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<p>[QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 5245464, member: 75937"]This coin previously belonged to [USER=88227]@jb_depew[/USER], who sold it via [USER=42773]@John Anthony[/USER]. I'm happy to obtain it for it depicts The Three Graces. This is the only coin type to depict the famous statuary group issued during the reign of Trebonianus Gallus, and it was issued for Gallus' son, Volusian.</p><p><br /></p><p>Gaius Vibius Afinus Gallus Veldumnianus Volusianus was awarded the rank of Caesar upon the accession of his father in AD 251, while the son of the deceased emperor Trajan Decius, Hostilian, attained the rank of Augustus. In the hope of securing his future to the throne, Volusian was wed to Decius and Herennia Etruscilla's daughter. However, upon the death of Hostilian of the plague sometime between August and November, 251, Volusian was promoted to Augustus so as to be co-emperor with his father. In 253, mutinous troops loyal to Aemilian, the governor of Moesia, killed both Volusian and his father. This coin was issued for Volusian as Augustus and it's hard to narrow down its date of issue.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1218326[/ATTACH]</p><blockquote><p><font size="3">Volusian as Augustus, late AD 251-AD 253.</font></p><p><font size="3">Roman provincial Æ 20.1 mm, 5.91 g, 1 h.</font></p><p><font size="3">Bithynia, Nicaea, AD 151.</font></p><p><font size="3">Obv: ΑΥ Κ ΒΕΙΒ ΓΑΛΛΟC ΟΥΟΛΟCCΙΑΝΟC, radiate head, right.</font></p><p><font size="3">Rev: ΝΙΚ Α Ι Ε ΩΝ, Three Graces standing side by side, hair in bun: Grace 1 head left, Graces 2 and 3 heads right, holding undefined objects.</font></p><p><font size="3">Refs: <a href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/9/311" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/9/311" rel="nofollow">RPC IX, 311</a>; Sear <i>GI</i> 4366; BMC 13.174,139-140; SNG Von Aulock 712; Imhoof-Blumer <i>NC</i> 201; Waddington <i>RG</i> 498,784; Von Vacano 392; Staal 53.1.1; Weiser 165-167.</font></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>The Three Graces appear as a major design element only on coins of the Roman provincial series. There are several dozen coins depicting the mythological trio issued from the reign of Antoninus Pius through that of Gallienus.[1]</p><p><br /></p><p>As is common in mythology, the names and number and the parentage of the Graces vary from source to source.[2] The most famous source is Hesiod,[3] who notes they were the three daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, and names them Aglaea,[4] Euphrosyne,[5] and Thalia.[6] They were associated with the Muses, and were attendants of Aphrodite. They lived on Mount Olympus, where they would host gatherings to entertain the Olympian gods and goddesses, singing and dancing to Apollo’s lyre.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Graces can be difficult to identify in archaic and classical period art as they have no particular attributes, but they are most commonly portrayed as a trio of beautiful young women who either dance or move in a procession. They appear in Archaic and Classical Greek art on pottery, relief sculpture, and even on sarcophagi. The Graces appear on the famous black-figure Francoise Vase (c. 570 BCE) in a scene from the wedding of Thetis and Peleus and in a much-copied marble relief plaque by Sokrates (c. 470 BCE) where they are in typical processional pose and hold hands.</p><p><br /></p><p>As with other similar deities representing beauty, the Graces were originally portrayed clothed in Greek art but gradually convention came to portray them naked. Pausanias, writing in the Antonine period (2nd century AD), reports:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>Who it was who first represented the Graces naked, whether in sculpture or in painting, I could not discover. During the earlier period, certainly, sculptors and painters alike represented them draped. At Smyrna, for instance, in the sanctuary of the Nemeses, above the images have been dedicated Graces of gold, the work of Bupalus; and in the Music Hall in the same city there is a portrait of a Grace, painted by Apelles. At Pergamus likewise, in the chamber of Attalus, are other images of Graces made by Bupalus; and near what is called the Pythium there is a portrait of Graces, painted by Pythagoras the Parian. Socrates too, son of Sophroniscus, made images of Graces for the Athenians, which are before the entrance to the Acropolis. All these are alike draped; but later artists, I do not know the reason, have changed the way of portraying them. Certainly to-day sculptors and painters represent Graces naked.