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First coin of 2021 - Caesar Elephant denarius
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<p>[QUOTE="Clavdivs, post: 5423534, member: 93702"]Big day for me as the first coin of 2021 arrived this morning. December was really not a great time to buy coins with the mail situation (COVID + Christmas volume + holidays).. so this took a long meandering course. The coin actually arrived in Canada on December 17 and crisscrossed this very large country for some reason (flying over my house at least twice!) before finally hitting the mailbox this morning. I was very worried as this was the most money I have ever spent on a coin. But this has been worth the wait!</p><p><br /></p><p>I have been admiring these coins since I started collecting. Always with an eye out for an affordable(ish) example - but I did not want to spend the money unless the coin had a very clear "CAESAR" and was generally pleasing .. I knew the example would have problems in order to meet my price point.. so it was about finding that balance (as we all do with our coin purchases). This example was offered by a fellow CoinTalk member - and I jumped at the chance.</p><p><br /></p><p>The coin is much more pleasing in hand than the photo below. The test cut (or damage) is not deep at all (more of a deep scratch) - so they coin is extremely solid and has deeper toning than displayed here.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1235399[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3">Ex-Marc Breitsprecher 2015/ Ex-Jordan Montgomery 2020</font></p><p><br /></p><p>Researching the coin has been fun.. every single aspect of the coin is debated with various opinions on the symbolism for each device (there is not even universal agreement (as far as I can tell) as to which side is the obverse). </p><p><br /></p><p>I really like this explanation from Joe Sermarini from Forvm Ancient Coins:</p><p><b><font size="4"><i>"Minted after his invasion of Italy and crossing of the Rubicon on 10 January 49 B.C. until his defeat of Pompey at Pharsalus, this was the first coin type issued in Caesar's name. The elephant was the symbol of the Caesar family. According to legend, an ancestor received the name Caesar after single-handedly killing an elephant, probably in North Africa during the first Punic War, and "Caesai" was the name for elephant in the local Punic language. The obverse was long described as an elephant trampling a snake, symbolizing good triumphing over evil. For the Romans, however, the snake was a symbol of healing, not evil. The image [below] is ornamentation on the side of the Gundestrup cauldron (c. 150 - 1 B.C.) depicting three Celtic warriors sounding their carnyx war trumpets. Clearly, Caesar's elephant is trampling a carnyx and the obverse symbolizes Caesar's victory over the Celtic tribes of Gaul. The reverse refers to Caesar's office of Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of Rome, a title now held by the Pope."</i></font></b></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundestrup_cauldron" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundestrup_cauldron" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundestrup_cauldron</a></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1235404[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Thank you for your interest. </p><p>Please let me know your opinions on the symbolism around this coin and of course post any examples you have or any coin you like..</p><p><br /></p><p> Cheers![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Clavdivs, post: 5423534, member: 93702"]Big day for me as the first coin of 2021 arrived this morning. December was really not a great time to buy coins with the mail situation (COVID + Christmas volume + holidays).. so this took a long meandering course. The coin actually arrived in Canada on December 17 and crisscrossed this very large country for some reason (flying over my house at least twice!) before finally hitting the mailbox this morning. I was very worried as this was the most money I have ever spent on a coin. But this has been worth the wait! I have been admiring these coins since I started collecting. Always with an eye out for an affordable(ish) example - but I did not want to spend the money unless the coin had a very clear "CAESAR" and was generally pleasing .. I knew the example would have problems in order to meet my price point.. so it was about finding that balance (as we all do with our coin purchases). This example was offered by a fellow CoinTalk member - and I jumped at the chance. The coin is much more pleasing in hand than the photo below. The test cut (or damage) is not deep at all (more of a deep scratch) - so they coin is extremely solid and has deeper toning than displayed here. [ATTACH=full]1235399[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3]Ex-Marc Breitsprecher 2015/ Ex-Jordan Montgomery 2020[/SIZE] Researching the coin has been fun.. every single aspect of the coin is debated with various opinions on the symbolism for each device (there is not even universal agreement (as far as I can tell) as to which side is the obverse). I really like this explanation from Joe Sermarini from Forvm Ancient Coins: [B][SIZE=4][I]"Minted after his invasion of Italy and crossing of the Rubicon on 10 January 49 B.C. until his defeat of Pompey at Pharsalus, this was the first coin type issued in Caesar's name. The elephant was the symbol of the Caesar family. According to legend, an ancestor received the name Caesar after single-handedly killing an elephant, probably in North Africa during the first Punic War, and "Caesai" was the name for elephant in the local Punic language. The obverse was long described as an elephant trampling a snake, symbolizing good triumphing over evil. For the Romans, however, the snake was a symbol of healing, not evil. The image [below] is ornamentation on the side of the Gundestrup cauldron (c. 150 - 1 B.C.) depicting three Celtic warriors sounding their carnyx war trumpets. Clearly, Caesar's elephant is trampling a carnyx and the obverse symbolizes Caesar's victory over the Celtic tribes of Gaul. The reverse refers to Caesar's office of Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of Rome, a title now held by the Pope."[/I][/SIZE][/B] [URL]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundestrup_cauldron[/URL] [ATTACH=full]1235404[/ATTACH] Thank you for your interest. Please let me know your opinions on the symbolism around this coin and of course post any examples you have or any coin you like.. Cheers![/QUOTE]
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