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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;DonnaML, post: 5213455, member: 110350&quot;]I bought a Balbinus denarius back in April of this year (see below), and have been looking ever since for an (affordable) example issued by Pupienus, to go with it. It took a while, but I finally bought one last week from a very reputable dealer -- my last purchase this year, I think, not counting one less expensive coin I bought that hasn&#039;t yet arrived. Perhaps the fact that Pupienus&#039;s hairline is pretty much worn away in front of his laurel wreath brought the price down to my level, but as far as I&#039;m concerned, the rest of the obverse, and the entire reverse (see, for example, the facial features of the Genius of the Senate), more than make up for that.</p><p><br /></p><p>Pupienus, AR Denarius, April-June 238 AD, Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, IMP C M CLOD PVPIENVS AVG / Rev. Bearded Genius of the Senate, togate, standing front, head left, holding olive branch in extended right hand, and short transverse scepter in left hand, PM TRP COS II PP. RIC IV-2 5, RSC III 29 (ill.), Sear RCV III 8528 (ill.). 20 mm., 3.42 g.* </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1215696[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>It makes a nice matching pair, I think, with my Balbinus denarius, which has the same reverse design:</p><p><br /></p><p>Balbinus AR Denarius, April-June 238 AD, Rome mint. Obv. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, IMP C D CAEL BALBINVS AVG / Rev. Bearded Genius of the Senate, togate, standing front, head left, holding olive branch in extended right hand, and short transverse scepter in left hand, PM TRP COS II PP.&nbsp; RIC IV-2 5, RSC III 20, Sear RCV III 8489 (ill.). 20 mm., 2.65 g. (<i>Purchased from Kirk Davis April 2020; ex: Kirk Davis, Cat # 74, Fall 2019, Lot 83</i>).*</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1215700[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>This footnote applies to both coins:</p><p><br /></p><p>*The standing figure on the reverse of each coin was traditionally believed to be the respective Emperor himself, holding a parazonium (a short triangular sword typically found on coins depicting Virtus) in his left hand. That view is still reflected in OCRE (based on RIC) and at the British Museum website (based on BMCRE), as well as in the descriptions of all 14 coins of this type I found that have been sold since 2003, listed on acsearch. However, as [USER=89514]@curtislclay[/USER] explained at <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/balbinus-denarius.358987/#post-4410967" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/balbinus-denarius.358987/#post-4410967">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/balbinus-denarius.358987/#post-4410967</a>,&nbsp; in discussing a Balbinus example, the reverse “shows not the emperor on the reverse, but the Genius of the Senate, so his attribute has to be a short scepter, not a sword! A pity that the [British Museum] website perpetuates this old error (Genius misdescribed as emperor). The correction was made by [Andreas] Alföldi in his <i>Insignien und Tracht</i> [<i>der römischen Kaiser</i> (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut,1935)] . . ., followed by many others since then, including a recent article by R. Ziegler. On coins of Antoninus Pius, for example, the same togate figure is labeled GENIO SENATVS. His beard and bushy hairstyle on [the Balbinus] coin are exactly as required for the Genius, and exclude Balbinus. No surprise that the Genius of the Senate reappears on the coins of Balbinus and Pupienus, since they were senators themselves and were chosen to be emperors by the Senate.” Note that Sear equivocates, describing the reverse figure on both coins as either the Emperor <u>or</u> “the Genius of the Senate.” See Sear RCV III 8489 &amp; 8528 (published in 2005).</p><p><br /></p><p>Post your own coins of this Dynamic Duo.</p><p><br /></p><p>And, quiz time: without looking it up, who was the next Roman Emperor after Pupienus (not counting the Gallic and Byzantine emperors) to wear a long beard? By Pupienus&#039;s time, such beards had been out of style for some time, and they continued to be after his demise.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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