[7]</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>By the first century BC, a standard iconography had developed for the Graces,[8] which is paralleled on coinage. All of the known Three Graces coin types depict the center Grace from the reverse with arms extended around the shoulders of her companions who are both depicted as facing frontward.[9]</p><p><br /></p><p>Such is the iconography on <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/256403" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/256403" rel="nofollow">this 2nd century marble statuary group</a> on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1218352[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>And on this 4th century mosaic inlaid in the floor of a <a href="https://www.essizmersin.com/en/2/museums-historical-places/narlikuyu-and-the-three-graces-mosaic/52" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.essizmersin.com/en/2/museums-historical-places/narlikuyu-and-the-three-graces-mosaic/52" rel="nofollow">Roman bath in Narlikuyu</a> (Turkey):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1218355[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The Graces became especially popular in the Renaissance. Well-known representations of the three Graces include <a href="https://hannahfielding.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/800px-Botticelli-primavera-e1552560834730.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://hannahfielding.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/800px-Botticelli-primavera-e1552560834730.jpg" rel="nofollow">Botticelli's Primavera</a>, the paintings by <a href="https://hannahfielding.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/800px-Raffael_010-e1552560814891.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://hannahfielding.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/800px-Raffael_010-e1552560814891.jpg" rel="nofollow">Raphael</a> and <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/The_Three_Graces%2C_by_Peter_Paul_Rubens%2C_from_Prado_in_Google_Earth.jpg/800px-The_Three_Graces%2C_by_Peter_Paul_Rubens%2C_from_Prado_in_Google_Earth.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/The_Three_Graces%2C_by_Peter_Paul_Rubens%2C_from_Prado_in_Google_Earth.jpg/800px-The_Three_Graces%2C_by_Peter_Paul_Rubens%2C_from_Prado_in_Google_Earth.jpg" rel="nofollow">Rubens</a>, and a <a href="https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-three-graces" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-three-graces" rel="nofollow">sculpted group by Canova</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Let's see your coins depicting the Three Graces or anything you feel is relevant!</i></p><p><br /></p><p>~~~</p><p><br /></p><p>Notes</p><p><br /></p><p>1. For a comprehensive catalog of such coins, see Staal, Mark A. <i>The Three Graces and Their Numismatic Mythology</i>. Mark A. Staal, 2004, pp. 4-6, 92-140. Many of his coins can be viewed at <a href="http://www.ancientcoinage.org/three-graces-coins.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.ancientcoinage.org/three-graces-coins.html" rel="nofollow">his website</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>2. For a very detailed review of all the the ancient sources writing about the Graces, I recommend theoi.com: <i>“KHARITES.” <i>CHARITES (Kharites) - The Graces, Greek Goddesses of Pleasure & Joy</i>, <a href="http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Kharites.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Kharites.html" rel="nofollow">www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Kharites.html</a>. </i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>3.<i> Theog.</i> 907 ff. Hesiod, et al. <i>Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, the Epic Cycle and Homerica</i>, Hugh G. Evelyn-White, transl. Harvard University Press, 1998.</p><p><br /></p><p>4. <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058%3Aentry%3Da)glai%2Fa" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058%3Aentry%3Da)glai%2Fa" rel="nofollow">Ἀγλαία</a>, meaning <i>splendor, beauty, adornment.