I am researching Roman Emperors images on antique German silver this is on a spoon from Augsburg c. 1730. I have done some research and the first Roman Emperor on a silver coin to wear a radiated crown on a head or bust seems to have been Elagabalus. I was wondering if anyone recognizes the emperor shown here, or knows anything pertinent about the use of Roman Coins on antique silver. I admit that this may be a generic emperor so to speak and may not be an exact copy. It is of course not a coin. Thanks, Maurice
Germanicus-Augustus-Tiberius-Caligula Hybrid w/ a Nerva nose to boot. My gut says Augustus at first glance. I would search 1 of those 4 names w/ the term "radiate" which means wearing the crown. See which one you most think it resembles. All of them served consecutively, which is common for their depictions to resemble one another when transitioning from Emperor to Emperor.
I suspect it is meant to represent Augustus. The radiate crown is just a motif... I doubt the artist's goal was to accurately duplicate a specific coin or portrait other than in a broad sense.
Well, first radiate crown in roman coinage was certainly not Elagabalus. If you are talking about antoninianii (radiate emperor obv) Caracalla was the first in 215 AD. But before that, dupondii and even a posthumus issue of Augustus (an as) use radiate crowns. As they all already pointed out, nose seems Nerva, but I am inclined to believe as noob mentions that it tries to resemble Augustus. Logic says he was the "Roman Emperor by definition" (at least on a vague historic knowledge).
Those who voted for Augustus win. I didn't think I would be the one answering this question. Which shows sometimes you can be too close to a subject, to recognize the obvious. It finally dawned on me that Augsburg was named after Augustus, more or less the city of Augustus. So it seems very reasonable that a silversmith in Augsburg would use the image of Augustus, sort of civic pride. Thanks to everyone.
Evidently I was writing at the same time as the last answer. I think what I said, and I am not sure it was right, was that Elagabalus was the first to use the radiate crown on a SILVER coin, on a HEAD or BUST. Caracalla's was on a standing figure. But more to the point. While medallions like this are relatively rare on German silver, Roman emperors are not. Usually they are large repoussee busts. Sometimes the emperors are identified, sometimes not. So on a beaker or cup one might have three or 4 large framed emperors. The choice of emperors are sometimes quite odd. I always presumed they were chosen in Germany because of the monarchs who were "Holy Roman Emperors".
Try Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum (full title: Promptuarii iconum insigniorum à seculo hominum, subiectis eorum vitis, per compendium ex probatissimis autoribus desumptis) by Guillaume Rouille. It is an iconography book and was published in Lyon, France, in 1553. It's full of woodengravings of Roman emperors. Follow this link https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Promptuarii_Iconum_Insigniorum to wikimedia commons.
I wasn´t saying you were wrong, just pointing out the fact that Caracalla was first to introduce double denarius, now called "antoniniani" due to his real name. It is indeed a silver coin, with a radiate bust.
I appreciate the help on the last question, here is a follow up. Coins including ancient Roman ones, were inset into silver pieces, quite early on. But later in the 17h and 18th century coin-like medallions like the one shown were used. But they really became popular from about 1720 to 1735. Usually there is a reason for such trends. Pompeii was not really excavated until about 1748. Does anyone know of some event around 1720 that would bring to the forefront Roman Coins as decoration?
