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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 2554615, member: 19463&quot;]I found this Geta appealing in spite of and partly because of its faults.&nbsp; Some letters are weakly struck including part of the name.&nbsp;&nbsp; The coin has dark deposits in the recesses which highlights the beard on young Geta.&nbsp; This is the last issue of Geta before he became Augustus and the only chance for the combination of bare head and beard. Geta became Consul for the second time (COS II) in 208 and Augustus in 209 so the growth of the beard during this period helps date the coins.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]549586[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The reverse shows Genius sacrificing from a patera over a flaming altar while holding three grain ears.&nbsp; Please understand that my experience holding grain ears is very limited but I might have held them by the stalks which dangle down while the heads are in his hand.&nbsp; I like the coin because it is clear on this minor detail.</p><p><br /></p><p>Earlier in the COS II period, Geta issued a similar coin showing himself sacrificing over an altar (or tripod with flaming dish at the top) but he holds a short wand/staff instead of grain.&nbsp; Geta also appears in a toga as opposed to Genius who lacked attire of any sort.&nbsp; As a general rule, proper Roman rulers and politicians did not appear on coins undressed but gods often did. Perhaps there is a lesson here to certain modern politicians&#039; self portraits but we won&#039;t go there. The coin below is obviously earlier than my new coin (no beard).&nbsp; The other difference to be noted is the beardless portrait is a draped bust while my new coin is a head.&nbsp; In this period it is most usual for junior rulers to be shown with a bust while the full Augustus uses a head (there are a few fancy busts just to make exceptions for us to learn).&nbsp; A Caesar portrait with head alone is unusual.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]549601[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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