Julius Germanicus

Thanks! I did dismantle the arch of Severus at Leptis Magna and the Theatre of Marcellus, but the rest of my Lego ancient Rome is still around and crowding my living room right now 😝 Yes, literally a quadriga would of course be 4 horses only, but (apart from the 2 horse biga) there reportedly were chariots drawn by 6 (seiugai), 8 (octoiugae), and even 10 (decimiugae) horses also. As far as I know there are no remnants left of most quadrigae to enable us to comprehend the number or position of the horses, so I took the artistic freedom to add two ponys to the usual four because I think it looks more regal 😁. One day I should try Elephants 😛 Here is an example of a chariot drawn by six horses on the triumphal arch of the general staff in St. Petersburg:

Orichalcum-toned Sestertii of Trajan, and, of high rarity in this denomination, his wife Plotina:

The famous Arch of Titus was constructed in ca-81 AD by Domitian shortly after the death of his older brother Titus to commemorate Titus´ consecration and the victory of Titus, together with his father Vespasian, over the Jewish rebellion in Judaea: My arch, modelled in 1:50 scale, retains the now lost quadriga and the original inscription, SENATVS - POPVLVSQVE·ROMANVS - DIVO·TITO·DIVI·VESPASIANI·F - VESPASIANO·AVGVSTO that was on the front side replaced in 1821 by a new one referring to the restoration by Pope Pius VII: INSIGNE · RELIGIONIS · ATQVE · ARTIS · MONVMENTVM - VETVSTATE · FATISCENS - PIVS · SEPTIMVS · PONTIFEX · MAX - NOVIS · OPERIBVS · PRISCVM · EXEMPLAR · IMITANTIBVS - FVLCIRI · SERVARIQVE · IVSSIT - ANNO · SACRI · PRINCIPATVS · EIVS · XXIIII : The Arch of Titus has inspired numerous modern works, including, most famously, the Arc de Triomphe de l´Etoile in Paris, but also at least a dozen other archs around the world. Finally, to keep this post coin related, here is my humble only Sestertius of Titus (the Flavians have always been a weak spot of my collection): IMP T CAES VESP AVG P M TR P PP COS VIII - Laureate head of Titus leftANNONA AVG - Annona standing left, holding statue of Aequitas and cornucopia; in left field modius with corn ears; in right field stern of cargo ship, decorated with a goose neckSestertius, Rome 79-81 a.D.33 mm / 18,91 grRIC 86 / 137; BMCRE 153; Cohen 15 (but without S C), Cayon 2ex Professor M. Caselli Collection Have a great Sunday around the world, feel free to post anything relevant, or let me know if you know anything about Professor M. Caselli !

My heaviest Sestertius is of Nerva: IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P COS III P P - laureate head of Nerva right /FORTVNA AVGVST S C - Fortuna standing left, holding rudder resting on ground in right hand and cornucopiae at her side in left. Sestertius, Rome 01 January – 18 September 97 aD (3rd emission of Nerva)35,13 mm / 31,20 gr / 6 hRIC 83; BMCRE 107-9 and pl. 5, 6; Cohen 67; Sear -, Banti 21 (18 specimens)IMP NERVA CAES AVG P M TR P COS III P P - laureate head of Nerva rightFORTVNA AVGVST S C - Fortuna standing left, holding rudder resting on ground in right hand and cornucopiae at her side in left. Sestertius, Rome 01 January – 18 September 97 aD (3rd emission of Nerva)35,12 mm / 31,20 grRIC 83; BMCRE 107-9 and pl. 5, 6; Cohen 67; Sear -, Cayon 24 (9 specimens); Banti 21 (18 specimens)Auction Hess Nr. 182 (06.01.1926, Arthur Löbbecke collection, lot 1115 a,), Manfred Olding fixed price list 96 (March 2019, Fritz Reusing and Paul Schürer collection, lot 200)

