 10 most important ancient coins ever minted. An interesting tangent might be: who were the 10 most important people to have their portraits on ancient coins during their lifetimes? </p><p><br /></p><p>Okay, obviously, I mean ancient to us. If it&#039;s a lifetime portrait, then it wasn&#039;t an ancient coin at the time. (Possible exception: Methuselah?)</p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, the first thought that came to my mind was Alexander the Great, but then I realized that his coins depicted Herakles. Some have argued that Herakles was deliberately modeled after Alexander&#039;s portrait, but that idea is controversial.</p><p><br /></p><p>So my guess is that Julius Caesar would be #1 if we disallow Alexander III:</p><p><img src="http://feltemp.com/Images/Beginnings/JuliusCaesar.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><u><b>Julius Caesar</b></u></p><p><i>First Triumvir, 60-53 B.C.</i></p><p><i>Dictator for Life, 44 B.C.</i></p><p>Silver Denarius</p><p>Rome mint, 44 B.C.</p><p>Obv: DICT PERPETVO - CAESAR - Veiled head of Julius Caesar</p><p>Rev: P SEPVLLIVS MACER - Venus holding Victory and scepter; shield at base</p><p>RSC 39; S362; RRC 480/13</p><p>18 x 20mm, 3.2g.</p><p><br /></p><p>After Caesar, I suspect there will be a lot of disagreement. In terms of impact on western history, I&#039;d vote for Constantine for #2:</p><p><img src="http://feltemp.com/Images/Dynasty/ConstantineI.JPG" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><u><b>Constantine I (&quot;the Great&quot;)</b></u></p><p><i>Caesar, A.D. 306-307/9</i></p><p><i>Augustus A.D. 307/9-337</i></p><p>(Bronze) AE3</p><p>Constantinople mint, A.D. 327-328</p><p>Obv: CONSTANTI-NVS MAX AVG</p><p>Rev: LIBERT-A-S PVBLICA - Victory on galley, holding wreath in both hands</p><p>CONS in exergue; E in left field</p><p>RIC 25</p><p>19mm, 2.6g</p><p><br /></p><p>Where do we go from here? Which non-Roman, non-western figures belong on the list?</p><p><br /></p><p>Who would like to continue this thread by voting for #3 and showing her/his coin? Remember, these have to be lifetime portraits. Let&#039;s see who else shows up in this list.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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