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<p>[QUOTE="Curtisimo, post: 3847990, member: 83845"]I’m at it again with my Nerva-Antonines in Imperial Silver! This one is a nice coin I picked up of one of the lesser known figures of the high princepate.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1020254[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3">Roman Empire</font></p><p><font size="3">Aelius as Caesar (AD 136-138)</font></p><p><font size="3">AR Denarius, Rome mint, struck AD 137</font></p><p><font size="3">Dia.: 17 mm</font></p><p><font size="3">Wt.: 3.24 g</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv.: L AELIVS CAESAR Bare head right</font></p><p><font size="3">Rev.: TR POT COS II Felicitas standing left holding caduceus and cornucopia</font></p><p><font size="3">Ref.: RIC II 430 (Hadrian) Scarce</font></p><p><font size="3"><i>Ex Pars Sale 3, lot 357 (Oct. 2019), Ex Numismatik Naumann 75, lot 643 (Mar. 2019), Formerly slabbed by NGC</i></font></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="7"><span style="color: #404040"><u><b>Lucius Aelius Caesar</b></u></span></font></p><p>You know how sometimes when you are really rich and handsome and are always in the know about the best places to eat and party but nobody seems to recognize those things as valid qualifications to be emperor? Well, that is exactly the kinda nonsense that Aelius had to deal with on his way to the front of the line for the top job.</p><p><br /></p><p>To observers both then and now Hadrian’s decision to name Aelius as his successor made no sense. There was already a leading candidate for the position who Hadrian had <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Julius_Ursus_Servianus" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Julius_Ursus_Servianus" rel="nofollow">put to death</a> after raising Aelius. It is possible that Hadrian, who was always cautious of plots against him (even on his deathbed), felt that Aelius’s lack of military experience made him less of a threat. The entire Roman elite were duly mortified by Hadrian’s decision.</p><p><br /></p><p>Hadrian paid a huge donative to the army to ensure their loyalty and sent Aelius off to cut his teeth as proconsul of Pannonia in AD 137 where he predictably… performed all together competently?? Despite a love for the high life, Aelius was intelligent and capable enough to perform his duties in an adequate manner… top-shelf drink in hand. In this way he very much reminds me of his son, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Verus" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Verus" rel="nofollow">Lucius Verus</a>, for whom much the same things could be said. However, we never got a chance to find out how Aelius would have performed as emperor because he died before Hadrian.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1020255[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3">Look at that handsome devil. I took these pictures at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. As you have probably learned from some of my other posts this museum has a fantastic collection of imperial busts, even some of the really obscure ones. Those Medici had great taste… and a lot of money.</font></p><p><br /></p><p>I am not aware of any primary sources that tell us how large the donative Hadrian paid to the army was but since Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus had to shell out 5,000 denarii per soldier when they became co-emperors it seems the sum for Aelius could have been up to that amount. I suspect that a lot of the coins struck with Aelius’s portrait were made as part of the donative. After all, what better way to ensure the army understands that Aelius is next in line than to give them a bunch of money with his face and the title Caesar on it?</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="7"><span style="color: #404040"><u><b>Felicitas</b></u></span></font></p><p>The reverse of this coin shows the Roman figure of lady luck. Felicitas is sometimes confused with Fortuna but there is actually a major difference between the two; Felicitas was always associated with luck in a positive context. At least by the imperial period she was also associated with happiness in general. This seems to be the message of this coin: The adoption of Aelius was a happy occasion for the empire to celebrate. See <a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/reverse_happy.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/reverse_happy.html" rel="nofollow">here</a> for an interesting page on Felicitas</p><p><br /></p><p>One interesting fact about Felicitas that I found out while putting together this write up is that it is extremely difficult to find an extant statue of this goddess anywhere. I looked through my photos of the museums I have been to and scoured google images… nothing. Good luck finding Good Luck on the internet.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, I was able to find some interesting images and information of the caduceus that I wasn’t previously aware of. Felicitas is only shown holding this implement during the imperial period. The caduceus had connotations of wealth and prosperity due to the staff being traditionally associated with god of commerce, Mercury. Thus it seems that the iconography is acknowledging a connection between luck and prosperity.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1020256[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3">Here is a great image of a caduceus from the second century that shows the same curved form factor we see on the coin. This <a href="https://collections.artsmia.org/art/197/caduceus-roman" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://collections.artsmia.org/art/197/caduceus-roman" rel="nofollow">lovely object</a> is housed in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, which is a fantastic museum which I highly recommend if you are ever in Minnepolis (I recommend the summer!).</font></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="7"><span style="color: #404040"><u><b>Did you guys get me addicted to crack?