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<p>[QUOTE="Trebellianus, post: 3612162, member: 91569"][ATTACH=full]967286[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>One recent and one not-so-recent acquisition which I think compare nicely. On the left we have a specimen from Rome, and on the right one from Lugdunum. The telltale sign of the Lugdunum mint is, of course, the small globe at the point of the bust — but I think here the contrast in style is very clearly apparent.</p><p><br /></p><p>Rome gives us an idealised (and rather cold, distant) portrait. Combined with the inaugural appearance of the radial crown on a living emperor we have something rather Hellenistic in feeling — the <i>princeps</i> as demigod. Meanwhile Lugdunum hands down what we might imagine is something closer to Nero the man — the jowls, the scowl, the artfully messy hair. Mattingly diagnosed the Lugdunum style as "rugged, but vigorous, with an expression often almost truculent", which fits this specimen rather neatly.</p><p><br /></p><p>The lack of consistency in the headgear is of note. The mints were experimenting with indications of value at this stage: Rome did what would later become conventional, but Lugdunum generally turned out a laureate head on the Dupondius and a bare head on the As.</p><p><br /></p><p>Difference in the inscriptions is chronological in nature: the Lugdunum coin dates from after Nero's assumption of "Imperator" as a <i>praenomen</i> in 66AD. Meanwhile "Germanicus" disappears completely -- was it deliberately dropped, as Mattingly wondered, "as a suggestion that the Parthian triumph of Nero eclipsed the traditional Germanic glories of the family?" The earlier Rome also finds room to honour the emperor's descent by adoption from the divine Claudius.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]967287[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3"><b>Nero</b>, Rome, c.64-66AD, O: radiate head right, NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER P M TR P IMP P P / R: Roma seated left on cuirass holding wreath and parazonium, arms piled around, ROMA, S-C between</font></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]967288[/ATTACH]</p><p><font size="3"><b>Nero</b>, Lugdunum, c.66-68AD, O: laureate head left, globe at point of bust, IMP. NERO. CAESAR. AVG. P. MAX. TR. P. P. P. / R: Securitas holding sceptre seated right, lighted, garlanded altar and torch to right, SECVRITAS AVGVSTI, S-C between</font></p><p><br /></p><p>Both just absolutely lovely coins visually, as much character as you could ask for. The reverses are fairly self-explanatory, and I think the "Securitas" composition turned out very agreeably.</p><p><br /></p><p>So — post some Neroes, or the same thing from multiple mints, or whatever feels germane to the topic.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Trebellianus, post: 3612162, member: 91569"][ATTACH=full]967286[/ATTACH] One recent and one not-so-recent acquisition which I think compare nicely. On the left we have a specimen from Rome, and on the right one from Lugdunum. The telltale sign of the Lugdunum mint is, of course, the small globe at the point of the bust — but I think here the contrast in style is very clearly apparent. Rome gives us an idealised (and rather cold, distant) portrait. Combined with the inaugural appearance of the radial crown on a living emperor we have something rather Hellenistic in feeling — the [I]princeps[/I] as demigod. Meanwhile Lugdunum hands down what we might imagine is something closer to Nero the man — the jowls, the scowl, the artfully messy hair. Mattingly diagnosed the Lugdunum style as "rugged, but vigorous, with an expression often almost truculent", which fits this specimen rather neatly. The lack of consistency in the headgear is of note. The mints were experimenting with indications of value at this stage: Rome did what would later become conventional, but Lugdunum generally turned out a laureate head on the Dupondius and a bare head on the As. Difference in the inscriptions is chronological in nature: the Lugdunum coin dates from after Nero's assumption of "Imperator" as a [I]praenomen[/I] in 66AD. Meanwhile "Germanicus" disappears completely -- was it deliberately dropped, as Mattingly wondered, "as a suggestion that the Parthian triumph of Nero eclipsed the traditional Germanic glories of the family?" The earlier Rome also finds room to honour the emperor's descent by adoption from the divine Claudius. [ATTACH=full]967287[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3][B]Nero[/B], Rome, c.64-66AD, O: radiate head right, NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER P M TR P IMP P P / R: Roma seated left on cuirass holding wreath and parazonium, arms piled around, ROMA, S-C between[/SIZE] [ATTACH=full]967288[/ATTACH] [SIZE=3][B]Nero[/B], Lugdunum, c.66-68AD, O: laureate head left, globe at point of bust, IMP. NERO. CAESAR. AVG. P. MAX. TR. P. P. P. / R: Securitas holding sceptre seated right, lighted, garlanded altar and torch to right, SECVRITAS AVGVSTI, S-C between[/SIZE] Both just absolutely lovely coins visually, as much character as you could ask for. The reverses are fairly self-explanatory, and I think the "Securitas" composition turned out very agreeably. So — post some Neroes, or the same thing from multiple mints, or whatever feels germane to the topic.[/QUOTE]
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