Specifically Roman Imperial coins. From my understanding the republican coins were issued by moneyer and generals who wanted to show their own family prides and achievements, like this Lepidus denarius, During the Imperial time however the emperor took control of the gold and silver, while the Senate controlled the bronzes. And the main theme became the emperor's face on the obverse with gods or any achievements of the said emperor on reverse, like this Armenia denarius of Verus, My question is, with emperors just heading the mint as they had much more important things to worry about, and not directly controlling/issuing coins themselves like their Republican predecessors, how did the process of design approvals go? does the emperor specifically approve each designs, or does he tell the mint to make specific type in high frequency, like Domitian's Minerva issues? and what about the late Roman bronzes? I assume the emperors really didn't give two rats about what features as long as their name is on the coin, barring for commemoratives and the coins of Julian.
I'm not sure but many Imperial coins focus on current events, almost like tabloids or newspapers of today. Victories over the barbarians, certain protective gods and goddesses are depicted, often associated with the emperor. So I would say the emperor himself was involved in choosing the subject matter for reverses, or if not the emperor, the officials or officials that controlled the Treasury, operating on guidelines probably established by the emperor.
The question asked is an important one and probably the simplest answer would be; we really do not know. I can speculate and thus we can determine that there are three most likely groups that would influence the designs on coins 1. The emperor either alone or in concert with a circle of his close advisors 2. A senior official acting more or less independently of the emperor though he has his complete confidence 3. The mint administration itself. During the Julio Claudian dynasty we can clearly see that each administration handles their coin propaganda very differently. Augustus has a very interesting coinage in precious metal though his aes not so much. With Tiberius you get this.. Tiberius Ar Denarius 15-18 AD Obv Head right laureate Rv Pax seated right. RIC 26 3.74 grms 18 mm Photo by W. Hansen With only minor variation this type continues until his death in 37 AD. However if his precious metal coinage lacks inspiration his aes is quite interesting. Caius starts off with a very interesting and well thought out coinage but it become frozen and does not change much. Claudius appears to follow the pattern set by Caius, however Nero appears to have an interesting initial coinage followed by a rather dull group until 64 AD when his coins become quite innovative. I guess the most likely scenario would be that the way the coinage is dealt with would most likely depend on the emperor. Augustus seems to have an interest in his gold and silver whereas Tiberius does not. Tiberius appears to show a greater interest in his aes but Sutherland suggests that that is the work of Aelius Sejanus. Caius had an initial interest in his coins but lost interest afterwards and Nero had little interest until just before the great fire. We can speculate as to the level of imperial involvement but we really cannot know for sure. Nor is it certain that there is a one size fits all solution. Thus we are left with questions posed by coins like this one. Otacila Severa Ae sestertius 248 AD Obv. bust right diademed and draped Rv. Hippopotamus advancing right mouth agape. RIC 200 16.54 grms 27 mm Photo by W. Hansen So why did she get the hippo? Was she overweight (underweight) bad tempered, has some otherwise unknown connection to Egypt. Or are we dealing with a scenario that went like this Celator 1. Finished this die , looks pretty good. Celator 2 Okay need an obverse who is available? Celator 3 The empress Otacila. Celator 2 Okay use it. ( Did he later become cat food?) Please note we have no idea of what Romans thought of hippos's
Agreed, funnily enough, I am at this moment on chapter 21 of Ancient Rome: From Romulus to Justinian by Thomas R. Martin. He goes slightly into detail of Augustus using coinage to basically promote himself to the general public by adding Restorer of Liberty to remind people of his claim to have brought back the republic.
Agree completely. This is a very interesting question and likely much more complex than we imagine. My hunch is during the Republican era, the design process may have been very similar to the United States mint new coin review process, but with a few dignitary name changes and a process completed much more frequently in ancient Roman times. One can only imagine a new imperial coin design process under Nero. Once his Greek(?) engravers/artists survived a preliminary design attempt and provided physiologically realistic portraits, he might begin marching through the vast golden Domus Aurea palace asking everyone including; guards, relatives, friends, cousins, mistresses and other vulnerable subjects in his path to review and provide feedback. If they liked the new design they lived, if not they were executed. Pardon the digression...my hunch is the empire always looked for good propaganda consensus & accuracy, Roman realism (for a time), correct abbreviations, type of metal and appropriateness of the design and its accessories. The artists would then incorporate the initial feedback and come back with additional revisions until the Emperor, select Senators, Consuls, Triumvirs, perhaps even a few Augures and Pontifices, etc, etc, etc, including any other mint official stakeholders, to finally consider the design a worthy representation of Rome, the empire & provinces and beyond. May the striking then begin!
I have read that over half of the varieties that the British - Roman usurper, Carausius issued featured Pax on the reverse. That makes sense because all he really wanted to peace from Maximian and Constantius so that he could stay in power. Allectus who killed Carausius so that he could take over, put a galley on the reverse of this coin. Keeping his sea lanes open was essential to keeping him in power. On another of his coins, Allectus features the Fides, the personification of faith an loyalty, "FIDES MILITVM" "faith and confidence from the military." This was also essential to his survival.