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>5. <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Deu)frosu%2Fnh" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Deu)frosu%2Fnh" rel="nofollow">Eὐφροσύνη</a>, meaning <i>mirth, merriment.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>6. <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dqa%2Fleia" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dqa%2Fleia" rel="nofollow">Θαλίη</a>, meaning <i>rich, plentiful</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p>7. Pausanias 9.35.<a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D35%3Asection%3D6" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D35%3Asection%3D6" rel="nofollow">6</a>-<a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D35%3Asection%3D7" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D35%3Asection%3D7" rel="nofollow">7</a>. Pausanias <i>Description of Greece</i> with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.</p><p><br /></p><p>8. “Marble Statue Group of the Three Graces 2nd Century A.D.” <i>Metmuseum.org</i>, <a href="http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/256403" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/256403" rel="nofollow">www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/256403</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>9. Staal, op. cit., p. 49.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Roman Collector, post: 5245464, member: 75937"]This coin previously belonged to [USER=88227]@jb_depew[/USER], who sold it via [USER=42773]@John Anthony[/USER]. I'm happy to obtain it for it depicts The Three Graces. This is the only coin type to depict the famous statuary group issued during the reign of Trebonianus Gallus, and it was issued for Gallus' son, Volusian. Gaius Vibius Afinus Gallus Veldumnianus Volusianus was awarded the rank of Caesar upon the accession of his father in AD 251, while the son of the deceased emperor Trajan Decius, Hostilian, attained the rank of Augustus. In the hope of securing his future to the throne, Volusian was wed to Decius and Herennia Etruscilla's daughter. However, upon the death of Hostilian of the plague sometime between August and November, 251, Volusian was promoted to Augustus so as to be co-emperor with his father. In 253, mutinous troops loyal to Aemilian, the governor of Moesia, killed both Volusian and his father. This coin was issued for Volusian as Augustus and it's hard to narrow down its date of issue. [ATTACH=full]1218326[/ATTACH] [INDENT][SIZE=3]Volusian as Augustus, late AD 251-AD 253. Roman provincial Æ 20.1 mm, 5.91 g, 1 h. Bithynia, Nicaea, AD 151. Obv: ΑΥ Κ ΒΕΙΒ ΓΑΛΛΟC ΟΥΟΛΟCCΙΑΝΟC, radiate head, right. Rev: ΝΙΚ Α Ι Ε ΩΝ, Three Graces standing side by side, hair in bun: Grace 1 head left, Graces 2 and 3 heads right, holding undefined objects. Refs: [URL='https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/9/311']RPC IX, 311[/URL]; Sear [I]GI[/I] 4366; BMC 13.174,139-140; SNG Von Aulock 712; Imhoof-Blumer [I]NC[/I] 201; Waddington [I]RG[/I] 498,784; Von Vacano 392; Staal 53.1.1; Weiser 165-167.[/SIZE][/INDENT] The Three Graces appear as a major design element only on coins of the Roman provincial series. There are several dozen coins depicting the mythological trio issued from the reign of Antoninus Pius through that of Gallienus.[1] As is common in mythology, the names and number and the parentage of the Graces vary from source to source.[2] The most famous source is Hesiod,[3] who notes they were the three daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, and names them Aglaea,[4] Euphrosyne,[5] and Thalia.[6] They were associated with the Muses, and were attendants of Aphrodite. They lived on Mount Olympus, where they would host gatherings to entertain the Olympian gods and goddesses, singing and dancing to Apollo’s lyre. The Graces can be difficult to identify in archaic and classical period art as they have no particular attributes, but they are most commonly portrayed as a trio of beautiful young women who either dance or move in a procession. They appear in Archaic and Classical Greek art on pottery, relief sculpture, and even on sarcophagi. The Graces appear on the famous black-figure Francoise Vase (c. 570 BCE) in a scene from the wedding of Thetis and Peleus and in a much-copied marble relief plaque by Sokrates (c. 470 BCE) where they are in typical processional pose and hold hands. As with other similar deities representing beauty, the Graces were originally portrayed clothed in Greek art but gradually convention came to portray