Prieure de Sion

I'm very skeptical - I hope I'm wrong. I was very disappointed with the Cleopatra series/documentary. It felt like every second they switched back and forth between the film series and the documentary with experts. As soon as I wanted to get involved in the film part and enjoy it, boom, an expert suddenly sat there and explained for a long time. This switching back and forth was driving me crazy. I could never really commit to anything. In the end it was too much for me and I gave up on the series/documentary. Somehow I had the impression that they couldn't agree whether it should be more of a series or more of a documentary. But of course it is always a subjective matter of taste.

I didn't read the description correctly for this coin from a ROMA auction. I read the text far too quickly because I thought the coin was so pretty - and when I read it quickly my brain wanted to read "Electron", but in reality it was a modern Electrotype. The greed was too high to quickly press the buy button. Because this coin was available for around 35 GBP in the after-sale. What, 35 GBP for a Hieron II coin? Fast! Fast! Press buy quickly! Later I saw that it was a modern Electrotype and not Electron. But it was too late. Of course it was my own mistake. https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?lot=1286&p=lot&sid=5293

Gratian (Flavius Gratianus) Siliqua of the Roman Imperial Period 367/375 AD Material: Silver; Diameter: 17.6mm; Weight: 1.96g Mint: Treveri (Trier); Reference: RIC IX Treveri 27F Obverse: Bust of Gratian, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed, right. The Inscription reads: DN GRATIANVS P F AVG for Dominus Noster Gratianus Pius Felix Augustus (Our Lord Gratian, pious and fortunate emperor); Reverse: Roma seated left on throne, holding Victory on globe and sceptre. The Inscription reads: VRBS ROMA for Urbs Roma (City of Rome).

Link: Ptolemaios VI Philometor Tetradrachm of the Ptolemaic Kingdom Egypt Period 180/145 BC Material: Silver; Diameter: 28mm; Weight: 13.98g Mint: Alexandria, Egypt; Reference: Svoronos 1489, SNG Copenhagen 262-8 Provencance: Odysseus Numismatics France Obverse: Diademed head of Ptolemy right, wearing aegis around neck; Reverse: Eagle with closed wings standing left on thunderbolt; no control marks. The Inscription reads: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΥ for Basileos Ptolemaiou (King Ptolemaios).

I would say, next one can use a "S", "D" or "M" .... 🙂 Marcus Antonius Gordianus III Under consular legate Sabinius Modestus Bronze of the Roman Imperial Period 241/244 AD Material: AE; Diameter: 29mm; Weight: 15.85g Mint: Nicopolis ad Istrum, Moesia Inferior Reference: Varbanov 4135, AMNG I 2058 Obverse: Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right. The Inscription reads: YT K M ANT GOPDIANOC AYG for Autokratoros Kaisaros Marcos Antonios Gordianos Augustos (Imperator Caesar Marcus Antonius Gordianus Augustus); Reverse: Hermes standing left, holding purse and caduceus. The Inscription reads: YP CAB MODECTOY NIKOPOLEITWN PPOC ICT for Upatewn Sabinons Modestou Nikopeitwn Pros Istrwn (Magistrate Sabinus Modestus from Nicopolis ad Istrum).

