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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;jamesicus, post: 5340166, member: 14873&quot;]My final purchase of the year is this dupondius minted by (Gaius) Caligula:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1225954[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>RIC 1, (second edition) Gaius/Caligula, No. 56.</p><p>Obverse: Radiate bust of Augustus</p><p>Reverse: Seated (on curule chair) monument of Augustus/Caligula ? (Added via edit: There is still a debate among collectors and scholars as to who it is)&nbsp; holding an olive branch ? in right hand.</p><p><br /></p><p>Note: The reverse legend - CONSENSV SENAT ET EQ ORDIN P Q R - is unique.</p><p><br /></p><p>The translation is:</p><p>“By consensus of the senate, the equestrian order, and the Roman people.”</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>It is actually an update of this same coin - but different issue:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1225962[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]1225963[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>I had been searching for a coin of this issue that featured a better Reverse depiction (which is often much worn) than my original coin and with nicer inscriptional lettering.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have been using OCRE - a free and comprehensive online attribution/research tool for Roman Imperial coins - for the past year and I have found it to be a reliable and easy to use resource. OCRE is a joint project of the American Numismatic Society and the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University.</p><p><br /></p><p>In my opinion one outstanding research feature is that there are usually a large number of coins described and photographed for each search.</p><p><br /></p><p>Another excellent feature is that many of the photographs depict coins that are in much worn condition rather than those that are often featured in catalogs and research publications and that are usually in pristine or extremely fine condition. I think this will be a great boon for beginning collectors or those of limited means (AKA “ancient coin collecting cash”).</p><p><br /></p><p>There is a wealth of information provided for each OCRE coin entry:</p><p><br /></p><p>Mint Location and find spot (map)</p><p>General description of coin type</p><p>Coin axis</p><p>Coin diameter</p><p>Coin weight</p><p>Date of minting</p><p>Resizeable obverse and reverse photos (in color)</p><p><br /></p><p>The descriptions and photos are from numerous prestigious collections including the American Numismatic Society, Fitzwilliam Museum, Harvard University, British Museum, Mainz museum …………… and so on.</p><p><br /></p><p>Following is a link to the OCRE page relating to the Caligula Dupondius I feature here. There are 48 coin exemplars listed. If you are unfamiliar with OCRE, please visit this page and play around - especially with the coin photos - enlarge them and reduce them and cross-reference the information provided.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am interested in the opinions of fellow CT’rs relating to the value of OCRE as a research and attribution&nbsp; facility.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.1(2).gai.56" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.1(2).gai.56" rel="nofollow">http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.1(2).gai.56</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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