I don't know of any "official" rules but do collectors count bronze coins, only denarius coins, has to have a portrait of the Caesar,only Rome minted coins as part of a set?
The only rules are the ones you make for yourself. The 12 Caesars in denarii is a popular goal. Bronze is cheaper, but then you'll have to do a provincial for Otho. In any case, I'd personally make it a portrait collection. But again, it's up to you how you want to structure it!
I agree with The Meat Man, make up your own rules. A denarii set is the most typical set that collectors assemble. Those with large financial resources will also assemble an aurei set. Or you can have a mix of silver and bronzes. There are a number of prior posts regarding the 12 Caesars Sets: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/post-your-12-caesar-collection-please….389468/page-2 I was going to start mine this year, it hasn't really been a priority for me. Or you can just buy the British Museum reproduction sets like I did.
I’m fairly new to ancients but I have learned one thing over the years with coin collecting. It’s your collection so you make the rules. Do the same with the Twelve Caesars.
Mine includes not just bronzes, but Provincial and imitative bronzes. For Nero, mine includes at least 3 or 4 Provincials to capture all the variations from skinny bowl-cut 17-year old through overweight neck-bearded 30 year old. If your budget is unlimited, you could aim for all 12 portraits on gold Aurei (the Julius Caesar portrait would have to be posthumous I believe). I dream of one day having just one. Also a matter of how much time you're willing to invest in completing it. Every few years I pick up another AR Denarius in anticipation of a full set (usually for other reasons too), but it may be another 10-20 years before I finish it. Maybe sooner if I move it to a higher priority. (For "12 Caesars Denarius-Portrait Set" I'd still need Caligula, Claudius, Galba, Vitellius, I think -- unless I cheat and include specimens I previously owned but sold!)
Only takes goobs of $$$$$. A rule for the "hobby of Kings" Can't think of a better thing to spend money on/ other then a 67 427/400HP vette. John
I only do portraits and do not restrict myself to a specific metal. At first I only wanted imperial issues but found a provincial Augustus I couldn't turn down, so now I'm keeping it open as long as it's a portrait!
I would say it is an excellent long-term set to work on! I started it probably 5 years ago and only have 1/3 of the coins since it's a bit of an expensive set to collect, but the challenge makes it fun.
No hard rules- do it the way you see fit! Be prepared to shell out some bucks if you go all silver, though- and you'd need really, really deep pockets to do it all in gold! I'm working on the set in all metals (bronze, silver, and gold). My Augustus is a provincial from Ephesus, so they're not all Rome mint. I also have one posthumous coin (Vespasian) and one "as Caesar" coin (Domitian). I do go for portrait coins, preferably with the name of the emperor visible on the flan (though my Tiberius doesn't quite meet that criterion). Beyond that, I just go for what I like. This is my second time assembling the series. Here is my old Twelve Caesars set, the first time I completed it in 2013. I had a $500/coin budgetary ceiling at the time, which made Caligula and Otho challenging. Second time around, here is what I have so far: Julius Caesar (Wanted. Lifetime portrait denarius.) Augustus Tiberius Caligula (I've decided to sell this one rather than slab it, due to the rim nick) Claudius Nero Galba (Wanted. Undecided on which denomination or type.) Otho (Just graded by NGC: Fine; Strike 4/5, Surface 4/5) Vitellius (Wanted. Undecided on which denomination or type.) Vespasian Titus Domitian (Just graded by NGC: Ch XF; Strike 5/5, Surface 4/5)
Probably the best way to go for a Julius Caesar portrait is the Octavian 'heavy dupondius' from Brundisium/the southern Italian mint, Sear RCV I, 1569. There's also a cruder, lighter imitative version of this one. It's your rules, but I'd go for a mixed set. Caligula and Claudius are going to be terribly expensive in silver. The only affordable Claudius in silver is the series of Antioch Nero/Divus Claudius Tetradrachms.
Lordmarcovan those are really nice! You absolutely annihilated on these 12 caesars! I am 0-12 I will make a solemn promise to add one in 2024.
I got this one in the post yesterday. I keep most of my coins in a safe deposit box. I need to go in and get the to do a photo shoot. I also need to orginize them in some say. Right now I keep them in plastic bags in a larger plastic bag.
