Just bought this for my growing Twelve Caesars set, which is now 3/4 of the way to completion, with nine emperors down and three to go! It's actually the first time I've done business with Ritter. Boy, they sure use small pictures, huh? Still, it looks pretty nice to me. Roman Empire: ca. 68-69 AD silver denarius of Galba Galba: 68-69 AD, Denarius July 68-January 69, Rome. 3.29 g. RIC 186. Obverse: Laureate head right, IMP SER GALBA CAESAR AVG. Reverse: DIVA AVGVSTA, Livia holding patera and scepter. Good Very Fine (per Münzhandlung Ritter). Ex-Münzhandlung Ritter GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany (via MA-Shops store), 6 April 2024.
I went along to the British Museum today and they have a fascinating exhibition on life in the Roman army. I took this photo, which seems useful in this thread. A bronze bust of Galba thought to have topped a standard, carried by a legionary.
Here is my only Galba piece. Denarius of Galba, Obverse, IMP SER GALBA CAESAR AVG P M, “Emperor Servius Galba, Caesar Augustus, Pontifex Maximus” (highest priest in Roman religion) Reverse, DIVA AVCVSTA, “Goddess Augusta,” Livia standing. Sear variety # 2102 Livia Drusilla (a.k.a. Julia Augusta 58-59 BC - 29 AD) was the wife to Caesar Augustus and the mother of Tiberius. She married Augustus after she had Tiberius and divorced her husband. She was deified after her death. DIVA - Latin for female deity.
Ritter is reputable and reliable. You got yourself a nice example, (even if the grading description is overtly optmistic, in my opinion).
You might be right. I’ll be satisfied if NGC grades it VF (or even Ch F), never mind that the Ritter gVF grade suggests Ch VF per NGC. As long as they’re Fine and up, and don’t get slapped with any egregious problem notations, the technical grade doesn’t matter so much to me on Ancients. What counts to me with Roman Imperials is overall eye appeal, portrait, and the ruler’s name clearly readable on the flan. This one seems to fit those criteria pretty well.
Galba. 68-69 AD. AR Denarius (19mm; 2.84 gm; 6h). Rome mint. Struck August-October 68 AD. Obv: IMP SER GALBA AVG, bare head right. Rev: SPQR/OB/CS in three lines within oak-wreath. RIC I 167; RSC 287.
