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<p>[QUOTE="Finn235, post: 3717756, member: 98035"]Some disjointed observations:</p><p><br /></p><p>- Augustus seems to have largely set the precedent that his portrait should be frozen in time somewhere in his 30s... a stark contrast to the wrinkly Caesar and hook-nosed Antony before him. </p><p><br /></p><p>- This trend ended soon after Claudius took office- and once again "warts and all" realism was preferred. Again, I assume a personal preference of the emperor himself.</p><p><br /></p><p>- Emperors seem to have had a large hand in selecting some of the deities on their coins, most notably Minerva for Domitian, Serapis/Isis for the Severans, Diana for Gallienus, and Sol Invictus for Aurelian</p><p><br /></p><p>- Elagabalus was arguably the only person in the entire Empire who loved his rock enough to put it on a coin!</p><p><br /></p><p>- The "Best Emperors" set of Decius is a particular standout among the coinage of the third century, and the particulars make me wonder if Decius himself made the selections? No Julius Caesar, no Claudius... yet Commodus and Severus Alexander somehow made the cut?</p><p><br /></p><p>- From my own collection, my prized Caracalla denarius was made for his 8th Liberalitas, thus minted specifically to be handed out to some Roman citizen. This one, more than any other coin of his in silver, reflects his patented scowl more closely than any other AR coin of his that I've ever seen.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]996505[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>My hypothesis (fantasy) is that this was minted either to present to the emperor himself as part of the ceremony, or else was minted for select members of his inner circle.</p><p><br /></p><p>- The Constantine posthumous coins are interesting not only for being the last posthumous coin struck for a Roman emperor and the only "Christian" posthumous coin, but also because I have seen it explained that DV indicates Constantine's deification after death... why would a Christian emperor (or his Christian sons) want that on a coin?</p><p><br /></p><p>- I have also seen it claimed on Wikipedia (haven't tracked down the original source) that Honorius wrote a letter to Arcadius complaining that so many Eudoxia coins had been made that they were more plentiful in the West than those coins of Arcadius.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Finn235, post: 3717756, member: 98035"]Some disjointed observations: - Augustus seems to have largely set the precedent that his portrait should be frozen in time somewhere in his 30s... a stark contrast to the wrinkly Caesar and hook-nosed Antony before him. - This trend ended soon after Claudius took office- and once again "warts and all" realism was preferred. Again, I assume a personal preference of the emperor himself. - Emperors seem to have had a large hand in selecting some of the deities on their coins, most notably Minerva for Domitian, Serapis/Isis for the Severans, Diana for Gallienus, and Sol Invictus for Aurelian - Elagabalus was arguably the only person in the entire Empire who loved his rock enough to put it on a coin! - The "Best Emperors" set of Decius is a particular standout among the coinage of the third century, and the particulars make me wonder if Decius himself made the selections? No Julius Caesar, no Claudius... yet Commodus and Severus Alexander somehow made the cut? - From my own collection, my prized Caracalla denarius was made for his 8th Liberalitas, thus minted specifically to be handed out to some Roman citizen. This one, more than any other coin of his in silver, reflects his patented scowl more closely than any other AR coin of his that I've ever seen. [ATTACH=full]996505[/ATTACH] My hypothesis (fantasy) is that this was minted either to present to the emperor himself as part of the ceremony, or else was minted for select members of his inner circle. - The Constantine posthumous coins are interesting not only for being the last posthumous coin struck for a Roman emperor and the only "Christian" posthumous coin, but also because I have seen it explained that DV indicates Constantine's deification after death... why would a Christian emperor (or his Christian sons) want that on a coin? - I have also seen it claimed on Wikipedia (haven't tracked down the original source) that Honorius wrote a letter to Arcadius complaining that so many Eudoxia coins had been made that they were more plentiful in the West than those coins of Arcadius.[/QUOTE]
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