A Dupondius of Julia Titi: IVLIA IMP T AVG [F AVGVSTA], diademed and draped bust of Julia right, her hair in bun behind / VESTA (in exergue) S — C (in field), Vesta seated left, holding Palladium and transverse sceptre. Orichalcum Dupondius, Rome AD 80-81 28.10 mm / 14,58 gr / 6 h RIC (Titus) 398; BMCRE (Titus) 258 and pl. 53, 8; CBN (Titus) 271 and pl. LXXXVI; Cohen 18. Historical & Numismatic Note (by David R. Sear): Flavia Julia was the daughter of Titus by his second wife, Marcia Furnilla, and was born about AD 65, shortly before her parents' divorce. She married her cousin Flavius Sabinus and appears to have been granted the title of Augusta during her father's reign (AD 79-81). Her husband was Domitian's colleague in the consulship in AD 82 but two years later he was executed on the emperor's orders. Thereafter, Julia lived with her uncle Domitian as his mistress and on her death (circa AD 89) she was deified. Coins in the name of Julia were struck in gold, silver and aes, but all are rare. The earlier issues belong to the reign of Titus and were probably produced on the occasion of Julia's elevation to the rank of Augusta. Her later coinage was struck under Domitian, the final issues being posthumous sestertii depicting a coach (carpentum). This dupondius features a seated figure of Vesta on reverse; representations of the goddess of the family hearth and guardian of family life were always deemed appropriate on the coinages of Roman empresses. It is of some interest that Julia, daughter of Titus, was the first empress to be honored with the issue of regular Roman coin denominations, in precious metal as well as aes, produced in her own name.

Great addition 😍! Your post made me put the same type on my bucket list, too. I need to upgrade my Titus Sestertius anyway and it would be cool to have a companion piece to my GERMANIA CAPTA of Domitian

Incredible! 🤘

Thanks ☺️. Yes, all of those that issued Sestertii that is, meaning up to Postumus.

I have no idea and there is no written record, but as it is visible on every single well preserved Sestertius of this type, like on this specimen (sold by Roma Numismatics for 15.000 GBP), there must have been some importance to it. As far as I know, there is nothing similar to be seen on any other depictions of triumphal arches by other emperors. Or could this be some kind of decorative flower chain mounted just for the occasion for the inauguration of the monument?

A 37 mm Sestertius of Galba and a Syrian middle bronze of Otho:

The now lost triumphal arch dedicated to the Emperor Nero was erected in the years between AD 58 and 62 at Rome and was designed to commemorate victories won by Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo in Parthia (Tacitus Annales 13.41, 15.18). Located on the slope of the Capitoline Hill in a locality referred to as inter duos lucos, the arch likely was destroyed soon after Nero's death in A.D. 68 known but is known from coin representations, in which it appears as an arch with a single bay surmounted by a quadriga. An artist's impression by Gereth Harney.: My Arch is in 1:50 scale and seen here together with a 1:150 miniature version: Sadly I do not have an example of the Sestertius showing this arch yet, but maybe someone here can show theirs!

The most expensive coin I ever bought (from the same company) cost barely 0,1 % of that, yet the german customs would not hand it out to me without a clearance certificate by the minister of state for culture and it took four visits to the customs office and lots of discussions before they let me take it home 😅

Nero the artist emperor made such beautiful Sestertii that he may be the only Emperor who deserves at least two specimens in any one-Sestertius-per-ruler collection 🙂 : one facing left and one facing right

