My Current Interest In Julia Donna Coins IV : Cappadocia Caesarea

Ok, I may have a problem when looking at coins. Seems that one type is simply not enough for me and I bought another Julia Domna coin from Cappadocia. I'm pretty sure everyone has seen this coin of mine already.




Well, I managed to get myself another one. What struck me the most of the new one is the portrait. We all know there are many portraits of JD on her coins. But what intrigued me was how different it was, and it was only a year apart. And of course the reverse is different too.


Julia Domna, Cappadocia Caesarea: Drachm
170-217 AD
AR17 , 3 g
O: IOVΛIA ΔO-MNA, bust draped right
R: MHTP OK AICAP NE Mount Argaeus surmounted by star ET-IΘ below/ year 19, 211AD
Sydenham 451 var

I'm not sure which one looks better so I can't say its an upgrade. Only going to say I like them both equally.

Hope you guys and girls are not sick and tired of my Julia Domna threads by now.

 

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Bottom one looks slightly better to me as far as style. I thank you for gifting me the top one.

See what I did there?

 

My only suggestion would be to find a year 5 Aphrodite to keep them company. I'm not sure how many years and types there are.

 

Never!

The different portraits of her make all the coins desireable. I wonder, since some portraits make her out as cute and lovely and others make her out as a super B, what did she actually look like for real. I know she was around for a long time, so perhaps much as to do with aging. But in this case, there is only a one year difference.

Nice new coin @icerain. Congrats, and you can never have enough!

 

There is indeed a lot of variety in the style with which she is depicted, depending on mint. This one, for example has been attributed by some to be from the Emesa mint:


Julia Domna, AD 193-211
Roman AR Denarius; 2.74 gm, 18.2 mm
Emesa, AD 193-197
Obv: IVLIA DOMNA AVG, bare-headed and draped bust, right
Rev: VENER VICT, Venus standing left, holding apple and scepter
Refs: RIC 630; BMCRE 422, RSC 188a; RCV --

As to what she may have looked like, here's Jasper Burns' reconstruction based on statues and coin portraits:

 

Both are keepers! It never hurts to have duplicates.

 

well, if you didn't have a lil OCD, what kind of collector would ya be?><

 

HOo.. frontal assault..with a hint of Mona Lisa..

 

Nice Domna coins everyone. Always looking for more and yet still have more to post. Is there a cure for this addiction?

 

Agree with Bing. She has so many different portraits it makes sense for a collector to have a Domna focus.
I only have one of her but I will ad to it at some point. I have a thing for empresses at least up to Fausta. As soon as I've settled my appetite there or maybe somewhere inbetween. I never know what I'm gonna do.

I'm waiting for a sweet Maesa to get delivered.
You have a nice coin IR

 

Both are really nice. I'd go with Doug's suggestion.

 

Even within a mint there is a lot of variation but part of that can be attributed to the span of time the mint produced the types. This one seems to e to be rather late in the so-called 'Emesa' period. I hope someday soon we have a scholarly reworking of the Syrian mints but pinning down the correct location will not be the easy part.



The type also comes in Septimius. We need to find a die link to establish the fact but the style seems to match.


Not updated since 1999 is my page on Emesa Julia denarii but it might be new to some.
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/jdemes.html

 

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