T-Bone Tuesday!

I’ve been listening to «Althea» by Grateful Dead lately. Also a relevant song for a coin collecting bachelor.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Althaea_(mythology)

 

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LOL

 

I can't resist sharing my two "T-bones", with attributions of course.

The first is: McAlee 1172.g. Prieur 668.


The second is: Olds Opera O-25.

 

Lovely Olds! Older brass (and bronze [coins]) are great!

Here's a stupid story about trombones. In high school, I was in band and had a crush on a girl who played the tenor trombone. One day I asked if I could play it and she said yes. That was the closest I ever got to kissing the girl, since she didn't wipe off the mouthpiece.

 

It is "older brass" indeed! I bought it in 1976. It is known for producing a fabulous tone. (Except when I play it. LOL!)

That was a funny story you shared. Thanks for including it! Speaking of brass instruments and funny... here's a joke that you almost have to be familiar with brass instruments to get: "Have you ever kissed a French Horn player? No? Well, trust me, it's not so much the way they kiss you -- but the way they hold you when they kiss you!"

Lest I be accused of thread hijacking I'll give an interesting (and quasi-relevant to today) background story that relates to this emperor and my coin: In 251, the year my T-bone tetradrachm as produced, "plague broke out in the city of Rome. This started the fifteen-year plague in the Roman Empire. The plague had already ravished North Africa and trade from the Roman provinces in this region brought the deadly virus to Europe. At its height the plague was killed 5000 people in Rome every day. The co-emperor of Treb Gallus, Hostilian, was infected by the plague and soon after died.... Treb. Gallus gained popular support with the Plebs by providing proper burials for all plague victims, even those who were too poor to afford it..."
(Info from: http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/roman-emperors/gallus.htm )

 

This is a great coin, RC! Excellent portrait, with an historic reverse. I'm jealous!

Speaking of jealousy, I've coveted @Finn235's wonderful T-bone portrait ever since I saw it. There are some other great portraits in the thread too; @svessien's and @DonnaML's stick out for me. Thankfully this year I finally managed to snag a portrait I'm happy with. Same type as Finn's but a much worse reverse. However... mine can double as a guitar pick, so there!

He died of plague, and note the obverse legend starts with COV...

Volusian:

(Anybody else think that nice Volusian portraits are a lot easier to come by than nice T-bone portraits?)

Lastly, here's something you don't see every day, a T-bone fourrée:

 

Gallus's coins of the Rome mint average only 30.9% silver,* so that's what you call a low profit margin!

*Pannekeet, C. “A Theory on How the Denarius Disappeared and the Debasement of the Antoninianus.” Academia.edu, www.academia.edu/3784962/A_theory_on_how_the_denarius_disappeared_and_the_debasement_of_the_antoninianus.

 

It's Tuesday! That mean's it's time for T-Bone! Everybody wants to be nicknamed T-Bone!



After the Goths ambushed the Roman army and killed Trajan Decius and Herennius Etruscus, T-Bone was promptly hailed as Augustus by his soldiers. Considering the success of the Gothic ambush on the Roman troops, T-Bone decided not to engage them but to buy peace from the Goths at a very high price. Gallus was quick to use coins for political purposes and his first issue included an antoninianus with the inscription MARTI PACIFERO (to Mars the peace bringer) "to put a good light on the peace bought from the Goths" (Mattingly, RIC IV-3, p. 156). Two other of Gallus' first-issue coins also bolster a positive image of the treaty: PAX AVGVS (the peace from the emperor) and PROVIDENTIA AVG(G) (the foresight of the emperor).

While these coins bear some of the reverse types from T-Bone's first issue at Antioch, they are from his third issue. They differ in bust type: the first issue shows Gallus cuirassed but without a paludamentum (i.e. undraped) and with a fine style portrait with officina marks only on the obverse; the second issue is the same but uses officina marks on both sides of the coins, while the third issue coins (AD 252-3) show Gallus draped with a coarse style portrait (Metcalf, p. 79). RIC does not distinguish between any of the three issues. There is an excellent article on these coins written by William Metcalf that can be found in ANS Museum Notes 22 entitled The Antioch Hoard of Antoniniani and the Eastern Coinage of Trebonianus Gallus and Volusian.