</b></u></span></font></p><p>I recently bought a small vise for the purpose of cracking slabs and this is the first coin I have tried it out on. It worked pretty well. The coin is free and I didn’t smash my thumb with a hammer. Mission accomplished folks.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1020257[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3">The scene of the crime</font></p><p><br /></p><p>I think you all know what is coming next... Please show</p><ul> <li>Aelius coins!</li> <li>Nerva Antonine denarii</li> <li>The most recent coin you cracked</li> <li>The Holy Grail</li> <li>Felicitas</li> <li>The Caduceus</li> </ul><p>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Curtisimo, post: 3847990, member: 83845"]I’m at it again with my Nerva-Antonines in Imperial Silver! This one is a nice coin I picked up of one of the lesser known figures of the high princepate. [ATTACH=full]1020254[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3]Roman Empire Aelius as Caesar (AD 136-138) AR Denarius, Rome mint, struck AD 137 Dia.: 17 mm Wt.: 3.24 g Obv.: L AELIVS CAESAR Bare head right Rev.: TR POT COS II Felicitas standing left holding caduceus and cornucopia Ref.: RIC II 430 (Hadrian) Scarce [I]Ex Pars Sale 3, lot 357 (Oct. 2019), Ex Numismatik Naumann 75, lot 643 (Mar. 2019), Formerly slabbed by NGC[/I][/SIZE] [SIZE=7][COLOR=#404040][U][B]Lucius Aelius Caesar[/B][/U][/COLOR][/SIZE] You know how sometimes when you are really rich and handsome and are always in the know about the best places to eat and party but nobody seems to recognize those things as valid qualifications to be emperor? Well, that is exactly the kinda nonsense that Aelius had to deal with on his way to the front of the line for the top job. To observers both then and now Hadrian’s decision to name Aelius as his successor made no sense. There was already a leading candidate for the position who Hadrian had [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Julius_Ursus_Servianus']put to death[/URL] after raising Aelius. It is possible that Hadrian, who was always cautious of plots against him (even on his deathbed), felt that Aelius’s lack of military experience made him less of a threat. The entire Roman elite were duly mortified by Hadrian’s decision. Hadrian paid a huge donative to the army to ensure their loyalty and sent Aelius off to cut his teeth as proconsul of Pannonia in AD 137 where he predictably… performed all together competently?? Despite a love for the high life, Aelius was intelligent and capable enough to perform his duties in an adequate manner… top-shelf drink in hand. In this way he very much reminds me of his son, [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Verus']Lucius Verus[/URL], for whom much the same things could be said. However, we never got a chance to find out how Aelius would have performed as emperor because he died before Hadrian. [ATTACH=full]1020255[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3]Look at that handsome devil. I took these pictures at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. As you have probably learned from some of my other posts this museum has a fantastic collection of imperial busts, even some of the really obscure ones. Those Medici had great taste… and a lot of money.[/SIZE] I am not aware of any primary sources that tell us how large the donative Hadrian paid to the army was but since Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus had to shell out 5,000 denarii per soldier when they became co-emperors it seems the sum for Aelius could have been up to that amount. I suspect that a lot of the coins struck with Aelius’s portrait were made as part of the donative. After all, what better way to ensure the army understands that Aelius is next in line than to give them a bunch of money with his face and the title Caesar on it? [SIZE=7][COLOR=#404040][U][B]Felicitas[/B][/U][/COLOR][/SIZE] The reverse of this coin shows the Roman figure of lady luck. Felicitas is sometimes confused with Fortuna but there is actually a major difference between the two; Felicitas was always associated with luck in a positive context. At least by the imperial period she was also associated with happiness in general. This seems to be the message of this coin: The adoption of Aelius was a happy occasion for the empire to celebrate. See [URL='https://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/reverse_happy.html']here[/URL] for an interesting page on Felicitas One interesting fact about Felicitas that I found out while putting together this write up is that it is extremely difficult to find an extant statue of this goddess anywhere. I looked through my photos of the museums I have been to and scoured google images… nothing. Good luck finding Good Luck on the internet. However, I was able to find some interesting images and information of the caduceus that I wasn’t previously aware of. Felicitas is only shown holding this implement during the imperial period. The caduceus had connotations of wealth and prosperity due to the staff being traditionally associated with god of commerce, Mercury. Thus it seems that the iconography is acknowledging a connection between luck and prosperity. [ATTACH=full]1020256[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3]Here is a great image of a caduceus from the second century that shows the same curved form factor we see on the coin. This [URL='https://collections.artsmia.org/art/197/caduceus-roman']lovely object[/URL] is housed in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, which is a fantastic museum which I highly recommend if you are ever in Minnepolis (I recommend the summer!).[/SIZE] [SIZE=7][COLOR=#404040][U][B]Did you guys get me addicted to crack?[/B][/U][/COLOR][/SIZE] I recently bought a small vise for the purpose of cracking slabs and this is the first coin I have tried it out on. It worked pretty well. The coin is free and I didn’t smash my thumb with a hammer. Mission accomplished folks. [ATTACH=full]1020257[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3]The scene of the crime[/SIZE] I think you all know what is coming next... Please show [LIST] [*]Aelius coins! [*]Nerva Antonine denarii [*]The most recent coin you cracked [*]The Holy Grail [*]Felicitas [*]The Caduceus [/LIST][/QUOTE]
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