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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;zumbly, post: 2459312, member: 57495&quot;]Here&#039;s a recent pickup that just arrived yesterday, from one of the sales of the Elvira Clain-Stefanelli Collection.&nbsp; Apart from being a delight to look at, it also features a god very infrequently seen on ancient coins - Oceanus.</p><p><br /></p><p>In Greek mythology, Oceanus was eldest of the Titans, husband of Tethys, father of all the river gods (the <i>Potamoi</i>) and ocean nymphs (the <i>Okeanides</i>), and before the ascendance of the Olympian deities, the unchallenged ruler of all Seas.&nbsp; In their cosmology, he was also the world-ocean, the vast river stream that encircled the known lands.&nbsp; When Hercules, for his 11th Labour, voyaged to the Hesperides at the edge of the world, it was upon Oceanus that he traveled.&nbsp; Similarly, when Roman emperors ventured to far-flung Britain, it would be upon Oceanus that they sailed.&nbsp; Good ol&#039; Neptune gets called upon often to appear on Roman coins, but for Hadrian, our most globe-trotting of emperors, it&#039;s perhaps no surprise that Oceanus had to be invoked too.</p><p><br /></p><p>Feel free to show your coins with Oceanus, Neptune, Poseidon, or any other marine gods or goddesses.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]515119[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>HADRIAN</b></p><p>AR Denarius. 2.98g, 19.1mm. Rome mint, AD 119-125. RIC 75a. O: IMP CAESAR TRAIAN HADRIANVS AVG, laureate bust right. R: P M TR P COS III, Oceanus reclining left on a dolphin, crab claw horns on his head, holding an anchor in his right hand.</p><p><i>Ex E.E. Clain-Stefanelli Collection </i></p><p><br /></p><p><b>OCEANUS TRIVIA #1:</b> The Bocca della Verità, or Mouth of Truth, in Rome, is a large carved marble face that some believe represents the River Tiber, or the sylvan god, Faunus. However, it is almost certainly Oceanus, as evidenced by the distinctive crab claw horns on his head (also seen on the coin above). Some researchers also believe that the marble was commissioned by Hadrian for use as a drain cover within the precinct of several temples dedicated to Hercules.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]515120[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The Mouth of Truth is most famously associated with the legend that someone telling a lie with his hand in the mouth of the sculpture would have it bitten off.&nbsp; This fanciful story is most probably a medieval concoction. The Mouth of Truth and its legend were shown in the 1953 movie <i>Roman Holiday</i>, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]515121[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b>OCEANUS TRIVIA #2:</b> Oceanus is an occasional extra on the reverse of Roman coins issued by several emperors, but he is almost never the central figure. There is a <a href="http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=228366" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=228366" rel="nofollow">very rare denarius</a> of Septimius Severus that has a somewhat similar aquatic god that may or may not be Oceanus. Romano-British usurper Carausius has a <a href="http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1567950&amp;partId=1&amp;people=95574&amp;peoA=95574-1-7&amp;page=1" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1567950&amp;partId=1&amp;people=95574&amp;peoA=95574-1-7&amp;page=1" rel="nofollow">truly remarkable silver coin</a> with a bust of Oceanus reverse.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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