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts, Vergil already knew something similar. Pamphylia, was a small region on the southern coast of Anatolia, extending about 120 km (75 miles) between Lycia and Cilicia, and north from the Mediterranean only about 50 km (30 miles) to mountainous Pisidia. The Pamphylians were a mixture of aboriginal inhabitants, immigrant Cilicians and Greeks who migrated there from Arcadia and Peloponnese in the 12th century B.C. The region first enters history in a treaty between the Hittite Great King Tudhaliya IV and his vassal, where the city "Parha" (Perge) is mentioned. Pamphylia was subdued by the Mermnad kings of Lydia and afterward passed in succession under the dominion of Persian and Hellenistic monarchs. After the defeat of Antiochus III in 190 B.C. they were annexed by the Romans to the dominions of Eumenes of Pergamum; but somewhat later they joined with the Pisidians and Cilicians in piracy, and Side became the chief center and slave mart of these freebooters. Pamphylia was for a short time included in the dominions of Amyntas, king of Galatia, but after his death was absorbed into a Roman province. The Pamphylians became largely Hellenized in Roman times, and have left magnificent memorials of their civilization at Perga, Aspendos, and Side. PAMPHYLIA, GREEK COINS GRIECHISCHE MÜNZEN; Magsitrate: Deino[...?]; Mint: Side, Pamphylia; Date: c. 205/100 BC; Nominal: Tetradrachm; Material: Silver; Diameter: 30.2mm; Weight: 16.95g; Reference: Seyrig Side 8; Reference: SNG BN 678-81; Reference: SNG France 678-81; Reference: SNG von Aulock 4787; Reference: SNG Copenhagen 393-4; Obverse: Helmeted head of Athena right; Reverse: Nike advancing left, holding wreath; pomegranate to left; Inscription: ΔΕΙ ΝΟ; Translation: DEI NO; Translation: Magistrate Deino[...?].

Link: Greek Gaul; Drachm of the Gallic Period 90/49 BC; Material: Silver; Diameter: 17mm; Weight: 2.70g; Mint: Massalia (Marseille); Reference: Maurel (2016) 728; Depeyrot 55.56 var; Obverse: Diademed and draped bust of Artemis right, bow and quiver over shoulder; Monogram under the chin; Reverse: Lion to the right, M to the right, ΤΑΛ in the heading. The Inscription reads: ΜΑΣΣΑ for Massalia (today Marseille, France).

Imperator Caesar Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus Augustus Reign: Marcus Aurelius Mint: Tripolis ad Maeandrum, Lydia Date: 177/180 AD Nominal: Bronze Medallion Material: AE Diameter: 37mm Weight: 23.53g Reference: RPC IV.2 17452 (this coin) RPC Online: https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/17452 Rare: Specimens 1 (0 in the core collections) Obverse: Bare-headed bust of Commodus (youthful) wearing cuirass and paludamentum, right, seen from centre Inscription: ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙϹ Λ ΑΥΡ ΚοΜΟΔΟϹ Translation: Autokrator Kaisaros Lucios Aurelios Komodos Translation: Imperator Caesar Lucius Aurelius Commodus Reverse: Dionysus (youthful) standing, facing, head, right, placing hand on top of his head, being supported by Satyr; to left, panther jumping, left Inscription: ΤΡΙΠΟΛΕΙΤΩΝ Translation: Tripoleiton Translation: City and People of Tripolis (ad Maeandrum) Next: big ancient provincial bronze coin, more than 37mm diameter...

The Sequans were one of the most important peoples in eastern Gaul. They were the enemies of the Eduens, their neighbours. Their territory was very large and stretched between the Saône, the Rhône, the Jura and the Vosges. The Jura lakes separated them from the Helvets. They had been very powerful in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, but had lost their splendour after the Germanic tribes occupied part of their territory around 70 BC. They had the Leuques, the Lingons, the Eduens and the Helvetii as neighbours. Their main toppidum was Vesontio (Besançon). Cited several times by Caesar in the campaign of 52 BC, they supplied a contingent of 12,000 men for the rescue army. This quinar belongs to the large group of the East, inspired by the denarius with the legend KALETEDOY. The assignment to the Sequans is probable, although the distribution map of the finds is very large and scattered. Brigitte Fischer has shown in an article in Numismatische Hefte 75 (1983), pp.232-233 that the legend Q(uintus) DOCI SAM F(ilius) cannot begin before 57-56 BC. The type is present in the trenches of Alesia, but continued to circulate after the Gallic War. Q(uintus) DOCI SAM F(ilius), Gallic War Julius Caesar Quinarius of the Roman Republic Period before 57/56 BC Material: Silver; Diameter: 17mm; Weight: 1.85g Mint: Gaul (around Vesontio / Besancon) Reference: LT 5405, DT 3245 Obverse: Celticized head of Roma to left. The Inscription reads: Q DOCI Reverse: Horse springing left. The Inscription reads: Q DOCI SAM F