8 Sestertii of Maximinus Thrax, Paulina, Maximus, Gordian I, II and III, Pupienus and Balbinus

Sestertii of Claudius (featuring "a bold portrait of provincial style with uplifted gaze" according to David R.Sear), his wife Agrippina Minor (struck by a military mint in Thrace), and his father Nero Claudius Drusus: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP - laureate head of Claudius right, traces of oblong countermark PROB in front of emperor’s neck /EX S C OB CIVES SERVATOS in four lines within oak-wreathOrichalcum Sestertius, irregular mint, probably in Gaul, ca. AD 4334,75 mm / 23,49 grRIC 96, note; BMCRE 120; CBN 155 and pl. XXV; cf. Cohen 39this coin illustrated in Ernesto Gutierrez Guinea "El Valor de los Sestercios", 2011 ;ex Auction Cayon Subastas July 2016 (06.07.2016), Lot 52 AGRIPPINA AVG GERMANICI F CAESARIS AVG - Draped bust of Agrippina Junior right /(no legend) – Carpentum left, drawn by two mules, the cover supported by standing figures.Brass Sestertius, Perinthus (?) mint, AD 51-54 (struck under Claudius)32 mm / 26.99 g / 6hCohen -, BMCRE Claudius p. 195 note and plate 37.3, RIC I (Claudius) 103 (R3), H.-M. von Kaenel, “Britannicus, Agrippina Minor und Nero in Thrakien”, SNR 63 (1984), p. 130 ff, Type A (7 specimens) and plate 24, 30 (same obverse die), Cayon “Los Sestercios del Imperio Romano” Vol. 1 (1984), 1 (80.000 SFR) and plate p.74 (same reverse die), Sear RCV I, 1910 ex CNG E-auction 525 (19.10.2022) lot 1045, “From the S & S Collection” NERO CLAVDIVS DRVSVS GERMANICVS IMP - bare head of Drusus left /TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP S C - Claudius (?), bare-headed and togate, seated left on curule chair amidst arms, holding branch in extended right handOrichalcum Sestertius, Rome mint, ca. AD 41-42 34,96 mm / 23,88 gr / 6 h RIC 93; BMCRE 157; CBN 125; Cohen 8; Sear 1896 ex Dr. Busso Peus 270 (1969), lot 200; Dr. Kurt Wiemers collection; Kricheldorf Auction Nr. 49 (20.02.2017), lot 257

After a rather miserable collecting year with five of my favourite bronzes being stolen from the mail and missing out on signing up for the Secret Saturnalia, I received an offer that I could not refuse from our noble member Qcumbor - a well worn, but nevertheless desirable Sestertius of Hadrian's famed Provincial series FOR FREE! This is indeed a most welcome New Years gift, not only fitting nicely into my theme of unpatinated Sestertii, but especially into my new goal to start a sub-collection of Sestertii commemorating Hadrian´s travels announced in my recent “Top 10 of 2022” post: HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P - Bare headed and draped bust of Hadrian right / RESTITVTORI HISPANIAE, S C in exergue – Hadrian, togated, standing left, holding scroll in left hand, holding out his right hand to Hispania knelt in front of him, with an olive-branch on left shoulder. Between them: a rabbit to the right Sestertius, Rome 130-133 AD 33 mm / 24.3 gr / 12 h RIC 1866 (scarce); BMCRE 1816 note; Cohen 1263; Sear 3633; Banti 661 (7 specimens); Cayon 653 (same dies as specimen illustrated on p. 199) The restitutor type shows the provincial figure, usually female, being raised from her knees by the benevolent Emperor with the legend RESTITVTORI plus the name of the province. Hispania, being the Emperor´s ancestral province, was one of the provinces that got the most coverage in the provincial cycle, matched only by Africa, the bread basket of the empire. Hispania is presented here with her familiar animal, the rabbit, the very namesake of the peninsula (called “Hishphanim”, land of the rabbits, by the Phoenicians) and her attribute, the olive branch, not just appropriate to a land of peace, but also a reminder that Iberia was “oil country” (the largest exporter of olive oil then and now). The missing details can be seen on this specimen struck from the same pair of dies (ex Conte A. Magnagutti collection, Auction P. &. P. Santamaria 26.06.1950): My New Year's gift is a great addition as it represents both a different representation type, and a new province as compared to my first Sestertius of Hadrians´ travel series, which features Aegyptos as a single figure: HADRIANVS AVG COS III PP - Bare-headed draped bust of Hadrian right / AEGYPTOS, S C in exergue- Ægyptos reclining left, leaning left elbow on a basket of fruit, holding up sistrum in right hand, ibis on column in front Sestertius, Rome 130-133 AD 32 mm / 24.86g / 12 h RIC 1595; BMCRE 1692; Cohen 110; Sear 3572; Banti 42 (3 specimens), Cayon 81 (800 SFR) ex Dix Noonan Webb Auction 257 (13,07.2022), lot 990 And here is a rare Sestertius loosely related to Hadrian´s travels, featuring one of the ships carrying him around the provinces: HADRIANVS AVGVSTVS - Laureate head of Hadrian left / [FELICITATI AVG](around) S C - COS III P P (in exergue) Sestertius, Rome 131 (seemingly the third recorded specimen) 30,88 mm / 23,79 gr / 12 h Cayón (Los Sestercios del Imperio Romano II) p. 97, 316 (same dies), citing Ratto (Roma Imperiale nelle Monete di Adriano e di sua famiglia); Cohen 689, citing specimen in Bibliothèque nationale, Paris There shall be more to follow soon! Thank you again my friend Qcumbor for making my day and giving this year such a wonderful start! Please post anything related and have a great 2023 you all!!!

