...CT members threads and coins on Titus's death date motivated me to frame and place on the wall above the 'Table of Coins & stuff"my glykee(giclee') of Karl Bryullov's "last Day of Pompeii"..you guys n gals rock man! ...here's 2 ya!... o-1
I think it appropriate to borrow a coin from @AncientJoe here. I hope he won't mind. He knows this is my favorite in his amazing collection. Source: Colosseo Collection
In case anyone else was unfamiliar with the painting (as I was), here it is. And here is the Wikipedia article about it. That's neat, @ominus1.
It's one of my favorites too, although it's sometimes hard to say which one of your children you prefer. My more recent Boscoreale Domitian addition is technically a better coin (Romulus & Remus reverse and its grade: they both are from the Biaggi collection) but there's something about the Vespasian's toning which really makes it stand out to me too.
The toned Vespasian has long been a favorite of mine on CT. The Domitian is a nice coin but it only whispers what the Vespasian shouts.
I get a physical reaction (literally) just seeing these Boscoreale coins and knowing their history. Ancient coins in general are obviously a connection to the past, but to know exactly where the coin was found, exactly where, in exactly which villa, and exactly whose villa it was (by name!), and for it all to be tied directly to such an event in history as the eruption of Vesuvius...well, that borders on overwhelming for me. Absolutely amazing coins!
Pompeii was placed at the outer circle of the reach from the vulcano. The heat wave around 300 degree celsius hit the city and killed people instantly, cooked them to be fair. The reason why they are captured in those weird instant death poses. Gold melts at 1064 degrees and it never reached those temperatures. My favourite is also the Vespasian coin.
This one is a second-class citizen compared to AncientJoe's, but I'll keep it. Titus. As Caesar, AD 69-79. AV Aureus (19mm, 7.32g, 12h). Rome mint. Struck under Vespasian, AD 73. Obv: T CAES IMP VESP CEN, laureate head right. Rev: [PA]X AVG, Pax standing left, leaning on short column, holding caduceus over a purse set on tripod with her right hand, cradling an olive branch with her left arm. Ref: RIC II 551 (Vespasian); Calicó 744; BMCRE 110 (Vespasian); Biaggi –. Dark reddish-purple toning. Near VF. From the Alpine Collection. Ex CNG.
Oh, Wow, @Edessa, the toning on this (help me out with the recent thread on the subject --no, never mind) is kind of, well, incredible.
Pompeii left us plenty of looks into Roman life in 79 AD. One of the best exhibits I have seen in Houston was the Pompeii exhibit. They had a pile of aurii and plenty of other coins. The gift shop had Roman stuff, including this coin magnet of Claudius (I think). I recently bought a stamp (it might be a bread stamp). While looking for similar stamps online, I saw the Pompeii loaf of bread. If we have any bakers here, they can try a Pompeii bread loaf by following one of these links - http://www.openculture.com/2015/08/how-to-bake-ancient-roman-bread-dating-back-to-79-ad.html http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/42934/artisan-pompeii-miche
It's a dream coin as far as I'm concerned. Is it also a Boscoreale? The toning seems to indicate that to me.
This seems to be the proper place to show this. A snapshot from the documentary Pompeii - Disaster Street. Hosted by Pompeii's site director Massimo Osanna and accompanied by a slew of archaeologists, the programme covers all of the recent finds and discoveries. Superb in every way.
I would hope so, but the only provenance info included with the coin was "From the Alpine Collection." It seems the Boscoreale coins were dispersed without much analysis. A good detailed version of the story can be found in "The Celator" Vol. 8, No. 3 (March 1994), which includes the article "Boscoreale: The aurei from the fabulous treasure of 1895." by Marvin Tameanko. This issue is available for free at the VCoins Community page: http://community.vcoins.com/celator-vol-08-no-03/ Working with Dennis Kroh, Marvin put together a partial list of types which have been referenced with hoard provenance over the years. And yes, there is a "RIC 168 (= RIC II 551); PAX AVG, Pax standing" on the list.
@AncientJoe - see, when your coins are nice enough, you don’t need to brag. Others will do it for you!