Urfa is believed to be identical to the Hurrian Urshu, which is mentioned around 2000 BC in Sumerian, Akkadian and later in Hittite cuneiform texts. Ephräm the Syrian preserves the legend that King Nimrod founded the city. The city was conquered by Alexander. For reasons of power politics, Seleucus I refounded the city under the Macedonian name of Edessa. The date of foundation is usually given as 303 BC. After the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire, the independent petty kingdom of Osrhoene arose around Edessa. Under Roman dominance, the city initially retained its independence. Pompey confirmed Abgar II of Edessa in office after 67 BC. The latter then seems, according to Plutarch, to have played an important role in the defeat of Crassus in 53 BC. Thereafter, Edessa, together with the Osrhoene, became a dependent Parthian client kingdom under its own princes. In 49 AD, Abgar V is mentioned by Tacitus (Annals XI,12) as “King of the Arabs”. When Emperor Trajan stayed in Antioch in 114 AD, the king of Edessa, also named Abgar, brought him gifts, including over 200 horses. But already in 116 AD Abgar fell away from the Romans and the city was destroyed. Trajan’s successor Hadrian had to vacate the area again and installed a Parthian prince as ruler of Edessa in 117 AD. A short time later, the Osrhoene was once again firmly part of the Parthian sphere of influence. Then in 123 AD a native dynasty under Manu VII came to rule. Until 160 AD, there were no coins by which a “Kingdom of Edessa” could be proven. The oldest coins survive from King Wael bar Sahru (163-165 AD), who was installed by the Parthians. From King Manu VIII (139-163 AD, 165-176/9 AD) a coin is preserved showing him with the tiara. In 165 AD, during another Roman-Parthian war, the city rebelled against the Parthians and opened the gates to Roman troops, the ruler became a Roman client king; but still the emperors refrained from annexation. In 194 AD, Edessa rebelled against the Romans and was subsequently subjugated by Emperor Septimius Severus. Abgar IX (212-214 AD) briefly succeeded his predecessor on the throne. However, the new emperor Caracalla had him deposed and killed, ending the rule of the Edessian kings and making the city a Roman colonia and the capital of the Roman province of Osrhoene in 214 AD. However, local princes seem to have continued to exist; for example, an Edessian phylarch named Abgar moved to Rome with his family in 243 AD. Abgar X minted the last coins with the Greek circumscription Abgaros Basileus (“King Abgar”) under Emperor Gordian. In 260 AD, the Romans under Valerian were defeated by the Persian Sassanids under Shapur I near Edessa, and the emperor fell into captivity. Edessa had long competed with the cult of the moon god Sin in nearby Harran. The worship of the goddess Taratha was significant. On the other hand, under the tolerant King Abgar VIII (176/9-212 AD), of whom a large number of coins have survived, the first Christian churches were allegedly built. Abgar VIII (Lucius Aelius Septimius Abgar VIII, the Great) was a son of Manu VIII and king of Edessa from about AD 176/9. He took the name Lucius Aelius in 191/192 AD in honour of the Roman Emperor Commodus. After Commodus’ assassination, he supported the counter-emperor Pescennius Niger. In 194 AD, he was defeated by the emperor Septimius Severus, then submitted to him the following year, took the additional name Septimius in his honour and handed over his sons as hostages. From then on, he loyally stood by the Roman emperor and therefore did not support the Parthians. Septimius Severus recognised him for this as a client king and “king of kings” in 198 AD. Abgar had coins minted with the portrait of Septimius Severus on one side and his portrait on the other. Abgar’s palace fell victim to a flood in 201, according to the Chronicle of Edessa. Later, Abgar VIII is said to have paid a visit to the city of Rome. His son Abgar IX succeeded him on the throne in 212 AD. Among Abgar VIII’s childhood friends was the Syrian Christian Gnostic Bardesanes. It is possible that Abgar VIII converted to Christianity, but the church father Eusebius of Caesarea reports nothing of a conversion of Abgar in his church history. Bardesanes, on the other hand, relates in his Book of the Laws of the Lands that Abgar VIII, after his conversion, pronounced a prohibition against future emasculations in honour of the Semitic deity Atargatis; perhaps, however, this news is a subsequent orthodox revision of the original text. The early Christian chronicler Sextus Iulius Africanus paid his respects to Abgar VIII around 195 AD and classified him as a “holy man”, but whether he meant that the king was a Christian is not certain. At any rate, Christians lived in Edessa at the time of the king and Abgar VIII himself was at least open to Christianity. Abgar VIII probably had Roman citizenship. Lucius Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus Reign: Abgar VIII; under Marcus Aurelius or Commodus Mint: Edessa, Mesopotamia Date: 177/192 AD Nominal: Bronze Material: AE Diameter: 16mm Weight: 2.10g Reference: RPC IV.3 6491 Reference: BMC 11–13 Reference: SNG Copenhagen 193 and 195 RPC Online: https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/6491 Obverse: Laureate head of Commodus, right Inscription: [AVT ΚΑΙϹΑΡ] ΚΟΜΟΔΟϹ Translation: Autokrator Kaisaros Komodos Translation: Imperator Caesar Commodus Reverse: Draped bust of Abgar VIII (bearded) wearing diademed tiara, right Inscription: ΑΒΓΑΡΟϹ [ΒΑϹΙΛЄVϹ] Translation: Abgaros Basileus Translation: King Abgar [VIII] Next: a ancient Bosporus / Bosporos coin...

