Hi all, The mixed lot I won at the last G&M auction brought some of the doggiest coins into my collection. However, they were joined by these three others I thought I'd post, which are amongst the nicest I now own. I've posted this first one before, but I've now had a chance to photograph it and capture the actual patina better. ANTONINUS PIUS As Rome mint, 140 - 144 AD, RIC 733, Cohen 450 O: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P COS III, laureate head right. R: IMPERATOR II, great white sow seated under a holm oak suckling three piglets, another one in front of her, SC in ex. Next one up is a Caracalla denarius. I've always fancied denarii with old collection tones, but I have to say that I find this shiny bit of metal really alluring. I'm not quite satisfied with the photograph, which makes it look harsher than it is. CARACALLA Denarius Rome mint, 213 AD, RIC 225, Cohen 508 O: ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT, laureate head right. R: PROFECTIO AVG, emperor in military garb standing right, holding a spear, two standards behind him. The last one is a rather nice hole filler of would-be dynasty builder and unlucky lightning victim Carus. CARUS Antoninianus Rome mint, from 283 AD, RIC 47 O: DIVO CARO, radiate bust with extreme receding hairline right. R: CONSECRATIO, front facing eagle with outstretched wings, KAA in ex. Feel free to pile on with any appropriate examples of your own! Z.
Atta-boy, zumbly ... three great new additions!! (well done) => I too am a huge fan of the Pig-As (very cool coin) Carus, eh? (I have a Carinus, but I don't have a Carus, yet) ... nice eagle
Ha! I actually have a Carus, whoo! Carus Potin Tetradrachm of Alexandria. Year 1 = 282/283 AD. A K MA KAPOC CEB, laureate, draped & cuirassed bust right / Dikaiosyne standing left holding scales & cornucopiae, LA to left. Geissen 3161, Dattari 5565; Sear5 12197.
Thanks all for the comments. I'd been looking for this particular Antoninus Pius type for some time. AP issued a few types that thematically depicted scenes from the founding myth of Rome. This reverse refers to a specific passage in Virgil's Aeneid. Aeneas, from whom Romulus and Remus are descended (and from whom later the Julians also claimed descent), led the flight of Trojan refugees from Troy to found a new settlement. In a dream, he is visited by the river god Tiberinus who tells him that where he comes upon a white sow suckling her young is where he should build his new city. He sees this very omen the next day, and on the site he founds the city of Lavinium, which becomes the chief settlement of the early Romans. In the Aeneid, the sow is suckling thirty young, suggesting that the new settlement would thrive and grow. On my coin, I only see four of the little fellows. I guess you can only do so much with the space available on an as. Z.
