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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ocatarinetabellatchitchix, post: 3983001, member: 99554&quot;]It all started last December. First it was [USER=100731]@Roerbakmix[/USER], then [USER=107940]@JulesUK[/USER] , [USER=99177]@Marsman[/USER] and finally [USER=51347]@Alegandron[/USER]. All of them talking about the same type of coin. Is it a conspiracy or what ? I couldn’t stop hearing this little voice in my head whispering “BUY ONE,BUY ONE”. Nights and days without a break. Wasn’t able to sleep, wasn’t able to eat or think clearly. I tried to resist but it was to much to endure. I did it. I sinned. The best way to get rid of temptation is to yield it, don’t you think so ? So I present you my latest baby : my <b>Nemausus Dupondius</b>. I was a bit out of cash ‘cause of my recent surgery ( I had a brain transplant) so I could only afford this one; and it was 2 for the price of one.</p><p>Nemausus Dupondius</p><p>23 mm&nbsp; 6.20 g&nbsp; 2 h</p><p>COL NEM / IMP DIVI F</p><p>RPC 523</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1048650[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p><b>The city</b></p><p>Nîmes, a city in southern France, was a critical outpost of the Roman Empire. It’s known for well-preserved Roman monuments such as the Arena of Nîmes, a double-tiered&nbsp; amphitheater still in use for concerts and bullfights. Both the Pont du Gard tri-level aqueduct and the Maison Carrée white limestone Roman temple are around 2,000 years old.That’s one reason why Nîmes has been called “<i>The French Rome</i>”. The contemporary coat of arms of the city of Nîmes includes a crocodile chained to a palm tree with the inscription COL NEM, for Colonia Nemausus.</p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Blason_ville_fr_N%C3%AEmes_%28Gard%29.svg/1745px-Blason_ville_fr_N%C3%AEmes_%28Gard%29.svg.png" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p>The city of <b>Nemausus</b> probably became a Roman colony before 28 BC. The emperor Augustus made the city the capital of Narbonne province, and gave it all its glory. The emperor Hadrian added a basilica, which was named after Plotina, wife of Trajan ; according to the <i>Historia Augusta</i>, it was &quot;of marvellous workmanship&quot;.The place is also known as the birthplace of the family of the emperor Antoninus pius. Constantine the Great financed the city with baths. The decline of Nemausus appears to have started early: the city was eclipsed by Arles, which was, in the fourth century, the largest city in southern Gaul. But the important detail about the city is that in 27 BC, the emperor Augustus settled veterans from his Egyptian campaign in the city and gave it the rights of a <i>colonia</i> (Alternatively, they were soldiers of the army of his defeated rival Mark Antony) As a consequence, the coins of Nemausus showed an Egyptian crocodile and sometimes palm tree or leaf.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/MaisonCarr%C3%A9e.jpeg/1920px-MaisonCarr%C3%A9e.jpeg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>The temple “La maison carrée”</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Arenes_de_Nimes_PKr_180.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>Arena interior</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The coin</b></p><p>The 4 series of the As (or dupondius ) of Nîmes, bronze coins struck under Augustus and Agrippa, commemorate the capture of Egypt and the establishment of veterans in <b>Nemausus</b>. The iconography of this Roman coin is linked to the specific historical period between the years 28 BC and 14 AD of Octavian and his general Agrippa, who defeated Cleopatra and Mark Antony at Actium. Both palm and crocodile symbolize not only the capture of Egypt, but also the defeat of Mark Antony. During these times, soldiers and officers were paid in silver denarii and gold aurei. But around ancient Roman military camps, coppers are found in high quantities (about 80% of all founds).Coins has often been cut in half for lack of divisional currencies and aces in particular. Aces will be abundantly imitated in Gaul until the reign of Nero to supplement the Gallic strikes supposed to disappear with the conquest.</p><p><br /></p><p>Technically, the cutting seems to have been facilitated by the two busts located on the obverse. It was enough to place a chisel between them then to strike with a mass , the answer to the technical question seems clear. However, the operation was not completely successful given the thickness of the blank, its possible faults, the difficulty of cutting it, the width of the chisel available to the operator and could result in an imperfect separation with one half heavier than the other.</p><p>Different techniques seem to have been used to try to obtain two perfect halves, the most common of which must be grooving before cutting work between the 2 busts. A process is revealed by a dupondius of Nîmes at the pre-cutting stage.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.bulletin-numismatique.fr/bn/bn181/images/image823760.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>Collection J.Langleur</p><p><br /></p><p>This copy has a central hole, on the reverse a groove leaves the hole towards the belly of the crocodile. The hole should, in all likelihood, allow a separation of the coin: a first cut began here towards the center of the saurian, then the chisel would have carried out a separation upwards, which allowed an optimal grip and a separation respecting the weight of the two parts as well as possible. The work having, fortunately, not been finished, probably that the officiant had to groove on both sides of the opening before cutting, the visible line on the reverse reveals this intention.</p><p><br /></p><p>I know it has been done before, but if you feel like it, please show us your NEMAUSUS CROCODILE ![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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