New buy commodus hercules denarius

COMMODUS (177-192). Denarius. Rome.
Obv: L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL.
Laureate head right.
Rev: HERCVLI ROMANO AVG.
Hercules standing left, holding club and lion-skin and crowning trophy.
RIC 254a.
Condition: Very fine.
Weight: 3.1 g.
Diameter: 18 mm.

 

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A very interesting reverse ro. And a great portrait.

 

Very nice. This isn't a criticism because I've collected denarii with slightly rough surfaces - I think the details of the coin far outweigh the fine porosity. But in the left reverse field I see some discolorations that suggest the coin is a fourée. Does it seem like the plating has chipped off there, or is it just some discoloration?

 

No problem, i am on a forum to learn things, always good some criticism, i am make beter picture mabye that helps

 

Nice Commodus Ro! I like his portraits. Very distinctive.

I don't have a denarius of Commodus yet. Just this heavily worn sestertius. Even as worn as it is, I like that you can pick out his portrait.

Commodus; 184 AD
AE Sestertius, 28mm/22.6g
OBV: M COMMODVS ANTON AVG PIVS BRIT; Head laureate right
REV: Legend worn away; Commodus, togate, standing left sacrificing over a tripod.
(RIC 441, Cohen 988)

 

Nice one ty for showing to me

 

An interesting reverse scene, and, for once, a Commodus portrait of good style. I've been looking for a good style denarius of his for decades and still havn't found one (not doing just that during that period though)

Q

 

COMMODUS
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: M COMMODVS ANTON AVG PIVS, laureate head right
REVERSE: TR P VIIII IMP VI COS IIII P P, Commodus as Pax standing left, togate, holding branch & cornucopia, hexagonal shield at foot
Struck at Rome, 183/4 AD
3.42g, 17mm
RIC 86

 

ro1974 => man, that's a sweet new addition (congrats) ... hey, I don't have a fourée yet, so even if turns-out to be a fourée then it's still pretty awesome in my books!! (congrats)

 

Ummm, am I allowed/supposed to pile-on with my Commodus sweeties?

sure, okay



Commodus AE As
Commodus (wearing Lion's skin) & Club




Commodus AE Sestertius
Commodus & Meeting on stage

 

Nice coins everyone. When I'm done with my other hundred themed collections, I'm going to start a denari one too.

 

i don't have a commodus!

on "the list".

 

I've posted some Wikipedia cut and paste history on Commodus and his love for the gladiatorial games. It's pretty interesting reading.

Some of the history, specifically his Hercules persona in the arena, relates to the reverse of your OP coin Ro.

The 1999 movie Gladiator was very loosely based on the history of Commodus in the gladiatorial arena.

Commodus the gladiator[edit]
Commodus also had a passion for gladiatorial combat, which he took so far as to take to the arena himself, dressed as a gladiator. The Romans found Commodus's naked gladiatorial combats to be scandalous and disgraceful.[14] It was rumoured that he was actually the son, not of Marcus Aurelius, but of a gladiator whom his mother Faustina had taken as a lover at the coastal resort of Caieta.[15]
In the arena, Commodus always won since his opponents always submitted to the emperor. Thus, these public fights would not end in death. Privately, it was his custom to slay his practice opponents.[16] For each appearance in the arena, he charged the city of Rome a million sesterces, straining the Roman economy.

Commodus raised the ire of many military officials in Rome for his Hercules persona in the arena. Often, wounded soldiers and amputees would be placed in the arena for Commodus to slay with a sword. Commodus's eccentric behaviour would not stop there. Citizens of Rome missing their feet through accident or illness were taken to the arena, where they were tethered together for Commodus to club to death while pretending they were giants.[17] These acts may have contributed to his assassination.
Commodus was also known for fighting exotic animals in the arena, often to the horror of the Roman people. According to Gibbon, Commodus once killed 100 lions in a single day.[18] Later, he decapitated a running ostrich with a specially designed dart[19] and afterwards carried the bleeding head of the dead bird and his sword over to the section where the Senators sat and gesticulated as though they were next.[20] Dio notes that the targeted senators actually found this more ridiculous than frightening, and chewed on laurel leaves to conceal their laughter.[21] On another occasion, Commodus killed three elephants on the floor of the arena by himself.[22] Finally, Commodus killed a giraffe, which was considered to be a strange and helpless beast.[23]

 

he sounds like a dick (animal killer) ... my Commodus coins are now up for sale

*edit*

... actually, they all sound like pricks ...

