Recently posted this coin to my site... A.D. 360-363 (IMP) : Julianus -AE3 / RIC 106 LRBC 1909 (Heraclea) / DN FL CL IVLI-ANUS P F AVG / Helmeted, diademed, cuirassed, holding shield and spear bust left. / VOT X MVLT XX / Wreath./ Exe: HERACL•A / Heraclea Mint The votive coins from this city, IMO, are some of the most recognizable, stylized portraites ever. This is my favorite portrait type of his coins. He almost looks like animal from the muppets. This is a votive coin of the Emperor Julianus minted at Heraclea, Now the Turkish city of Marmara Ereglisi. The Roman mint at Heraclea was established during the reign of Diocletian and continued to strike coins throughout the 4th century AD. The coin bears the stylized helmeted and diademed Bust of the Emperor, cuirassed holding a spear and shield. The Obverse legend reads DN FL CL IVLI-ANVS P F AVG which literally translates to say Dominus Noster (our Lord) Flavius Claudius Julianus Pius (dutiful) Felix (fortunate) Augustus (title). The reverse depicts a wreath with the inscription VOT X MULT XX inside and the city mint initials (HERACL•A) below. This means VOT (vows) X (ten) MULT (advanced by) XX (twenty). This coin commemorates both the completion of Julian's ten year vows and their extension to a total of twenty. Julian died eight years after he was made Caesar and roughly three years after being acclaimed Augustus by his troops. The vows this coin is commemorating never reached the tenth year, let alone twenty. NOTE: The coins of the Emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus identify him as Iulianvs, often putting FL, CL, or both in front. He is commonly referred to as Julian or Julian the Apostate. For purpose of coinage, he is often referred to as Julian II to differentiate him from an earlier usurper, Marcus Aurelius Sabinus Julianus, who also minted coins identifying himself as Iulianvs. Although historically, this Iulianus is an unsuccessful usurper (one of several by that name) who simply managed to mint coinage thus he is often referred to as Julian I (of Pannonia). These are not to be confused with the emperor Marcus Didius Severus Julianus who ruled for a very short time in 193 A.D. and is identified on coins as M Did Iulian. Further information on Julianus can be had here: http://www.cachecoins.org/julianii.htm
It is a lovely coin and as usual a great write up from Dru my only complaint is comparing him to Animal from the Muppets Animal was cuddly n cute LOL
Well, maybe not animal...but he looks kinda like a Roman Muppet Julian was a very interesting character IMO who was around the edges, and then in the center, of an empire that was going through very drastic changes. He was the last Pagan emperor and looked to stem the tide of Christianity. Because of his death he was unable to do all the things he wished to do...and because of this...he would mark the last gasp of Paganism and after him all emperors would be christian and Christianity would dominate Europe and the western world from then on.
While Julian was an interesting character, I personally hate these issues, primarily because of the muppet-effect. I've had a hard time deciding which coin of this emperor to get: the gold is nice, but the problem there is obvious; the silver is decent, but a tad overpriced and difficult to find; and these smaller votives have a muppet. So I decided to go with the larger bull bronzes, which are also a little too expensive, but can still be found affordably sometimes. That being said, your coin is probably the most pleasing example I've ever seen. Its exceptionally well preserved, and I love that just enough dust remains in the fields to give it an ancient feel.
Its certainly a matter of personal taste...by this time, most portraits of emperors on coins were stylized and did not depict the emperor as he was...these bronze issue more but the Bull bronze you speak of is equally stylized, just differently...but still rather odd looking. When I first started studying Julian's coinage these issues stood out when I found them in good shape and struck well. I waited and perused many coins until I found this one that was in decent condition. I personally love the somewhat oddball way they depict him on these issues...sometimes with wide eyes appearing to look almost like a berserker in some. Anyway...after a long wait I found a coin of his that I am very happy with (it was a bit expensive but I think it is a great example of the type) though I will probably eventually try to find a good example of his larger bull issues as well.
