Ended up getting not one but two Vrbs Roma Felix. While not as good as the first two I was considering, they come kind of close imo and for the price they were each ($17 as opposed to the $45 and $51 the other two were), I think I didn't do too bad. While Honorius coins are generally common, the Vrbs Roma Felix is among the scarcer types for him. The thread title refers to how, while this type proudly declares Rome a happy city ("VRBS ROMA FELIX": Happy City of Rome), it was anything but, considering what happened to the Eternal City during this time: it's sieges and later, sack by the Visigoths under their leader, Alaric. In 408 AD, they surrounded the former Roman capital and threatened to attack. The Roman Senate was able to get the Visigoths off their backs with much gold, silver, and other valuable items. All seemed well until negotiations between Alaric and Emperor Honorius (safely in the capital Ravenna) broke down and the discovery of a Roman force attempting to sneak south towards Rome lead to a second siege. Alaric and the Senate entered negotiations and had a rival emperor put into place, the city prefect Priscus Attalus, with the hope that he could end up deposing Honorius and giving the Visigoths what they wanted. The relationship between Alaric and Attalus soured, leading to the usurper's deposition and Alaric's desire of renewed talks with Honorius. But a wrench was thrown into the works in the form of a failed ambush on the Visigoths by a Roman force under the command of Sarus, a Goth who despised Alaric and his brother Ataulf. It has been said that Honorius had no hand in this and that Sarus acted alone, but nonetheless, this attack gave Alaric an excuse to besiege Rome a third time in 410 AD. This time however, luck would not be on the city's side. Slaves managed to let the Visigoths in by opening one of the city's gates, and for three days, the city was pillaged and burned, the first time in approximately eight centuries that Rome was attacked and conquered by an enemy. Even the dead were not spared; tombs of past great emperors such as Augustus and Hadrian were ransacked and the ashes thrown to the winds. After it was all said and done, Rome was a shattered city. Among the many prizes taken by the Visigoths was Honorius's sister, Galla Placidia. This event was without doubt a huge shock to the inhabitants of the empire, erasing the belief that Rome was unconquerable. St. Jerome summed it up fairly accurately: "The City which had taken the whole world was itself taken." The Sack of Rome of 410 would be followed up 45 years later by a more terrible sack by the Vandals, and ultimately, the Western Empire's fall 66 years later in 476 AD. Honorius, Western Roman emperor 395-423 AD AE3 Obv: DN HONOR-IVS PF AVG, pearl-diademed, draped bust right Rev: VRBS RO-MA FELIX, Emperor standing right, holding trophy and Victory and globe, OF to left, (Q to right for first coin, and epsilon to left for second coin), mintmark SMROM in ex Rome mint, struck 404-408 AD Ref: Both are RIC X 1280, rated Scarce Anyone else think I may be able to improve the obverse of the first coin with a bit of cleaning? And how would I be able to do it without affecting the reverse (since it looks ok to me)? Thanks.
I always like your educational posts and coins, VK. Thanks for taking the time for the write-up. I wouldn't bother cleaning the coins - they are what they are. You aren't going to find high bronzes of Honorius except for the rare coin that commands a lot of scratch, and if you're going to spend a lot of scratch, get a solidus.
Excellent explanation of the coin, and of course the fall of Rome. As for cleaning coins, these I have read about, it is a long process, not sure f you knew that or not. I have 20 or so uncleaned roman coins I have considered cleaning but just never got to as it is such a lengthy process.
Really? I didn't know Honorius was a pricey emperor. I always thought he was the last of the "late roman bronzes" that were cheap, and everything in the west after him was pricy. I have no idea what the reverses are, but I am pretty sure I have some decent Honorius' laying around.
Well, I meant to say siliqua instead of solidus. Sorry - my mistake. You know that I'm new to collecting ancients, so my experience in the market is very short-term. But what I've seen of Honorius AE's is an abundance of pieces like the OP's, that you collect more for their numismatic and historic significance rather than aesthetic. If you go searching for a well-struck, well-preserved bronze, you'll be looking at a price tag of a couple Franklins. If you're in that spending range already, and all you want is an example of that ruler's coinage, a few extra bucks will give you a selection of nice siliquae - coins that were better made than the bronzes to begin with, and seemed to have survived better as well. The solidi, of course, are in another spending bracket altogether.
I am ok at cleaning but not enough for something like the coin #1 obverse so I will take the advice and leave as is. Those two first reasons are what drive me to collect these late, overlooked coins of 5th century Rome. The scarcity of many of these provide a good challenge and makes obtaining these coins even more worthwhile. Doesn't mean though that I don't usually try to get the best quality I can on my budget. At the same time though I don't mind paying a lot less for a coin that is slightly less better than a coin of the same type going for a lot more. That's just how I do things. Funny you mention siliqua, because I happen to have a siliqua of Honorius : Milan mint
Huh, I know they aren't shiny denarii, but I thought this one would have provoked a bit more chatter. Even steve seems to have steered clear of this thread....
Great new coins, Jango ... keep-on posting, brother!! => as far as cleaning the coins further => man, I must still have a bit o' modern coin-blood running through my veins, for I never like to think of coins being cleaned ... however, obviously somebody out there is cleaning my ancient coins before they get to me, so to whomever is cleaning-up my ancient coins: "Good on ya, coin cleaning brother!! => just please avoid smoothing and tooling!!" ... oh sorry, but back to your first coin, Jango ... you can always clean it up a bit more in the future if the look of the coin continues to bother you, but you can never put the nice ol' crud and/or patina back onto the coin, so I would be a bit leery of cleaning your beautiful coin any further (but that's just me) .... somebody like chrsmat71 (aka, The King of Cleaning) may have a far more aggressive strategy?
