The last of the Five Good Emperors

How about a minor tribute to the greatest Stoic philosopher Emperor on the planet?

"Soon you'll be ashes or bones. A mere name at most—and even that is just a sound, an echo. The things we want in life are empty, stale, trivial; except coins." -Marcus Aurelius


Share your coins of Marcus Aurelius.



Thrace, Bizya. Marcus Aurelius AE25.
Marcus Aurelius, AE25 of Bizya, Thrace.
Obv: M AVRHLIOCOV HROC KAICAP, bare head right.
Rev: BIZY HNWN, Herakles standing facing, head r. holding club on ground and lionskin.


Ionia, Smyrna. Marcus Aurelius AE32. Alliance with Laodicea in Phrygia.
Obv: AY K M AY ANTWNINOC, Bust of Marcus Aurelius r., laur., wearing cuirass and paludementum.
Rev: ATTALOCCOFICTHCTAICPATPICI CMVP LAOD, Zeus Laodikeus holding eagle and scepter, Nemeses before him standing face to face.
32mm., 20g.
BMC 514


Macedon, Dium. Marcus Aurelius, 161-180 AD. AE 24
Macedon, Dium. Marcus Aurelius, 161-180 AD. AE 24 (12.55 gm).
Obv: Laureate head right.
Rev: Athena standing holding patera and spear.


Judaea, Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem). Marcus Aurelius AE24
Obv: Laureate bust of Aurelius right,
Rev: Commodus on horseback right, raising right hand.
161-180 CE. Æ25, 10.4g.
Meshorer, Aelia Capitolina 60, BMC 57


Achaea. Zacynthus, Island off Elis. Marcus Aurelius AE20. Pan with infant Dionysus
Zacynthus; Achaea; Peleponnessus (District: Zacynthus). Date 161–180. Obverse design laureate head of Marcus Aurelius, r. Obverse inscription ΑΥ ΚΑΙ Μ ΑΥ ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΝ ΑΥ
Reverse design Pan standing, r., nebris over shoulders, holding bunch of grapes and infant Dionysus
Reverse inscription ΖΑΚΥΝΘΙΩΝ
BMC 93-4


Cilicia, Irenopolis. Marcus Aurelius & Faustina II AE28
Marcus Aurelius, with Faustina Junior, 161-169 AD. AE28.
Dated CY 119 (AD 170/1).
Obv: Laureate head of Aurelius right.
Rev: Draped bust of Faustina right; Θ-IP (date)

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Beautiful Marcus Aurelius coins, everyone. I'm still trying to hunt one for my Flavians and Good Emperors set.

 

that's an awesome quote AO...i don't think i've read that before. kind of embarrassing really.

also embarrassed by how few MA coins i have!

here's a rare something or other provincial....

 

Marcus Aurelius Sestertius, Mars advancing right, ric 992

 

One of my favorite quotes of his...

"Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present."

And some of my favorite MA coins...


MARCUS AURELIUS
AE Diassarion. 10.44g, 26mm, THRACE, Philippopolis, circa AD 139-161. Varbanov 805. O: Μ ΑVΡΗΛΙΟC ΟVΗΡΟC ΚΑΙCΑΡ, bare head of Marcus Aurelius to right, with neat beard. R: ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ, Apollo, nude, standing left, holding a phiale in his right hand and his bow in his left.


MARCUS AURELIUS
AE Sestertius. 29.44g, 31mm, Rome mint, AD 173. RIC 1075; Cohen 535. O: M ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXVII, laureate head right. R: IMP VI - COS III, Mercury standing left on pedestal, holding caduceus and purse, within a tetrastyle temple with telamons as columns; semicircular pediment containing, from left to right, tortoise, cockerel, ram, winged helmet, caduceus, and purse; S - C in field, RELIG AVG in exergue.


MARCUS AURELIUS
AR Denarius. 3.29g, 19mm. Rome mint, 177 AD. RIC 363; MIR 18, 368-4/30; RSC 156. O: M ANTONINVS AVG GERM SARM, laureate head right. R: TR P XXXI IMP XIII COS III P P, pile of arms, DE GERM in exergue.

 

Marcus Aurelius, AE Drachma
ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT
AD 161-180 (struck AD 150/151)
Diameter: 31.9 mm
Obverse: Laureate head of Marcus Aurelius right
Reverse: Female “griffine” seated right, left paw on wheel, across field regional year ( 14 = AD 150/51 )
Reference: Dattari 3224, Emmett 1866 (Rarity 3)
Other: 12h … amazingly sweet
NOTE => Ex James E. Seaver collection

 

Nice coins, everyone! I'd like to have many more Marcus Aurelius coins but at the moment there are just these three in my hoard:


Marcus Aurelius
Sestertius; 31 mm, 24 gm; struck AD 173, Rome mint
Obv: laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right
Rev: Mercury standing left on pedestal, holding caduceus and purse (it looks more like a patera to me); within temple with figural columns (telamones); on semicircular pediment, tortoise (unfortunately worn on this coin), cockerel, ram, caduceus, winged helmet, and purse; S-C across fields; RELIG AVG in exergue
Ref: RIC III 1074; MIR 18, 258-6/37; Banti 260

Zumbly has a nice writeup of his MA Temple of Mercury sestertius.


