Another one from this past christmas. This brings me down to only 4 for this particular empress I need left for my set. Loved this the best as for coins I got from christmas. Lucilla (164 - 183 A.D.) AR Denarius O: LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, Draped bust right. R: Venus, Venus standing left, holding apple and sceptre. Rome 18mm 3.36g RIC 784
Actually need 3, won one on ebay but I dont count it till it's in hand. Still need "Hilaritas", "IVNONI LVCINAE with Juno sitting, not standing", & "FECVNDITAS" which seems to be the rarest one for regular reverses. Only 12 in the Reka Devnia hoard. MA Shops only has one and it has a severe crack & too expensive, Euro.:/
Nice coin and nice piece of history. The history behind Lucilla is a tragic one. She was forced into two marriages of political convenience (including one to co-Emperor Lucius Verus) to much older men by her father, Emperor Marcus Aurelius. When her first husband (co-Emperor Lucius Verus) died, she lost her status and power as Empress. With her father's later death, she lost her status as Emperor's daughter. She didn't lose her quest for power, however, and she was involved in a plot to supplant her deranged brother (Commodus) with her second husband. That did not end well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucilla That Commodus was a real freak. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojN06GP50K4 Knowing the history behind the coin makes both the coin and history come alive. guy
Yup, partly why I am building the set of her and crispina. I have always liked the two of them despite being larger footnotes in history.
After her first husband, the co-Emperor Lucius Verus, died in 168/169, would coins of the Empress still be minted with her loss of status? Certainly by the time of her brother's accession, these coins would have fallen from favor. Would she still have had the title two years after her father's death in 180? It would have been difficult to have been the former Empress and older sister to the bizarre Commodus, only to see him become the reigning Emperor and yourself losing power, privilege, and status to that megalomaniac. guy
Nice bust of the young empress. I like it BTW I do have a sestertius, not a denarius, featuring seated Juno.. Q
