Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Roman Collector, post: 5002266, member: 75937&quot;]More information about peacocks and a few recent additions to my collection. </p><p><br /></p><p>Ovid (Metamorphoses 1) relates the story of Io who, after being caught with her lover, Jupiter, was transformed by Juno into a white heifer. She was later freed when Mercury distracted her guard, the giant Argus, by Mercury playing the pan-pipes and telling stories, and then killed him. </p><p><br /></p><p>To remember him, Juno transferred Argus’s eyes to the tail feathers of the peacock. For this reason, the peacock became the animal familiar of Juno. On coins, the peacock reverse type is specific to the coinage of empresses from Domitia onwards. Juno was one of the Capitoline Triad, with Jupiter and Minerva, and – as goddess of marriage and childbirth – she was believed to protect the state and the women of Rome. The myth related by Ovid also renders the bird a symbol of immortality.</p><p><br /></p><p>As a symbol of immortality, the peacock typically appears on consecration issues for Roman empresses. These were issued for the deified Faustina II.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/faustina-jr-consecratio-peacock-facing-denarius-jpg.1162446/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> Diva Faustina II, AD 147-175.</p><p>Roman AR denarius, 2.73 g, 17.1 mm, 12 h.</p><p>Rome, AD 176-180.</p><p>Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA PIA, bust of Faustina II, draped, right.</p><p>Rev: CONSECRATIO, peacock standing facing with tail spread, head right.</p><p>Refs: RIC 743; BMCRE 712-13; Cohen/RSC 70; RCV --; CRE 200.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1200709[/ATTACH]</p><p>Faustina II, AD 147-175.</p><p>Roman orichalcum sestertius, 19.27 g, 28.7 mm, 6 h.</p><p>Rome, AD 176-180.</p><p>Obv: DIVA FAVSTINA PIA, bust of Faustina II, draped, right.</p><p>Rev: CONSECRATIO, peacock walking left with tail spread.</p><p>Refs: RIC 1703; BMCRE 1573-76; Cohen 72; RCV 5228; MIR 60.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in