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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Cucumbor, post: 2543881, member: 4298&quot;]As many others I couldn&#039;t decide of which coin is <b>the </b>favorite, thus I have to torn things a bit : the one I couldn&#039;t part with, whatever the reason, is the Commodus sestertius my grandfather found at Verdun battle in 1916 (exacly one hundred years ago, yeah !!!!)while digging a trench with his comrades. As a plus, it&#039;s been my first roman ever as I started collecting them after grandpa&#039; gifted me with it :</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11724/0160-310np_noir.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><b> Commodus, Sestertius - 021 </b> Minted in Rome, AD 192</p><p>L AEL AVREL CO---MM AVG P FEL, Laureate head of Commodus right</p><p>HERCVLI ROMANO AVG, Hercules facing, head left, holding club and lion&#039;s skin, resting on trophy. SC in field</p><p>21,01 gr</p><p>Ref : RCV #5752, Cohen #203, BMC # 314. RIC # 640.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>This is the very first roman coin I have ever possessed, gift from my grand father who found it digging a trench at Verdun battle during WWI</i></p><p><br /></p><p>The following comment is taken from the description of a similar example (in far much better condition) in NAC auction 54, # 477 :</p><p><i>Few Roman coins excite as much commentary as those of Commodus, which show him possessed of Hercules. Not only do they present an extraordinary image, but they offer incontrovertible support to the literary record. The reports of Commodus’ megalomania and infatuation with Hercules are so alarming and fanciful that if the numismatic record was not there to confirm, modern historians would almost certainly regard the literary record as an absurd version of affairs, much in the way reports of Tiberius’ depraved behaviour on Capri are considered to be callous exaggerations. Faced with such rich and diverse evidence, there can be no question that late in his life Commodus believed that Hercules was his divine patron. Indeed, he worshipped the demigod so intensely that he renamed the month of September after him, and he eventually came to believe himself to be an incarnation of the mythological hero. By tradition, Hercules had fashioned his knotted club from a wild olive tree that he tore from the soil of Mount Helicon and subsequently used to kill the lion of Cithaeron when he was only 18 years old. Probably the most familiar account of his bow and arrows was his shooting of the Stymphalian birds while fulfilling his sixth labour. The reverse inscription HERCVLI ROMANO AVG (‘to the August Roman Hercules’) makes the coin all the more interesting, especially when put into context with those of contemporary coins inscribed HERCVLI COMMODO AVG, which amounts to a dedication ‘to Hercules Commodus Augustus’.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>Q[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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