Here is another Nero Sestertius that tells a historic story: NERO CLAVD CAESAR AVG GER P M TR P IMP P P - Laureate head rightPACE P R TERRA MARIQ PARTA IANVM CLVSIT - Temple with doors to the leftSestertius, Rome 65 aD32,42 mm / 22,85 grRIC - , BMCRE 158, Giard 371, Cayon 165 The reverse of this sestertius from the Rome mint depicts the ‘Twin Janus’ (ianus geminus) and relates to the achievements of the celebrated Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo. His victories in the East led to a settlement with Parthia over the vexed Armenian question, occasioning the ceremonial closing of the doors of the ‘Twin Janus’ signifying peace throughout the Empire (AD 65). The nature of this curious structure, situated in the Roman Forum, is best explained by John Melville Jones in A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins — “It consisted of two arched gateways joined by walls, without a roof. When the Romans went to war, the gates were opened and when they were at peace, the gates were shut. The structure was not a temple in the strict sense of the word and was referred to as “the Janus”. It is represented on coins of Nero, some of which show it from one side and others from the opposite side, so that it is clear that it had gates at each end”. The accompanying inscription translates to “Peace being provided on land and sea for the Roman People, he closed the Janus”.

Asses of Tiberius and his two Caesars: TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVST IMP VII - Bare head of Tiberius left /PONTIF MAXIM TRIBVN POTEST XVII S C - Livia (?), veiled, sitting right, holding scepter and pateraCopper As, Rome 15-16 a.D.11,20 gr / 29 mm GERMANICVS CAESAR TI AVGVST F DIVI AVG N - bare head of Germanicus left /C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PON M TR POT around large S CCopper As, struck under Caligula, Rome AD 37/3928,13 mm / 11,10 grRIC (Caligula) 35; BMCRE (Caligula) 49; CBN (Caligula) 73; Cohen 1; Sear 1821 DRVSVS CAESAR TI AVG F DIVI AVG N - bare head of Drusus left /PONTIF TRIBVN POTEST ITER around large S CCopper As, struck under Tiberius, Rome AD 22/2329,80 mm / 11,32 grRIC (Tiberius) 45 ; BMCRE (Tiberius) 99; CBN (Tiberius) 78; MIR 2, Series 38/6; Cohen 2; Sear 1794