Trebonianus Gallus, AD 251-253.
Roman AR antoninianus, 3.96 g, 20.5 mm, 12 h.
Antioch, AD 252-3.
Obv: IMP C C VIB TREB GALLVS P F AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: MARTI PACIFERO, Mars advancing left, holding olive branch and spear.
Refs: RIC 85; RSC 72; RCV --; Cunetio 412; Eauze 1038.
Notes: Only 4 examples in the Cunetio hoard; 1 example in the Eauze hoard; however, multiple examples in the Dorchester hoard.


Trebonianus Gallus, AD 251-253.
Roman AR antoninianus, 3.39 g, 21.3 mm, 11 h.
Antioch, AD 252-3.
Obv: IMP C C VIB TREB GALLVS AVG, radiate, draped and cuirassed bust, right; ••• behind.
Rev: PAX AVGVS, Pax standing left, holding branch and transverse scepter; ••• in exergue.
Refs: RIC 86; Cohen 8; RCV 9641, Hunter 60; ERIC II 57.

 

Purchased for the portrait expression...

Trebonianus Gallus, AD 251-253. AR Antoninianus (22mm, 3.33g). Obv: IMP C C VIB TREB GALLVS AVG; radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right. Rev: PAX AETERNA; Pax standing left, holding branch and sceptre. Ref: RIC 71; RSC 76. Very Fine/Fine, struck with worn reverse die.

 

This is a great article that all should read before commenting on this statue. I have never understood the mind set that requires the Met to assume the figure is an emperor let alone one in particular. The article not only explains the fragmentary nature of the piece but the long history of restorations done with little or no reason beyond what seemed good at the time. The statue was once identified as Julius Caesar made in the time of Hadrian and later as Geta. They have reason to accept that it was made in the time of Trebonianus Gallus. That is a giant step from being made as a portrait of Trebonianus Gallus. What I see and what you see may be two completely different things. I see a wrestler; not an emperor. My opinion is not right by definition; few would dispute that fact. The article gives great insight into the process of turning scrap bronze into a museum worthy display. I wish it had done as much with regard to the process of labeling.

 

Thanks for the further info, and for posting that great Metcalf article. By sheer dumb luck, I appear to have ended up with an example of the scarce first issue at Antioch:



If so (am I right, RC?) I will treasure this coin more than I already do.

 

Yes! That's a first issue!

 

I agree that it's a great article (although some of the highly technical parts were beyond my ability to understand very well), and find it amusing that Thomas Hoving thought that the statue was incredibly ugly and referred to it as a "pinhead"!

But I think it's a bit unfair to suggest that the article is devoid of any explanation of why it's reasonable to identify the statue as being of Trebonianus Gallus. It discusses that issue at length and compares it to other imperial statues in identifying the statue as being one of an emperor in the first place -- the monumentality, the "heroic nudity," the cape, the stance, etc. In terms of identifying the statue specifically as Gallus, the basis for that appears to be primarily a comparison to his coins. Personally, I'm not convinced that there's such a strong resemblance! But, given the approximate date of the statue, and accepting that it's an emperor, who else could it be? Does it resemble any other emperor's coin portraits more?

 

Seems like T-bone is a good bet. But I suppose it could be Philip I, or even Aemilian?

None of the following are my coins. They're sestertii that fetched high prices.

Philip:




Aemilian (just copied from earlier T-bone portraits, or distinctive?):


T-bone:



It strikes me that the later emissions for T-bone have him looking more generic. Are the later emissions more likely to be accurate? Here's an example from the 4th emission:



Detail of the statue:


And another sculpture, in Florence, thought to be T-bone:


Both sculptures could be any of the above IMO.

 

I just got my first t bone. It’s ugly, smooth, and unremarkable. But for $6 for an AE-25, I can’t complain too much

 

Oh, I have a T-Bone to add to this thread now


Trebonianus Gallus
Bi. Tetradrachm
Antioch, Syria
Obverse: AVTOK K Γ OYIB TΡEB ΓAΛΛOC CEB, laureate, draped, cuirassed bust right
Reverse: ΔHMAΡX EΞOYCIAC, eagle standing left, head and tail right, wreath in beak, Δ between legs, SC below
ex: Warren Esty

 

Welcome to the T-Bone club, @hotwheelsearl and @furryfrog02 !

 

I'm glad to have father and son reunited again