The Emperor Game! Can WE do it?

I don't recall seeing yours before, Doug. I very well could have though.
Your reverse is different than @Cucumbor's as well.
I like it as well

 

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I like the bold posture of Victory, common to both @dougsmit's and @Cucumbor's examples. Very charming! (Is that what you noticed too, @furryfrog02?)

 

Exactly! It's not a pose that I have seen Victory in before.

 

Hey @zumbly, can you please drop in your Laelianus here?

Meanwhile I'll continue. We seem to be missing Tetricus I and II, so here they are:



And continuing on from Aurelian, here are Tacitus (double ant) and Florianus:

 

Probus! I’m sure there will be a short stop here for some fun Probus coins.

 

Have we missed Vabalathus? Here he is with Aurelian:


I haven't decided whether to clean this coin or leave it as it is. Does anybody have Zenobia? She's been on my shopping list for a while.

 

Tetricus I
AE Antoninianus
270-275 CE
19mm, 2.55 grams
RIC 127
Numiscorner, 2021

Tetricus II
AE Antoninianus
Trier mint
273-275 CE
18mm, 1.83 grams
RIC 272
Numiscorner, 2021

Tacitus
AE Antoninianus
275-276 CE
Lyons Mint
25mm, 3.44 grams
RIC V-I 65
David Showers, 2019

Florian
AE Antoninianus
Rome mint, 276 CE
22mm, 3.76 grams
RIC 30
Savoca, Feb 2021

Probus
AE Antoninianus
278-279 CE
Lugdunum mint
22mm, 4.75 grams
RIC 104
David Showes, 2019

 

Sorry I haven't kept up with this thread, but here's my Laelianus.

LAELIANUS
AE Antoninianus. 3.55g, 22.9mm. Colonia Agrippinensis (Cologne) mint, AD 269. RIC 9; Mairat 231. O: IMP C LAELIANUS P F AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust right. R: VICTORIA AVG, Victory running right, holding wreath and palm frond.

 

Here some more from Probus:
Emperor Probus - Antoninianus - VIRTVS AVG - Lugdunum mint

Emperor Probus - Antoninianus - ROMAE AETER - Rome mint

Emperor Probus - Antoninianus - VICTORIA GERM - Rome mint

 

No, we don't have a Zenobia but she does bring up the question of who needs to be included in a list like this. Vabalathus was never really emperor and the few coins we have labeled AVG might be discounted as mistakes of understanding at a mint. We might free ourselves from a few other rare ones in this way but we will never agree where to draw the line. I wonder if Gordian I and II ever saw a coin bearing their image. By that time being supported by the Senate was not practical proof of status in the same way it was before having an army to back up your claim outranked support from a body that served/lived at the whim of a strong man.

All that said, those who know me know I 'value' my Zenobia 'Alexandrian' 'tetradrachm' that, before tooling, previously did service, I believe, as an as of one of the Flavians. I bought it as a fake and hope someday to find someone to leave it to that will find it as funny as I have. The coin came with an NGC ticket with a number identifying it as "Washingtons 1783-1795" but noted on the label "EXTENSIVELY TOOLED TO CHANGE I.D." which is certainly correct. Funny. Zenobia? No, but it is as close as I will get!

 

Vabalathus was too young to be an emperor other than in name, and the real power behind the Roman Palmyrene throne was Zenobia who was essentially acting as regent. He’s as much an emperor as Edward VI was a king.

I see the Palmyrene Empire as having similar legitimacy to the Gallic Empire - both empires were functioning independent states in their own right for a while. In fact the “founder” of the breakaway empire, Odaenathus, had styled himself as king. So I see Vabalathus and Zenobia as “true” Roman rulers who belong in a Roman portrait series coin collection. (Not sure if Odaenathus issued any coins? What about Septimius Antiochus, who briefly led the Palmyrene breakaway state after Zenobia? Does anyone know?)

There are rulers whom everyone would agree are legitimate Roman emperors. And then there are grey areas including: - Regalianus (did he rule over any land at all & have any “imperial” authority beyond a bunch of soldiers along the Danube?);
- Gordians I & II like you mentioned, who received official senatorial recognition but never lived long enough to exercise any authority in Rome
- Rulers of the breakaway British, Gallic & Palmyrene empires who had clear authority over land and citizens and maintained a stable state at least for several years
- Pseudo-emperors who never assumed the imperial title but exercised authority and minted coins nonetheless eg Clodius Macer
- Puppet emperors who served as figureheads for Germanic masters of the soldiers (everyone who ruled the west after Valentinian III)
- What about Syagrius who ruled a Roman rump state in Gaul long after the western empire “fell”?

Personally, I want to collect them all!

(Love your tooled Zenobia btw! I may need one myself to fill that expensive hole)

 

I have a Vabalathus as Augustus

 

Quite a rare find! Awesome

 

Thanks! It's the rarest emperor I own

 

Why was Nero skipped?

 

Damnatio memoriae I’m afraid!

Nero who?

 

Andres2 posted a denarius of Nero

 

Sorry forthe sidetrack. After Probus is Carus. A proper Carus coin needs a clearly bald head. I always like the shield coins that show the back side showing how they were held.

 

Is that shield handles, or the she-wolf with twins? Looks like the latter to me...

After Carus comes Carinus

 

And with Carinus comes his wife: