Much to the chagrin of history buffs, the new Pompeii movie has very little to do with life in Ancient Rome. In the interest of leveling the scales, I felt the need to post a particularly relevant numismatic connection to daily life at Pompeii. Starting on August 24, 79 AD, Mt. Vesuvius erupted for two days, burying the Roman settlements of Pompeii and Herculaneum. There were warning signs: small earthquakes started a few days earlier, but small tremors were frequent in the area so they were not heeded as indicating an imminent threat. In the afternoon on the 24th, the eruption began, shooting a cloud of ash 20 miles into the air and throwing molten rock at a rate of a billion pounds per second. 80% of the residents of Pompeii managed to escape in the first day to neighboring villages, but, by the end of the day on the 25th, flows of lava began, covering the area in nine feet of ash and molten rock and the 2,000 people who remained, hoping to wait out the disaster ultimately perished. Among those who escaped were the owners of a popular wine producing villa rustica on the south eastern slopes of Vesuvius near the modern-day village of Boscoreale. Incidentally, the soil around volcanoes is highly fertile and great for growing crops, allowing the owners to amass significant wealth. In 1895, excavators uncovered 109 gold and silver plates and hundreds of gold aurei. The coins were stored in an empty cistern in the wine cellar of the villa when the owners fled. With a general exchange rate of one aureus as pay for one month of work, this amount of gold would constitute a lifetime of profit. These coins are known as “Boscoreale” aurei because of the distinctive toning found on many of them. Gold itself is inert and does not tone but when made into coins, it is alloyed with small amounts of silver and copper which are susceptible to toning. Over the 1,800 years that the coins were buried beneath the ash and pumice from Vesuvius, some examples developed significant toning. Because of the highly sulphuric atmospheric conditions in the area around Pompeii, some other coins from the region have more subtle toning, but the most vibrantly toned are clearly from within the original hoard. I’ve recently acquired a new example of a Boscoreale aureus which is pedigreed to the Biaggi collection and is the pictured book in the Calico reference. I consider myself lucky because the pictures I bought it from did not even remotely reflect the reality of its toning: it is without a doubt one of the most dramatically toned gold coins I’ve ever seen. This aureus was minted by the emperor Vespasian, with the reverse of Aequitas holding scales and a scepter. My other Boscoreale aureus is of Nero, with a reverse of Jupiter sitting in a throne holding a thunderbolt. I’ve posted this coin here before but here are new pictures which capture its in-hand look. I hope this makes up, in some part, for some of the cinematic creative license taken by the Pompeii movie!
Vespasian looks a lot more handsome on this aureus he usually does on his other coins. The toning is quite amazing as well especially around the letters. I think I speak for everyone when I say
Seen these posted on the pcgs boards in the past, they are lovely coins all around and the history is even better. Simple...I wish....
Beautiful coins and well beyond my reach. However, it is nice to have a chance to see them here and to know they are in the hands of someone who truly appreciates them for what they are. I've been to Pompeii a couple of times and it is amazing what was found beneath the tons of ash. I planned to take in Herculaneum on this last trip this past summer, but it just didn't work out. Thanks for posting AJ.
I don't think Roman gold could ever be more beautiful than that Vespasian. Combined with the history and it is an unbelievable treasure! Thanks for sharing it!
woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow. thanks for posting those AJ. here's a neat little movie about herculaneum.
It follows that the more non-gold metal in an aureus, the more likely it would be to tone but I do not recall Vespasian's aurei being described as more base. Perhaps this one was near the top of the pile and more exposed to the fumes on the reverse??? It is spectacular. I wonder how many of the hoard coins were cleaned over the years to make them look 'gold'.
Beautiful coins and a great write-up! I guess it's a popular misconception, but I always thought that the eruption of Vesuvius was a catastrophe that took the town of Pompeii completely by surprise and killed everybody - I didn't realize that most of the townspeople actually escaped. It brings to mind those stubborn people today who ignore hurricane warnings and have to be airlifted off the roofs of their flooded houses by the National Guard.
Beautiful coin, AJ. Even amongst the Boscoreale aureii that I've seen pictures of, this one is particularly spectacular.
I particularly like the IUPPITER CUSTOS reverse of the Nero aureus. It's a good match for my Nero denarius: The toning on the Boscoreale coins might also be due to traces of iron from the iron dies that were left in the gold and later oxidized.
