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First coin of 2020 : Antinous
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<p>[QUOTE="zumbly, post: 4002216, member: 57495"]But for a twist of fate that brought him, at the age of about 12, to the attention to Emperor Hadrian, Antinous might have lived and died anonymously out in the Roman provinces. Instead, the beautiful Bithynian youth would grow to become Hadrian's lover and constant companion for almost five years, until his tragic death in October 130, when he drowned in the Nile river under mysterious circumstances while accompanying Hadrian on a tour of Egypt. </p><p><br /></p><p>Antinous was deified almost immediately by the grieving emperor, who also had an entire city, called Antinopolis, built at the site of his death. Throughout the empire, Hadrian ordered busts and statues of Antinous set up, coins in his name and bearing his image minted, and numerous cults established dedicated to the newly ascended god. Remarkably, while these acts may have been the result of nothing more than the public grieving of an emperor, the cult of Antinous would become surprisingly popular, especially in the eastern, Greek regions of the Empire, so much so that even centuries after the death of Hadrian, the worship of his beautiful, young and immortalized lover would continue. </p><p><br /></p><p>A coin of Antinous has been on my dream list for years, but it had always been difficult bringing "nice enough" and "cheap enough" close enough together. In this instance, I think I was actually able to win it at a price I liked because in the auction pictures, the colour of the surfaces looked abit "off" for an Alexandrian drachm. Nevertheless, I liked the coin, so I decided I'd take a gamble that the colour would be fine in hand, and that the oddness in the auction pictures reflected only lighting that was angled to bring out the details of the devices. I was anxious during the course of the week it took it to arrive, but after I gingerly opened the package, I discovered a coin that not only had the hoped for "Alexandrian" patina, but was in fact a fair bit nicer than expected. It's possible the last time I felt as much relief was when my son was delivered and I counted off ten fingers and toes. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie80" alt=":shame:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p>As always, please feel free to share anything related! </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1053698[/ATTACH]<b>ANTINOUS</b></p><p>AE Drachm. 20.94g, 32.5mm. ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, RY 19 of Hadrian (AD 134/5). RPC 6062; Dattari (Savio) 8003-4; Emmett 1346. O: ANTINOOV HPѠOC, draped bust right, wearing hem-hem crown. R: Antinous, cloaked and holding caduceus, on horseback right; L IΘ (date) across fields.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="zumbly, post: 4002216, member: 57495"]But for a twist of fate that brought him, at the age of about 12, to the attention to Emperor Hadrian, Antinous might have lived and died anonymously out in the Roman provinces. Instead, the beautiful Bithynian youth would grow to become Hadrian's lover and constant companion for almost five years, until his tragic death in October 130, when he drowned in the Nile river under mysterious circumstances while accompanying Hadrian on a tour of Egypt. Antinous was deified almost immediately by the grieving emperor, who also had an entire city, called Antinopolis, built at the site of his death. Throughout the empire, Hadrian ordered busts and statues of Antinous set up, coins in his name and bearing his image minted, and numerous cults established dedicated to the newly ascended god. Remarkably, while these acts may have been the result of nothing more than the public grieving of an emperor, the cult of Antinous would become surprisingly popular, especially in the eastern, Greek regions of the Empire, so much so that even centuries after the death of Hadrian, the worship of his beautiful, young and immortalized lover would continue. A coin of Antinous has been on my dream list for years, but it had always been difficult bringing "nice enough" and "cheap enough" close enough together. In this instance, I think I was actually able to win it at a price I liked because in the auction pictures, the colour of the surfaces looked abit "off" for an Alexandrian drachm. Nevertheless, I liked the coin, so I decided I'd take a gamble that the colour would be fine in hand, and that the oddness in the auction pictures reflected only lighting that was angled to bring out the details of the devices. I was anxious during the course of the week it took it to arrive, but after I gingerly opened the package, I discovered a coin that not only had the hoped for "Alexandrian" patina, but was in fact a fair bit nicer than expected. It's possible the last time I felt as much relief was when my son was delivered and I counted off ten fingers and toes. :shame: As always, please feel free to share anything related! [ATTACH=full]1053698[/ATTACH][B]ANTINOUS[/B] AE Drachm. 20.94g, 32.5mm. ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, RY 19 of Hadrian (AD 134/5). RPC 6062; Dattari (Savio) 8003-4; Emmett 1346. O: ANTINOOV HPѠOC, draped bust right, wearing hem-hem crown. R: Antinous, cloaked and holding caduceus, on horseback right; L IΘ (date) across fields.[/QUOTE]
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First coin of 2020 : Antinous
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