Haven't posted my only but unique Numerianus in this forum yet: IMP C AVR NVMERIANVS AVG - Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Numerian right, seen from behind /MONETA AVGG – the three Monetae standing left, each holding scales above pile of coins in right hand and cornucopia in leftBronze Medallion, Rome mint, 1.-10. August 283 (according to Pink)32,55 mm / 20,87 gr / 12hCohen (2nd ed. 1880) Numerian Nr. 32 (this coin); Rollin & Feuardent: Catalogue d´une Collection de Médailles Romaines (Vol.3, 1880) Nr. 7205 (this coin); Gnecchi, I Medaglioni Romani (Vol 2, 1912) Numerian Nr. 9 (this coin); Wildwinds (this coin); Pink ("Die Medaillonprägung unter Carus und seinen Söhnen", 1958) Nr.18 (this coin discussed).Auctions Jacob Hirsch 10.05.1909 (Consul Weber) Nr.2424; Naville VIII 25.06.1924, Nr. 1428; Schulman 243, 08.10.1966

Here are my Antoninianus and Sestertius of Aemilian (the Ant despite it's way superior quality has to go soon because I will concentrate entirely on big bronzes): IMP AEMILIANVS PIVS FEL AVG - Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / PACI AVG - Pax standing facing, head left, legs crossed, holding olive-branch and transverse sceptre and resting on column Silver Antoninianus, Rome mint, struck August-October 253 RIC 8, RSC 26, Hunter 13, Sear 9838 IMP CAES AEMILIANVS P F AVG - laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / VOTIS DECENNALIBVS SC in four lines within laurel wreath Orichalcum Sestertius, Rome mint, struck ca. August 253 AD 29mm / 11,28 g RIC IV 54a (RRR), Cohen 67, Hunter 25, Sear 9862, Banti 18 (same obverse die)

A slightly unusual portrait of young Octavian, the future Augustus, but probably rather realistic as it was a) created before the official "ageless" Princeps type was introduced, and b) the Imperator could have even stood model for the die engraver in person, as this emission of prototype Sestertii was likely struck at Tarentum in the presence of Octavian himself when during his activity in the south of the Italian peninsula in 38 b.C. he used that city as base port for his campaign against the renegade Sextus Pompeius CAESAR DIVI F - bare head of Octavian rightDIVOS IVLIVS - wreathed head of Julius Caesar rightSestertius (?), southern Italy, 38 b.C.30,21 mm / 19,73 grRPC 620; Crawford 535/1; Sear (Roman Imperators) 308; FITA, pp. 49-50 and pl. i, 14; Sydenham 1335; BMCRR Gaul 106; Babelon Julia 98-9; Cohen I, p. 22, 3Ex Roma Numismatics E-Sale 69, 16.04.2020, Lot 877

Thanks Greg! The rarest Emperor on a Sestertius seen here is actually Tiberius, whose portrait is even harder to find on a large bronze than that of Gordian I or II, despite his reign being longer in YEARS than that of the Gordians in DAYS. Yes, that is Plotina. Marciana and Matidia will be next on my list. A (very humble) Sestertius of Britannicus is still within reach (about as rare as Agrippina Junior but in higher demand and more expensive), while I can live without bronzes of Valerian II and Saloninus (small, ugly, yet still costly). Domitia, Plautilla, and Annia Faustina in Sestertius format are impossible to get with only about two of each in private hands, while those of Tranquillina are ALL modern fakes (despite being listed by Sear, Burns and others). Have I missed any? Season´s greetings, JG

Hi Al and thank you very much! My local coin dealer put the Domitian in his scanner for free :-). It helps the validity of the result by the way when the coin analyzed (like mine) does not have a thick patina because otherwise the chemic composition of the outer layer will be affected.

Agrippina Junior’s Sestertii were obviously influenced by those of her mother. The main difference (apart from the portrait and the obverse legend) is the absence of the MEMORIAE AGRIPPINAE on the reverse, which would have been anachronistic as she was (unlike her mother at the time of minting of the Elder’s coins under Caligula) still very much alive (the first ruling Empress with her portrait on the obverse of a Roman coin). Also there is no SC, similar to a Medallion. Maybe these coins were not intended for general circulation but just handed out to the local legions.

Sure, why not make that day today 😅. By coincidence I just visited the bank safe this week, so here is the series together on one picture as of today then: 70 emperors and relatives in Sestertius format plus 8 more on middle bronzes and one on a bronze medallion: