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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Finn235, post: 3889004, member: 98035&quot;]Apologies for the delay, I had a response half typed out but then had to abandon it.</p><p><br /></p><p>For the most part, Roman coins reinforce what Roman history tells us, Historia Augusta not included. There are a few curiosities and coins that &quot;shouldn&#039;t&quot; exist. I can&#039;t answer for the coins that require esoteric knowledge of Roman history, but there are a few that I am aware of:</p><p><br /></p><p>- Among the ruins of Pompeii, archaeologists found a lone denarius of Titus that wouldn&#039;t have been minted until a couple months *after* the recorded date of the eruption of Vesuvius; this coin seemingly confirms the theory that Vesuvius erupted in October or November, not August as Pliny recounted.</p><p><br /></p><p>- History tells us that Pertinax, cognizant of his precarious situation with the Praetorian guard, declined to confer imperial titles to his wife Titania or son Pertinax Jr. In theory, this would protect them from &quot;having&quot; to be killed in the event of Pertinax&#039;s assassination (I am not sure if this worked). Alexandria, however, didn&#039;t get the memo and started making coins of Titania Augusta and Pertinax Caesar as soon as they got the memo. Only a few examples of each survive to the present day, I think most extant examples are in museums. ([USER=19463]@dougsmit[/USER] posted a cast of a cast of one of these: <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/roman-egyptian-tetradrachm-dont-mind-if-i-do.344019/#post-3641000" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/roman-egyptian-tetradrachm-dont-mind-if-i-do.344019/#post-3641000">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/roman-egyptian-tetradrachm-dont-mind-if-i-do.344019/#post-3641000</a>)</p><p><br /></p><p>- Every year, the emperor would renew his Tribunicia Potestas (TR P) in early December. Geta was assassinated on December 26, 211, just a few weeks after taking his TR P IIII. Considering the immense measures taken to erase the fallen brother, it would seem that none of these coins ought to exist, as failing to surrender one for exchange and destruction would have certainly been a capital crime. However, while these coins are quite rare, Geta TR P IIII coins are nowhere near as rare as coins of other individuals subject to a Damnatio Memoriae, e.g. the EID MAR denarius.</p><p><br /></p><p>- The third century historians didn&#039;t pay much attention to the wives of emperors, but there is no historical record whatsoever of Severina (wife of Aurelian) or of Magnia Urbica (wife of Carinus). Coins are in no short supply, however...</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1026306[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;s been postulated that coins with the dative SEVERINAE might have been minted while she ostensibly took the reins of the empire while the Senate deliberated and ultimately elected Tacitus. I believe this theory has been mostly discredited.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1026305[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Magnia Urbica - There was apparently confusion about whose wife she was, until a coin of Carinus with her on the reverse was found!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1026320[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>- As posted on the previous page, Maxentius declared himself Augustus upon hearing that Constantine had entered the imperial ranks by force rather than waiting around to be nominated. He was enthusiastically ratified by Rome, but Carthage apparently was hesitant to acknowledge him as Emperor, and either to straddle the fence or out of genuine confusion, recognized him briefly only as Caesar, probably under his father Maximian.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1026307[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>- For the entire duration of the Tetrarchy, only Galeria Valeria was honored on coinage. Except for Constantine, not many emperors saw fit to place their wives on coinage until the time of Theodosius. One curiosity are the tiny coins of Theodora, second wife of Constantius Chlorus</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1026310[/ATTACH]</p><p>The fabric and especially the use of a cross prove that these coins were not minted until well after the Edict of Milan. It is theorized that these were minted by Constantine&#039;s heirs shortly after his death, but &quot;why&quot; is not an easy question to answer. Constantius II and Constantine II had just conspired to eradicate her grandchildren except for Nepotian, Gallus, and Julian. It&#039;s possible that these coins were made either before the mass-assassination, or shortly after it to placate the upset populace or stress their innocence in the plot. Interesting to note also is that we are uncertain whether these coins are posthumous. It&#039;s generally assumed that Theodora died sometime in the early 4th century, but as the older sister of Fausta, it&#039;s also possible that she was still alive in the late 330s as she would have been in her sixties or seventies.</p><p><br /></p><p>- To those familiar with esoteric LRB types, the Festival of Isis coinage is historically fascinating and high on many want lists. Not only are they some of the last pseudo-autonomous / civic coins made, but they also include some of the last imperial coins to include unambiguously pagan iconography:</p><p><img src="http://www.lanzauctions.com/imgdata/lg/LA/100/00616q00.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><a href="http://www.lanzauctions.com/showcoin.php?no=987740129" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.lanzauctions.com/showcoin.php?no=987740129" rel="nofollow">http://www.lanzauctions.com/showcoin.php?no=987740129</a></p><p>Why a dedicated Christian emperor would allow such coins to be minted in his image is beyond me![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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