Link: Mount Argaeus (modern Erciyes) is a dormant volcano about 3917 m high in Turkey. It is located 25 km south of Caesarea in Cappadocia. The mountain was and is a landmark of Caesarea. In his description of the surroundings of Caesarea, the geographer Strabon reported plains littered with fire pits where flames burst from the ground at night. According to Strabo, there were still sulphurous hot water vapours at Mount Argaeus in his time (54 BC to AD 19). The mountain was still occasionally depicted on the backs of coins for the Greek-minted provinces in Roman times - as on this coin presented here. A neocorate was a rank or dignity granted by the Roman Senate and the Roman Emperor to certain cities which had built temples to the Emperor or had established cults of members of the Imperial family. The city itself was referred to as neokoros (pl. neokoroi). A temple dedicated to the emperor was also called neocorate. These titles came from the Greek word νεωκόρος, literally a temple-sweeper (νεώς, temple, κορεῖν, to sweep), and was also used for a temple attendant and for a priestly holder of high rank who was in charge of a temple. Starting in the 2nd century A.D., the title appeared on many coins. The term was first used as a title for a city for Ephesus and its Temple of the Sebastoi. There were approximately 37 cities holding the neocorate, concentrated in the province of Asia, but also in neighboring provinces. A city could be granted more than one neokoros, and the number of neokoroi was often indicated in the reverse legend of coins (B = 2, Γ = 3, ∆ = 4). Source: Numiswiki. Marcus Antonius Gordianus III Drachm of the Roman Imperial Period 241/242 AD; Material: Silver Diameter: 20.4mm; Weight: 4.39g; Mint: Caesarea, Cappadocia Reference: RPC VII.2 3372; Rare: Specimens 6 (0 in the core collections) Provenance: Odysseus Numismatique France Obverse: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Gordian III, right, seen from rear The Inscription reads: ΑΥ Κ Μ ΑΝΤ ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟϹ ϹƐ for Autokrator Kaisar Marcos Antonios Gordianos Sebastos (Imperator Caesar Marcus Antonius Gordianus Augustus); Reverse: View of Mount Argaeus; to left, pellet. The Inscription reads: ΜΗΤΡΟ ΚΑΙϹ(Α) Β Ν(Ɛ), ƐΤ Ɛ for Metropoleon Kaisareia, Beta Neokoroi, Etous Epsilon (Metropolitan Caesarea, honor to have 2 temple for the imperial cult, Year 5 Dec. 241 - Dec. 242 AD).

