I brought yet another Emperor into the fold today.His name was Magnentius and I had never heard of him before.Apparently he was born in France (Gaul) and was commander of the Imperial Guards called the Herculians and Iovians.He was elevated to emperor by his men and basically forced out Constans and started an on again,off again war with the Constantines,especially Constantius II.Eventually he was defeated and commited suicide by falling on his own sword.Ouch! Anyway,the intersting thing about him is that since he was a native of Gaul, the majority of his coins have French mintmarks.This one is the Ambianum (Amiens) mint.
That, is a really cool coin. I can't wait till my next shipment of ancinets for cleaning comes in. Getting some from a seller who rarely sells but when he does, LOOK OUT!!! I got the Michael IV and the Alexander II from him both in the same 10 coin lot. I even ruined some silvered ones while cleaning them, alas. I was new then... Waiting is the Hard Part Ben
And another I have never seen :bow: :bow: just bought myself a few bits on the bay including my 1st Hadrian De Orc
Hadrian was one of the first Roman emperors I got coins from.It was also my first silver denarius and next to my Tiberius,the costliest.Can we see a pic of yours? By the way,I'm not sure how many total Roman/Byzantine emperors there were between Augustus and Constantine XI because of all the co-rulers,usurpers,wannabees,should have beens,might have beens and Were for a day or twos, but I think it's 200+ and I'm up to 97 now...long way to go though.
Hello Mikjo0 Below is a Magnentius I have, but from Trier instead of Amiens, and also his brother Decentius, unfortunately I can't make out the exergue (it's probably from Lyon) Cucumbor
Very nice coins Cucumbor!!! The Decentius probably IS from Lyons because on Wildwinds,the only coins shown that have SV above the mintmark are Lyons and London.
Its Hispania reclining, leaning on rocks & holding a branch, rabbit at feet Lotta great old coins here.
Ancient Trivia Did you know that the emperors Trajan,Hadrian and Marcus aurelius were all born in Hispania,modern day Spain and Portugal? Yes,they were Roman citizens but native Spaniards. Here is one theory of why Hispania is sometimes shown with a rabbit and where her name came from...(found on The National Zoo Website): dd: "Until people started transporting them around, European rabbits were found only on the Iberian Peninsula and the south of France. The Phoenicians who arrived in Iberia in about 1100 BC found rabbits in abundance. However they confused these unfamiliar animals with African hyraxes. So the Phoenicians named the area i-shepan-im, "island of the hyraxes," from the Semitic word for hyrax, shapan, meaning one who hides. From i-shepan-im the Latin name Hispania evolved."
Cucumbor thanks for sharing with us as well :smile knew the bit about the emprors but not the Hispania name bit that is another bit of info locked away for the pub quiz time LOL De Orc :kewl:
Of course, I would have sent them as a PM if I wanted just Mikjo0 to see them. But he started the topic...
