Worst and ugliest Roman coin portrait ever?

I came across this Roman Provincial coin of Trajan on VCoins the other day -- it's described as a Seleucis and Pieria, Beroia bronze AE, no measurements provided, identified as "BMC 7" -- and couldn't resist posting the photo:



This has to take the prize as the worst, and ugliest, coin portrait of a Roman emperor that I've ever seen. Trajan looks barely human, never mind looking like Trajan. If anyone has something worse they can post, please be my guest.

 

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Difficult to beat that one. But still, if you had to guess, you'd probably guess Trajan...

Only thing I can offer you is an Athena who looks as if she has eaten a very sour lemon. It was my first Greek silver from Corinth and I liked the Pegasus. I still do. And it was cheap, of course...

 

I would never have guessed that was Trajan!

 

lol - yes that is pretty rough.
For me there is a point when the absurdity of the portraits actually makes them desirable.. and I am not sure why?
Perhaps it is the intention of the artist? In some of the examples above we can see what the artist intended and they failed miserably.

However in this coin of Licinius it seems to me that the artist left the reservation and came up with this.. clean lines full of intent - weirdness personified.
I love it.

 

I submit this doofus looking portrait of Gordian III, with the ear in the wrong place . The reverse of the coin doesn't look bad... That Trajan bronze is a hard one to beat .

 

Looks like Quasimodo Donna.

 

That's great! He looks like a blowfish.

 

This cannot compete with @Clavdivs ' coin of his dad, but Licinius Junior also had some exceptionally bad engraving work done in his name:


Licinius II, Roman Empire, AE3, 317–320 AD, Antioch mint. Obv: DN VAL LICIN LICINIVS NOB C, laureate and draped bust left, holding mappa, globe, and sceptre. Rev: IOVI CONSERVATORI CAESS, Jupiter standing left, holding Victory on globe and sceptre, captive at feet left, delta in right field. 18mm, 2.82g. Ref: RIC VII, 29 delta.

 

This is the worst one that I have.
I think my 9 year old grandson could have done better.

Kastilo-Castulo. ?
Celtiberian, Ancient Spain
Early second century BC
Obv: Male head right, (possible head of Herkales with lion skin cape)
Rev: Bull standing right (funny looking bull)
Semis?. (C-72 variant).
Ae. 3.7 grams.
Barbaric imitation ?.Rare.
Burgos 746

 

This one has one of the worst reverses I've seen in my collection, portrait not-so-hot, too...Tetricus II as Caesar

 

Pure nightmare fuel!!!

Ptolemy X - Paphos Mint
Size: 26mm
Weight: 13.19 grams
Obverse: Diademed head right, wearing aegis
Reverse: PTOLEMAIOU BASILEWS, Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; L K (date) before; PA behind.

 

'If you HAD to guess...' Its the brow that gives it away, not the face.

And is anyone now considering buying DonnaML's coin? After this thread, it's got provenance...

 

Not so much the portrait, but condition wise, this poor tet is the worse in my collection.


Vitellius (69 A.D.)
Egypt, Alexandria
Billon Tetradrachm
O: ΩΛΟΥ ΟΥΙΤ ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒ ΓΕΡΜ ΑΥΤ, laureate head right.
R: Nike advancing left, holding wreath with her extended right hand and palm frond with her left; LA (date) to left.
26mm
12.1g
RPC 5372; Köln 260-2; Dattari 340; K&G 19.1. Emmett 196.1

 

The seller is asking only 60 Euros!

 

A no brainer!

 

@Clavdivs your Licinius is so ugly, it's beautiful. I live it!

 

I'm still looking through the roman coins for a candidate, but I came across this Celtic tetradrachm. As you know, the Celts are renowned for the range of artistic renderings based mostly on Greek coins of Alexander and Philip, but others as well.

This coin is a tetradrachm of the Thasos type, Eastern European Celts, with a highly stylized portrait of Dionysus.

The weight is 16.10 grams and the coin dates from the 2nd - 1st centuries BC.

 

IMHO, a veristic masterpiece like that OP Trajan needs to be paired with an equally accomplished Plotina.

PLOTINA
AE Diassarion. 10.25g, 24.7mm. MACEDON, Amphipolis, circa AD 105-123. BMC -; RPC Online III 645/7 (this coin illustrated); SNG ANS -; SNG Evelpidis 1170. O: CEBACTH ΠΛΩTEINA, Draped bust of Plotina to right. R: AMΦIΠOΛITΩN, City-goddess enthroned left, holding patera in her right hand and her garments with left.

 

Beautiful oinker, Donna!
Was scrolling through an upcoming Auction And just came across this...
Now, I know that even Vespasian would agree that he was no apollo. Heck, he probably wasn't even a Hermes. But I don't think he qualified as this nightmare fodder!