The coins are now back in their folders (carry-on)

 

Some good Hollywood fiction on the subject of Commodus and his father Marcus Aurelius from the movie Gladiator.

 

Well, most of the emperors did some really bad things including some empresses. I guess the best coins to collect are the ones with only animals on them then.

 

Related to the OP, here is the first roman coin I got ever and the nice story coming with it (I've told that many times, so I apologize, but the story is really nice) :

"My grand father, born 1894, has been lucky enough to be involved in the whole WWI. He eventually found three coins, romans he told me, while digging a trench at Verdun battle (1916). After the end of the war, being in a train, back home with two other "poilus" he decided he should give one coin to each of them and keep the last one for himself. Here it is, a Commodus sestertius :


Rome mint, AD 192
L AEL AVREL CO---MM AVG P FEL, Laureate head of Commodus right
HERCVLI ROMANO AVG, Hercules facing, head left, holding club and lion's skin, resting on trophy. SC in field
21,01 gr
Ref : RCV #5752, Cohen #203

It is the very first roman coin I have ever possessed, as he gave it to me when I was 18 and the only one in the family to collect coins. It's of course the real start of my addiction for ancient coins."

I can also add this about that coin :

The following commentary is taken from the description of a similar example (in far much better condition) in NAC auction 54, # 477 :

Few Roman coins excite as much commentary as those of Commodus, which show him possessed of Hercules. Not only do they present an extraordinary image, but they offer incontrovertible support to the literary record. The reports of Commodus’ megalomania and infatuation with Hercules are so alarming and fanciful that if the numismatic record was not there to confirm, modern historians would almost certainly regard the literary record as an absurd version of affairs, much in the way reports of Tiberius’ depraved behaviour on Capri are considered to be callous exaggerations. Faced with such rich and diverse evidence, there can be no question that late in his life Commodus believed that Hercules was his divine patron. Indeed, he worshipped the demigod so intensely that he renamed the month of September after him, and he eventually came to believe himself to be an incarnation of the mythological hero. By tradition, Hercules had fashioned his knotted club from a wild olive tree that he tore from the soil of Mount Helicon and subsequently used to kill the lion of Cithaeron when he was only 18 years old. Probably the most familiar account of his bow and arrows was his shooting of the Stymphalian birds while fulfilling his sixth labour. The reverse inscription HERCVLI ROMANO AVG (‘to the August Roman Hercules’) makes the coin all the more interesting, especially when put into context with those of contemporary coins inscribed HERCVLI COMMODO AVG, which amounts to a dedication ‘to Hercules Commodus Augustus’.

Q

 

I hadn't heard the story of your grandfather, Q, so I'm glad you re-told it. What a marvelous provenance!

 

Pretty cool tale, Q ... it is very to cool have sweet gifts from your family's past (congrats)

My Dad is now 91 years old and when we went back home and visited him last summer (still living in the house that he built 65 years ago) he gave me "his Dad's" cane fishing pole (which was apparently quite the sweet rod in its day!?) ..... so again, it is very cool to have a piece of your family's past!!

Dad figured that it was at least 80 years old, yet it is still in mint-condition, having been tucked inside a canvas bag within an aluminum shipping-tube for the past 70-80 years ... I still have the canvas bag and shipping-tube, but I figured that I'd let Grand-Dad's fishing rod hang in our dining room and get a breath of fresh air! (hopefully he'd think that was okay)

The photos of the rod are a bit odd, because the rod is sooo long that it is quite difficult to get any cool photos of it ... but here are a few photos of it in our dining room (I mounted it on the window bulkhead ... it is pretty cool, eh?)

I also attempted to take a few "close-ups" when I was researching the rod to determine its worth (hey, not to sell => just merely out of curiosity ... this baby is staying in the family!!)

 

WoW nice Commodus

Nice Commodus Rev and Obv, i liki this verry much

WoW i like this coin, nice Obc and Rev