them naked. Pausanias, writing in the Antonine period (2nd century AD), reports: [INDENT]Who it was who first represented the Graces naked, whether in sculpture or in painting, I could not discover. During the earlier period, certainly, sculptors and painters alike represented them draped. At Smyrna, for instance, in the sanctuary of the Nemeses, above the images have been dedicated Graces of gold, the work of Bupalus; and in the Music Hall in the same city there is a portrait of a Grace, painted by Apelles. At Pergamus likewise, in the chamber of Attalus, are other images of Graces made by Bupalus; and near what is called the Pythium there is a portrait of Graces, painted by Pythagoras the Parian. Socrates too, son of Sophroniscus, made images of Graces for the Athenians, which are before the entrance to the Acropolis. All these are alike draped; but later artists, I do not know the reason, have changed the way of portraying them. Certainly to-day sculptors and painters represent Graces naked.[7][/INDENT] By the first century BC, a standard iconography had developed for the Graces,[8] which is paralleled on coinage. All of the known Three Graces coin types depict the center Grace from the reverse with arms extended around the shoulders of her companions who are both depicted as facing frontward.[9] Such is the iconography on [URL='https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/256403']this 2nd century marble statuary group[/URL] on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: [ATTACH=full]1218352[/ATTACH] And on this 4th century mosaic inlaid in the floor of a [URL='https://www.essizmersin.com/en/2/museums-historical-places/narlikuyu-and-the-three-graces-mosaic/52']Roman bath in Narlikuyu[/URL] (Turkey): [ATTACH=full]1218355[/ATTACH] The Graces became especially popular in the Renaissance. Well-known representations of the three Graces include [URL='https://hannahfielding.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/800px-Botticelli-primavera-e1552560834730.jpg']Botticelli's Primavera[/URL], the paintings by [URL='https://hannahfielding.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/800px-Raffael_010-e1552560814891.jpg']Raphael[/URL] and [URL='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/The_Three_Graces%2C_by_Peter_Paul_Rubens%2C_from_Prado_in_Google_Earth.jpg/800px-The_Three_Graces%2C_by_Peter_Paul_Rubens%2C_from_Prado_in_Google_Earth.jpg']Rubens[/URL], and a [URL='https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-three-graces']sculpted group by Canova[/URL]. [I]Let's see your coins depicting the Three Graces or anything you feel is relevant![/I] ~~~ Notes 1. For a comprehensive catalog of such coins, see Staal, Mark A. [I]The Three Graces and Their Numismatic Mythology[/I]. Mark A. Staal, 2004, pp. 4-6, 92-140. Many of his coins can be viewed at [URL='http://www.ancientcoinage.org/three-graces-coins.html']his website[/URL]. 2. For a very detailed review of all the the ancient sources writing about the Graces, I recommend theoi.com: [I]“KHARITES.” [I]CHARITES (Kharites) - The Graces, Greek Goddesses of Pleasure & Joy[/I], [URL='http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Kharites.html']www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Kharites.html[/URL]. [/I] 3.[I] Theog.[/I] 907 ff. Hesiod, et al. [I]Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, the Epic Cycle and Homerica[/I], Hugh G. Evelyn-White, transl. Harvard University Press, 1998. 4. [URL='http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058%3Aentry%3Da)glai%2Fa']Ἀγλαία[/URL], meaning [I]splendor, beauty, adornment.[/I] 5. [URL='http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Deu)frosu%2Fnh']Eὐφροσύνη[/URL], meaning [I]mirth, merriment.[/I] 6. [URL='http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dqa%2Fleia']Θαλίη[/URL], meaning [I]rich, plentiful[/I]. 7. Pausanias 9.35.[URL='http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D35%3Asection%3D6']6[/URL]-[URL='http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D35%3Asection%3D7']7[/URL]. Pausanias [I]Description of Greece[/I] with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. 8. “Marble Statue Group of the Three Graces 2nd Century A.D.” [I]Metmuseum.org[/I], [URL='http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/256403']www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/256403[/URL]. 9. Staal, op. cit., p. 49.[/QUOTE]
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