EGYPT, Alexandria. Marcus Aurelius as Caesar
AE obol, 20.5 mm, 6.0 gm. Alexandria.
Year 15 (CE 151/2)
Obv: MAVPHΛICKAICAP; bust right, bare head
Rev: Sphinx crouched right; LIE (date) above in left field
Ref: Emmett 1919.15, R5; Dattari 3221; RPC IV online 15684

I looked for a crouched sphinx (Great Sphinx of Giza?) Roman Egyptian coin ever since seeing AJ's spectacular Domitian obol. They are not easy to find.

And this really weird funky chicken. I've no idea what happened to the rest of the obverse legend. Tooled off??

MARCUS AURELIUS, CE 161-180
posthumous issue struck under Commodus in CE 180
sestertius; 27 mm, 22.8 gm. Rome
Obv: DIVVS M ANTONINVS PIVS, bare head right
Rev: CONSECRATIO / S-C, eagle with spread wings on globe, facing, head left
Ref: RIC 656 (Commodus)

 

Drachm, Alexandria, as Caesar - Emmett 1890 says it is LIH but I do not know where the I was. Does anyone know a photo of another one?

 

Nice one, Doug! If you ever want to sell it or trade...

I looked through a few Alexandrian references and the usual online sources and don't see another.

I'd expect the I to be immediately left of the H, just above the L (as I'm sure you also expect). It looks like there may be a faint vertical line there on your coin. Maybe the dies was filled or the letter corroded? There really isn't any other place the I should be, unless it was accidentally omitted from the die or unless the catalogs are incomplete and this coin was also issued in regnal year 8.

 

Ummm, maybe it's one of those tricky coin-thingies where they've decided to combine the I and the H (because an "I" on its side looks like an "H")



... or not?

 

MANTIS has this coin and describes it as year 8, so maybe it is just missing from Emmett. I'll check Milne and report back

http://numismatics.org/collection/1973.56.901



Another possibility: Emmett is wrong and there is no year 18 for this coin, only year 8?

 

I only have ONE Marcus Aurelius... It was my first purchase on CT from @John Anthony . I actually kept it in the Saflip as a pocket piece for a while. Now it is a portrait coin with the other Emperors.


Roman Imperial
Marcus Aurelius 161-180 CE
AE Sestertius

 

As usual a wonderful variety of coins have been posted....

I seem to have again deleted photos of Marcus, but I still have a couple of his co-Emperor Verus that I didn't remove before actually replacing them:

 

OK @chrsmat71, I added "except coins" to the quote. Now it's even more embarrassing! Nice coin BTW. Looks very familiar....

Cool quote and coins @zumbly!

@stevex6 - amazingly sweet might be a bit much. Let's say super sweet!

“The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.”

Nice coins all!!

 

Got a new one recently but no pics yet.


Marcus Aurelius (161 - 180 A.D.)
AR Denarius
O: M ANTONINVS AVG GERM SARM, Laureate head right.
R: TR P XXX IMP VIII COS III, Roma standing left holding Victory and spear.
3.5g
19.38mm
RIC 352; RSC 929a; BMC 669


Marcus Aurelius (161 - 180 A.D.)
Æ18
Augusta Traiana, Thrace
O: AV KAI M AVPH ANTONEINO, Cuirassed bust right.
R: AVΓOVCTHC TPAIANHC, River-god reclining left, resting on inverted vase from which water flows.
18mm
4g
RPC 10330

 

Nice MA all around.

I have a provincial I don't have often the opportunity to show, with MA in his Jackson's five period :


Antoninus Pius & Marcus Aurelius as Caesar, AE35 minted in Cyprus.
AVT K T AIL ADP ANTWNINOC CEB E, laureate head right
M AVPHLIOC KAICAP VIOC CEBAC, laureate, draped bust of Marcus Aurelius right
27 gr, 35 mm
Ref : Sear #1523

A dupondius which is a PITA photographiing due to a glossy patina (I swear the coin is gorgeous in hand)


Marcus Aurelius, Dupondius struck at Rome c. AD 168-169
M ANTONINVS TRP XXIII, Radiate head of Aurelius right
SALVTI AVG COS III, Salus standing left, feeding a snake on an altar. S C in field
11.19 gr
Ref : Cohen #545, RCV #5042 var

And the one I prefer, an antoninian from the Divi series of Trajan Decius, MA being among the rarest of the whole series (I still don't have the one with altar, one of the only two I miss to complete the series)


Marcus Aurelius, Antoninianus Rome mint AD 250/251
DIVO MARCO ANTONINO, Radiate head of Macus Aurelius right
CONSECRATIO, Eagle facing, wings open
3.34 gr
Ref : RIC IV # 91b, RCV # 9477, Cohen # 1057
in qblay's catalog : MA19/A018

Q

 

Very nice group of coins guys, Awesome.

 

Great coins, everybody! My favorite MA quote: "Your life is what your thoughts make it."

 

Ummm, is that your own Ma's quote, or is that a famous Marcus Aurelius quote?

.... my Ma said that I'd never amount to nuthin'