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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;IdesOfMarch01, post: 2246440, member: 39084&quot;]It&#039;s not clear to me what the definition of &quot;rarest emperor&quot; should be.&nbsp; For example, does it mean the emperor who actually issued the fewest coins?&nbsp; Or the emperor for whom the fewest coins exist today?&nbsp; Or maybe the emperor who ruled the shortest period, since his coins would have been superseded very quickly by the next emperor?</p><p><br /></p><p>Or could it mean a specific coin that&#039;s rare, even if large numbers of coins were struck under that emperor?</p><p><br /></p><p>Case in point: my avatar coin, an aureus of Caligula, is listed as &quot;of the highest rarity&quot; with only two known specimens:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]443832[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>GAIUS (CALIGULA)</p><p>AV Aureus (7.66 g.)&nbsp; Lugdunum ca. 37 - 38 A.D.&nbsp; </p><p>C CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR POT Laureate head r. Rev. S P Q R / P P / OB C S within oak wreath.</p><p>From the Biaggi collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>This coin isn&#039;t listed in RIC I, but I personally consider its &quot;rarity&quot; to be somewhat artificial since the scarceness is based on the obverse legend.&nbsp; A similar aureus, RIC 27, has a slightly different obverse legend (C CAESAR AVG PON M TR POT III COS III) and is more plentiful (listed as R3, with up to 10 specimens known -- not actually that plentiful).</p><p><br /></p><p>So I&#039;d be interested in hearing other opinions about the definition of &quot;rarest emperor.&quot;[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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