Happy Sunday everyone, You may be wondering how the Emperors listed in the title are linked. Well we know Trajan and Antoninus Pius were related through adoption but how does Valentinian II come into play here? Well they all happen to be coins I feel like were captured really well today in images! Bronze coins are generally easier for me to replicate in photos with very minimal adjustments and tend to be forgiving of harsh lighting, and the patina makes you feel like you are curling up with a nice cup of tea, hot chocolate or whiskey depending on your time zone: Valentinian II, REPARATIO AE2 RIC 30c Aquileia minted 378-383; 23mm 5.54g Following a ton of advice I've received from this community and subsequent links, trial and error - quite a bit of the latter - I've adjusted my lighting to more accurately capture the good qualities of silver. The below pic admittedly could use some post-production, but it really gets close with just resizing. One issue with being able to take better photos however is I now appreciate [read: want] higher quality coins: Trajan, Bonus Eventus denarius RIC II 276 Rome minted 113-114; 18mm, 3.22g Note: a fun and short, but really good read on Bonus Eventus here An unintended sub-collection that developed without intent (or my wife's knowledge!) is Antoninus Pius. For some reason I have yet to determine his issues appeal to me, and tend to have a good quality/price ratio. While cheap purchases aren't necessarily my goal it makes experimenting much easier: Antoninus Pius, Apollo denarius RIC III 63b Rome minted 140-143; 18mm, 3.12 In other random news I've been listening to Gibbon's the Fall of Rome via Audible this morning and it is offered for free in a few different venues. Just be careful with those automatic renewals if you aren't looking to pay. So three rando's on a Sunday, what pleases you today (in the area of ancient numismatics!)? Please post away!
