My new Pupienus denarius makes a pair with my Balbinus denarius

Thanks. The Balbinus did make the top 10 non-Republican coin list for 2020 that I posted a week or so ago. And if I'd had the Pupienus then, I would have included it as well. Sort of like I felt I had to treat the Naevius Balbus and Ti. Claudius Nero denarii as a pair in my Republican top 10.

 

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DonnaML, those are both excellent examples but that Pupienus has outstanding style. Here are my matching handshakes.

 

Lovely coins, @DonnaML -- important and handsome additions to your collection!

 

Here are the Alexandrian versions:



Emmett-3378.01; Geissen-Unlisted; Dattari-4687; : Milne-Unlisted.
Dates per RAG Carson "The Coinage and Chronology of AD 238".



Emmett-3362.01; Geissen-Unlisted; Milne-Unlisted; Curtis-Unlisted; BMC-1835.
Dates per RAG Carson "The Coinage and Chronology of AD 238".

Both coins Ex Elsen Auction #61 (2000).

- Broucheion

 

Beautiful Denarii, Donna! And amazing detail on the Genius. One can actually make out from the shape of the beard that neither emperor can be depicted.

I would say the next emperor with a full beard (not including the Gallic empire) was Allectus.

Here are my Sestertii of the Senate Emperors:

Pupienus / Victoria (presumably over Maximinus Thrax)


Balbinus / Concordia (between the Emperors, a humble wish)

 

Thanks. Also, the more I look at the Pupienus, the more impressed I am by the level of detail on his portrait (down to the details on the inside of his ear if you zoom in enough). Furthermore, I've never really understood what "fine style" means, but I am pretty sure that the portrait of Pupienus (including the way his expression is rendered) qualifies. I still don't get how it is that his hair is almost completely worn off in front of the laurel wreath, given how well-preserved the rest of the obverse is.

In any event, I think I was lucky to get this coin for the price I did (considerably under $1,000, the line I've still never crossed for a coin), given the prices for which other denarii of Pupienus have sold. I think the dealer could have gotten more for it.

Interesting that it was only the usurpers such as the Gallic emperors and Allectus in Britannia who had full beards during the century after Pupienus, whereas there may have been no "legitimate" Roman emperor in Rome who had one until Julian II. Which would mean that Pupienus really was the last of his kind.

I think you're probably right about the shape of the beards on the "Genius of the Senate" portrayals. In addition, look at their bushy hair, protruding in back: nothing like the close-cropped hair of Pupienus and Balbinus. The other evidence that @curtislclay pointed to in the earlier thread was the fact that the Genius of the Senate, identified by name, appeared on the reverse of a number of coins of Antoninus Pius (found on acsearch). His portrayal on those coins closely resembles the figure on the reverse of the Pupienus and Balbinus denarii, except that he holds a long rather than a short scepter. (The short scepter, by the way, is not shaped like a parazonium and I don't think it can be one.)