I would suggest placing all your coins in SAFLIP holders/ plastic bags ae not the best.....for rare coins. I use saflips for my entire coll/ except slabbed stuff. Plastic bags for my cinnamon buns
Congrats. As of this post, in my second time around collecting the 12C, I still lack Vitellius, so you've got one I do not. But I shall rectify that in the coming year. Those Lighthouse albums are sure nice. I used the ones with slab pages for my collection until recently. I sold the albums since my coins spend 90% of their time inside my safe deposit box, and when they're not there, I've got a 100-slab briefcase for them now. It doesn't display as well as the Lighthouse albums did, but it is more convenient to carry around.
There ws a nice Vitellius portrait coin Lucernae Auction/ but it hammered for 2500 euros. Seems $$$$ is always an issue Sure sucks!
Oh, almost forgot. I have some new (last few months) additions to my 12 Caesars... Three new favorites. Chronologically... Augustus. From Samos, c. 20 BCE, during the important period when he governed from the Ionian island. With a colorful peacock! Selected provenance/publication history: RPC I 2681 (Online), ex. 26 = Ex Collections of Lord Grantley (1855-1943), R. C. Lockett (1873-1950), Cornelius Vermeule (1925-2008), "St. George Collection" (CNG). Unfortunately, John Richard-Brinsley Norton (1855-1943) died during WWII, a low point in British auction catalog publication due to resource scarcity. He had undoubtedly one of the greatest-ever collections of Greek bronze coins (incl. Roman Provincials). But due to the timing, none of the coins were illustrated in the Glendining's Auction catalogs. One of the biggest buyers was Lockett, but only his Greek silver/gold were published in the SNG series! A bronze series was planned (never materialized), so once again, Glendining illustrated very few. Fortunately, Cornelius Vermeule, Curator at Boston Museum of Fine Arts, bought many of those ex-Lockett-Grantley bronzes & kept track of their provenances (though others lost many of them). I've bought several, and tried to recover as many of the provenances as possible, to contribute to some partial record of those great mid-20th cent. collections of Greek/RPC AE. Nero. Cappadocia, Caesarea. With his beloved mother Agrippina Jr! (This one I just won at auction, so don't "have it" have it.) I wanted it mainly for her portrait, especially on the opposing side of Nero's. (One might even argue she's the obverse, though I think that'd be wrong.) And for its fascinating "object biography," below. I like that it's both "Imperial" (Latin legends) and "Provincial" (Cappadocia), so it appears in publications for both (and in "Women of Rome" literature): Selected provenance: Ex Peter J Merani (1936-2020) Collection (CNG Triton XXIV, 19 Jan. 2021, lot 139); Walter Niggeler (1878-1964) Collection, Part II (Bank Leu/Münzen und Medaillen, 21 Oct. 1966, lot 659); Franz Trau (1881-1931) Family Collection (Gilhofer & Ranschburg/Hess, 22 May 1935, lot 359); probably ex Cappadocia 1906 Hoard (IGCH 179) [but not published], possibly acquired by Trau from Indjoudjian Frères, Paris & Istanbul; other recent sales (1999-2023). Selected publication hist.: Jasper Burns, Great Women of Imperial Rome: Mothers and Wives of the Caesars (Routledge, 2007), p. 83, Fig. 4.23 (reverse only, from CNG 51); Banti/Simonetti, Corpus Nummorum Romanorum vol. 16, p. 136, no. 73; RPC Vol I 3637, ex. 5; Sammlung Franz Trau: Münzen der römischen Kaiser, nr. 394 (1976 Attic Books reprint); Wildwinds "virtual plate coin" (Caesarea & Nero pages); cited in Howgego 850i (5th spec.); et al. Vespasian. Dupondius. Very rare legend for Dupondius, CONCOR AVG. (A few known.) I really love this portrait. On a Sestertius it would've been out of reach, but on Dupondius it's still very satisfying, in many ways. Sel. prov./pub. hist.: "Plate coin" in the new RIC II.1 263, from a plaster cast as Oxford/Ashmolean Museum, ex Curtis Clay Collection (with tags) & Henry Platt Hall (1863-1949) Collection. (H.P. Hall bought everywhere; so, while I have suspicions, it'll take some research.) Also ex J.S. Wagner (JSW Collection) w/ tray tag, who is better know for a fine Provincial collection, ref. often by RPC, sold by CNG. JSW did not know this coin was ex-Hall, though he referenced it to the original RIC II 470, an entry with a minor error but that seems to cite only this coin. But it was not illustrated -- so, apparently, JSW never knew!
