Caligula down! Now just two left to finish the Twelve Caesars!

The rim ding one (minus the rim ding), is about the quality of my 1990's example, currently the best Caligula I have.

One wonders if the rim ding is modern and it's repatinated? (the little bit of copper showing on the reverse E). Anyway, the rim ding one is still a handsome coin.

 

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Prices going down seem unrealistic - prices now seem incredible - and the buyers fees are way excessive. I am unhappy because for the first time I lost quite a bit on some consignments including some that I thought were pretty nice, but the photographs not so great. c'est la vie. Goes to show that these should never been seen as investments, at least at my level but I never thought of them that way.

 

I am not too picky. I am fortunate to get them all, but they are a mish-mash of denominations. I added in Vindex who started the kill-off the Julio-Claudian Emperors. To me, it is the Seutonius Twelve - a Baker's Dozen.


Seutonius 12 - 12 Caesars PLUS Vindex

 

I also think its ancient. The ding does not bother me at all. Personally I am not into perfect coins. I also collect WW1 and 2 military items. I don't like them beat up or perfect. I like a bit of the been in the wars look but in good condition.

 

Oh, well, if the ding is ancient, winner, winner, chicken dinner. You got a good one, edteach.

That particular ding would not bother me, either.

However, it would have gotten the dreaded comment from NGC.

I found a bucket list coin at a coin show, a 'Jerusalem' (probably eastern military mint) Solidus of Heraclius. It had what was probably a finder's gash, but it affected only the first one or two letters of the obv. legend. It also put the coin into my price range.

 

I enjoyed looking at the dinged and non-dinged versions side by side and comparing the die engraving. The designs are fairly close considering the technology at the time. I wonder if a celator working under Caligula would have gotten fed to the lions or crucified for screwing up the portrait? Sort of like a mint master under Stalin…

 

Stalin and Mao killed more people than the pox. Communism works as a global euthanasia project.

 

During and since covid my interests have wandered a lot. My long-time interest of US national banknotes has ebbed dramatically, and I began to explore other long term but less developed/secondary interests to see how far I could go. One of these was a 12 Caesars' set. I already had nice examples of several of the emperors but did not want to be tied down to denarii but to develop a set of coins each with a story of some type preferably illustrating an event or personality trait, was an "ultimate" title for the emperor and was reasonably affordable. I also really like the big silvers of the east. I'd like to swap out a few of these coins due to condition (the Julius) or with a coin with a stronger story (the Gaius and Otho). I did leave in the Tiberius because how can one have a 12 Caesars' set without a tribute penny? (Just MHO.) For those keeping score the first of the coins in the set was purchased in 1989 (the Nero) and the last was the Galba which replaced an Egyptian tetradrachm with a pedestrian reverse just before making the presentation. I think my total out of pocket was a bit over $5k which is pretty affordable over 30 years.

At any rate, I did a PowerPoint to the St Louis Ancient Coin Study group early last year (2023) and here are images of the 3 summary pages. I cheated and there are 13 pieces in this "set," including the second emperor with both of his names. Also, the Galba is a fouree; a purposeful addition. I like fourees generally and there is some irony given the reverse inscription. Finally, the Nero As is indeed a mule with 2 obverses and is footnoted in BMC. The coin went from Empire Coins to George Beach to me.

 

PS the Vespasian is a Divo issue. Being a "god" probably should be considered an "ultimate" title. Vespasian was known for his humor and this ties to his alleged last words which Suetonius reported as “Vae, puto deus fio” translated as "Goodness I think I'm becoming a god!" Also Vespasian was not of the Julio-Claudian line so the Capricorn probably is a reference connecting him to Augustus who born under the sign and claimed it as his constellation. That makes the coin a twofer. What fun...which was the whole purpose of this exercise for me.

 

The Caligula AE as is a mainstay for most collections, being the most available type along with the quadrans for this emperor, but finding a nice one is not an easy task, and if one is encountered there is often a pretty hefty premium, especially if the coin is slabbed.

This is the best example that I own, purchased from a local San Jose coin dealer in 1991, who is no longer in business.

Caligula, AE as, Vesta SC reverse, 37-38 AD.
13.0 grams



For contrast, here is a much rougher example, purchased from an Israeli dealer over two years ago. It is probably a local find.

Caligula, AE as, Vesta SC reverse, 37-38 AD.
10.25 grams

 

Nice one LM. Here's one I picked up a couple of months ago

 

Your Vespasian presents much more nicely than mine so that's another upgrade for me. Not going to pursue it aggressively but if the opportunity arises...

My cistophorus commemorates the return of the standards from the Parthians, a critical event in Augustus' career. Parthia has been a strong interest of mine "forever' and a couple of my first purchases was a Vologases III from Jon Kern and a denarius of Augustus with the standards and chariot in a temple referring to the same event. What fun!

 

I really like the Parthian coinage since their history is so intertwined with Rome. Over the years I've accumulated over a 100 of the little beauties but find them increasingly frustrating. While some of the tetradrachma are dated, most of the coins are anonymous and not identified to a specific ruler. Worse yet, with new discoveries of coins and subsequent research, many of the attributions have changed only to be rechanged again to something else. The 1980 Sellwood seems to be generally used for basic ids, but Parthia.com has an attribution correlation chart which correlates each Sellwood number to one or more of 8 other references (and their attribution of the issuer). And of course, not all of those attributions are agreed upon by the various references.

I started out to assemble a one (or more) per ruler set. Really not possible and each time I look at the coins, I want to check and see if I gained or lost a king since the last visit. So... mostly just focus on Sellwood numbers and attributions (except for the most egregious changes), interesting portraits or a few variety sets that are fun and just splash around in that Egyptian river (denial).

A tetradrachm of Phraates IV (at least today) who returned the legionary standards to Rome. Gotta love that portrait.

 

Gaius Germanicus (Caligula) AE As Vesta
Bronze, 30mm, 11.19gm, struck: AD 37-38
Obverse: Bare head left, C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PON M TR POT
Reverse: Vesta seated left, VESTA above, S C across field