Usually I try to acquire coins that are pleasant to look at. I prefer smooth surfaces and have no objection to just honest wear. I also prefer my brass and bronze to be on the light size with respect to color. Recently I acquired a coin that is probably just a mediocre and common coin, not one to write home about but it has a strange attraction for me. It is a coin of the Empress Lucilla, daughter of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina. It is either an As or a Dupondius, but it is doubtful which one. There are issues where the coins are alike except for metal and weight. It has the reddish brown patina of bronze but the weight, 14.2 grams is in the Dupondius range. Perhaps when issued it had a more brassy appearance, but not now. I did not touch up anything in the coin that I have below. That's the color it looks. So, why do I find this coin so alluring? Part of the appeal is the smooth and medium brown surface, the clear lettering and perhaps this is it, the kindly, almost childlike joyous expression of the young Lucilla, probably minted when she was married to Lucius Verus, Marcus Aurelius' co-emperor. It is believed that all her coinage was minted when she was still a teen. She married Verus when about 14 years of age. She seems happy and content and if so I am glad for her as her future was not going to have a fairytale ending. As the brother of Commodus she was going to have a big problem with him when he ascended to the throne. Those familiar with movies, The Fall of the Roman Empire from the 1960's and the more recent Gladiator will recognize Lucilla from those two movies and understand the strained relationship between brother and sister. Eventually, she would be arrested and charged with treason for involvement in an assassination attempt, and was first exiled and then executed. There are some coins I just like to gaze at and wonder and this is one of those for me. Even the reverse of a dutiful Vesta tending to the altar's flame is fetching for me. The coin itself is Sear 5528, RIC (Marcus Aurelius 1780). . Perhaps some of the readers here may have such a coin that they like to look at and perhaps reflect upon as well. If so, please share and tell us what is special about that coin.
You picked up a very nice coin, Kevin. I also like a young Lucilla portrait. Here is my only Lucilla bronze. Need to look for more. BTW, I think mine is of the same time period as yours, since there is the same AVG ANTONINI. Lucilla. Æ Sestertius. Rome, AD 164-182. 31.63g, 34mm, 12h. Obv: LVCILLA AVG ANTONINI AVG F, draped bust to right Rev: VENVS, Venus standing facing, holding apple and sceptre; S-C across fields. RIC III 1763 (Aurelius); BMCRE 1167 (Aurelius and Verus).
Beautiful example. Pretty much ALL of my coins I have looked at and reflected on at one time or another. Usually it's the bigger players like JC, Nero and others that I reflect on more just for the history. Some of my Lucilla bronzes. Lucilla (161 - 182 A.D.) Æ Dupondius O: LVCILLA AVGVSTA, draped bust right. R: SALVS S-C, Salus seated left feeding serpent entwined around altar. Rome Mint 15.6g 25mm RIC 1760 Lucilla (164 - 182 A.D.) Æ Sestertius O: LVCILLA AVG ANTONINI AVG F, draped bust righ R: VENVS S-C, Venus standing left holding apple & scepte. Rome 22.8g 30mm RIC 1763, Cohen 72, BMC 1167
Beautiful portraiture. Greek coins, especially from Sicily, have to be said to be the most beautiful of all coins. However, I have to give best portraiture to early (1-2 century) roman coins. I especially like large bronzes for their warm "feel".
At that weight and diameter that's about as big a sestertius as I have ever seen with an empress on it.
I agree with that. It may be from the same time period of her life. I read that there is a belief that it was only while married to Lucius Verus that she had coinage issued for her.
I think the issue of "style" is somewhat subjective. It is dependent on ones taste. I find some Hellenistic coins to be really attractive partly because the flans of these coins because they have a much wider diameter allow for the full image to be presented with a sufficient background to be properly displayed. The size of Roman sestertii seem to allow for this same dynamic. This is why I really like them despite all the negative issues that come with trying to collect these coins. Their size allow the die cutter a much larger canvass to which he can stretch his legs and give us something of his true skill as an artist. Once in a while I see a coin where the artist in question has managed to create something better than what is the norm. Faustina Junior As Augusta 147-150 AD Obv Bust right draped wearing double band of pearls around head. Rv Venus standing left. RIC 1388 (Pius) 28.00 grms 31 mm Photo by W. Hansen When this die was cut she was about 17-20 years old. She was already married to Marcus Aurelius, though at this time she was an Augusta when he was still a Caesar. This artist clearly enjoyed his subject matter and worked very hard to give this image a very natural appearance. I particularly like the treatment of her hair including that large "cow lick". I think this extra attention to detail makes this a truly exceptional portrait.
Szaivert (MIR, pp. 231-233), building upon his earlier work and the studies of Fittschen and Schultz, has proposed a chronology of Lucilla's coinage based upon the changes in her hairstyle. New research and die-studies suggest that she became Augusta soon after the accession of Aurelius and Verus following the death of Antoninus Pius in AD 161, and coinage in her name was certainly in place by 162. Notice the titulature of her early coinage focuses on her relationship to her father, Marcus Aurelius: LVCILLA AVG ANTONINI AVG F, "Lucilla Augusta, daughter of Antoninus Augustus." Lucilla was born in AD 149 or 150 and would have been about twelve when coins were first issued for her. Then, upon her marriage to Verus at Ephesus in 164, she assumed the shortened legend LVCILLA AVGVSTA as befitted a full Augusta. Lucilla continued to bear the title of Augusta until her death in 182, but it is extremely unlikely that coins continued to be issued after the death of Verus in 169, and certainly not after her subsequent marriage to Ti. Claudius Pompeianus. Szaivert advocates an end to her coinage around 166/167. Your coin, @kevin McGonigal, depicts the empress in her earliest hairstyle, and dates from AD 161/2 - 163. She is a girl of 12 or 13 years of age on your coin. There are two similar middle bronzes with the VESTA S C reverse legend, one depicting an altar at the goddess' feet and another without the altar. The type without the altar is scarce. Lucilla, AD 161-182. Roman Æ as or dupondius, 11.24 g, 25.2 mm, 6 h. Rome, AD 161-163. Obv: LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: VESTA S C, Vesta standing left, holding simpulum and Palladium; altar at feet, left. Refs: RIC 1780; BMCRE 1192; Cohen 95; RCV 5528; MIR 21-[7/10a]. Lucilla, AD 161-182. Roman Æ as or dupondius, 9.94 g, 24.2 mm, 11 h. Rome, AD 161-163. Obv: LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, bare-headed and draped bust, right. Rev: VESTA S C, Vesta standing left, holding simpulum and Palladium. Refs: RIC 1781; BMCRE 1190-91; Cohen 96; RCV 5527; MIR 21-[7/10a].
Close. Using Szaivert's methodology, yours depicts her third hairstyle and dates to AD 163/4. Note the difference in hairstyle between yours and @Mat's below (his has the first hairstyle).
That's a luscious bronze, I wish I had more like it. Here's my LVCILLA AVGVSTA As, like Mat's but a different type: And here's a Sev Alex bronze (a sestertius) that gives me pleasure in hand that's similar to what you describe for the OP coin: It just has a certain je ne sais quoi... smooth fields, nice patina, attractive wear but still plenty of detail, the surfaces haven't been messed with (still a little dirt), and a nice style portrait.
