Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Justin Lee, post: 3985838, member: 87404&quot;]I wasn&#039;t familiar with this coin and colony prior to seeing it last week when I purchased it.&nbsp; And at first I figured it was a halved Nemausus (like the one [USER=99554]@Ocatarinetabellatchitchix[/USER] recently got and <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/my-new-nemausus-dupondius.352945/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/my-new-nemausus-dupondius.352945/">posted</a>), but though it&#039;s also from Gaul, it is from the Roman colony of Vienna, modern day Vienne in France (not to be confused with Vienna in Austria, as that was known by the Romans as Vindobona).</p><p><br /></p><p>This one has the same early dupondius chunkiness as the Nemausus (this coin predates the Nemausus coin by nearly a decade) and the similar dual opposing busts on obverse.&nbsp; With this coin, though, the opposing busts were Octavian facing right and Julius Caesar facing left. And the reverse shows a quinquireme, a five-rowed warship with castle-like superstructure on top.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.naval-encyclopedia.com/images/divers/antiques/quinquereme_rome_imper.gif" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p style="text-align: right"><a href="https://www.naval-encyclopedia.com/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.naval-encyclopedia.com/" rel="nofollow"><font size="1"><i>https://www.naval-encyclopedia.com</i></font></a></p><p><br /></p><p>Of course, my example only retains half the coolness: the bar head of Caesar himself, and the prow of the ship with only a bit of the mast remaining.&nbsp; There is no legends left, so this coin must have been loved and used thoroughly.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://iomegacollectionhome.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/incollage_20200106_202104930.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><font size="3"><b>Octavian, as Imperator (43-27 BC), with Divus Julius Caesar (died 44 BC)</b></font></p><p><b><font size="3">Vienna, Gaul (Vienne, France)</font></b></p><p><b><font size="3">AE “Halved” Dupondius, Struck 36 BC</font></b></p><p><font size="3"><b>Obverse</b>: [•IMP• above, DIVI•IULI•CAESAR left and below, DIVI•F• right], bare heads of Julius Caesar facing left, [and Octavian facing right, back to back].</font></p><p><font size="3"><b>Reverse</b>: Prow of quinquireme right, decorated with eye; mast right; [surmounted with multi-story forecastle and standard or corvus above]; [C•I•V above.]</font></p><p><font size="3"><b>References</b>: RPC I 517, SNG Copenhagen 703</font></p><p><font size="3"><b>Size</b>: 30mm, 7.44g</font></p><p><br /></p><p>Vienna was conquered by the Romans in 121 BC, and was transformed into an official Roman colony in 47 BC by Julius Caesar.&nbsp; In between that time, 61 BC specifically, there was an uprising of the Gaul people which was squashed by the Romans, but those that were expelled during it ended up founding Lugdunum (Lyon, France). Lugdunum would eventually become more important than Vienna. And interestingly, in 69 AD, Lugdunum would plead to Vitellius to destroy Vienna during his transition to power; that did not happen.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/0d/22/10/57/roman-theater-in-vienne.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Vienne_%E2%80%94Temple_d%E2%80%99Auguste_et_de_Livie.JPG/1920px-Vienne_%E2%80%94Temple_d%E2%80%99Auguste_et_de_Livie.JPG" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>The reverse of this coin could be promoting many naval battles that occured before or near 36 BC, but the most likely to which it pertains to is the battle on September 3rd, when Agrippa defeated Sextus Pompey in a major naval engagement off Naulochus in Sicily.</p><p><br /></p><p>Prior to becoming Augustus, Octavian was building his legitimacy to ruling the empire by drawing connections to his adoption of the deified Caesar, calling it out in the legend (DIVI F, divi filius, &quot;son of a god&quot;), of which my coin has none remaining.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Do you have this coin in whole and in better condition?&nbsp; Could you share it?</b>&nbsp; Or share anything else you deem relevant.&nbsp; Thanks![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in