I have decided to finally focus on doing a high grade 12 Caesar's portrait denarius set. Something I have wanted to do for a long time, but never focused on. Part of the challenge for me will be finding as high of grade examples as I can, and not buying "good deals" but instead waiting for the right ones . Here is my addition from last night's Stacks auction, I am super thrilled! Galba AR Denarius. Gaul, Narbo? (68-69 A.D.) SER GALBA IMPERATOR - Laureate head right VICTORIA P R - Victory standing facing on globe, holding wreath and palm RIC 111 Nathan Hochrein
Outstanding. Hard to come by this emperor in any coin, but this one is excellent. Good detail. Two thumbs up.
I remember this coin from its appearance in the Oct 2013 Gorny & Mosch auction. It has a very striking and memorable portrait. Congrats on being its new owner!
Thank you for all the comments, and also for the heads up on the provenance. I was able to locate it, Auction 215 lot 115. Thanks! Nathan
This is a great coin in so many ways but I really appreciate the portrait from a less common mint that is quite different from Galba's usual appearance. While his usual look is rough enough, some of these branch portraits are spectacular.
I have the 12 Caesars in silver, plus a bunch more, with the exception of Claudius. Bronze yes. I have never been able to find a Claudius Denarius that wasn't ridiculously overpriced. Does anyone know why they are so scarce?
The weight and fineness of the denarius were reduced under Nero, causing many of the Claudian issues to disappear from circulation.