King of the Scyths, probably Military mint for Marcus Iunius Brutus Reign: Geto-Dacians Epoch, Roman Republic, Civil War Mint: Probably Olbia (?), King of the Scyths; Date: ca. 44/42 BC Nominal: Stater; Material: Gold; Diameter: 20mm; Weight: 8.38g Reference: RPC I 1701A; Reference: BMC Thrace 208 Reference: Bahrfeldt, Berliner Münzblätter 1912, 366–81 Obverse: Procession of Konsul Marcus Iunius Brutus and two lictors, left; the foremost and hindmost carrying an axe over shoulder. Monogram in the field; Inscription: KOSON ΟΛΒ; Translation: Koson Olbia (?); Reverse: Eagle standing, left, on sceptre, holding wreath in on claw.

This news hits me hard. Even though I didn't know him personally, I always enjoyed reading his posts in the forum. He was very pleasant to deal with. He will leave a big gap here and I will miss him very much. Not to forget his family, of course, where he will certainly leave a big gap as well. My regrets and condolences to the family and bereaved. Dear Terence Cheesman (kapphnwn), I hope you are in a nicer place with all the gods of Olympus and can now talk shop with them about the beautiful world of coins!

Active Bids: 14 Win Bids: 0 Lost : 14 😂 Are any winners here who wants show us the coins you get? I won nothing 😕 ... ?! But i am hopeful, i have 19 active bids on Session 5 and 17 active bids on Session 6.

I just wanted to point out that this period is not my “area of expertise” at all and I therefore always enjoy reading your comments and explanations. Always very exciting to find out the details from you here. Please continue...

Netherlands, Republiek der Zeven Reign: Wilhelm V of Oranien; Mint: Province West Friesland Date: 1760 AD; Nominal: Ducat (Dukat) Material: Gold; Diameter: 21mm; Weight: 3.46g Reference: Friedberg 295; Reference: Delmonte 838 Obverse: Knight standing facing, holding sword and bundle of arrows Reverse: Legend in five lines within ornate tablet

An interesting perspective, really. Unfortunately - from my point of view - pure utopia, as you describe it. Wishful thinking. Unfortunately, it is a fact that our planet is being overexploited at the expense of the environment. And if somewhere it's worth digging and just making a little profit - a lot of environmental regulations are suddenly pushed aside. I remember a report about fracking. It was forbidden in this region because the area was farmed with cattle. But then they found out that fracking was possible and financially worthwhile. So the environmental laws were repealed “for the good of the community.” The consequence was. The chemicals used in fracking leaked into the groundwater. One day the fields were full of bloated dead cattle. Nobody can live there anymore - because the groundwater is now contaminated. All for growth, all for science and progress (fracking). And unfortunately you are forgetting the human factor. It's a great idea that growth is used to ensure that fewer and fewer people have to suffer. But we humans are not like that. I see the gap between rich and poor getting wider and wider. There are more and more super rich - but I don't see how the growth is distributed fairly - on the contrary. Africa used to be a continent where production was cheap. Today, in Europe too, workers (temporary workers) are exploited cheaply - so that the shareholders have even more returns every year. No, sorry, I don't see it that way. Simply because people don't like sharing their wealth. And you would think that super-rich people would eventually have enough money and start sharing it - but they don't. The same also applies to health. I have the privilege of being privately insured here in Germany. My parents and my sisters have state insurance. I see how I'm getting more and more and faster benefits, while people with state insurance are getting fewer and fewer benefits.

(A new) Galba incomming...! I love these character faces 😍 Lucius Livius Ocella Servius Sulpicius Galba (born 24 December 3 BC near Tarracina; died 15 January 69 AD in Rome) was Roman Emperor from 8 June 68 AD to 15 January 69 AD. In the year of his death, three more emperors were appointed, which is why it has gone down in history as the Four Emperors' Year. Galba was the first emperor who did not come from the Julio-Claudian imperial house. Already after the assassination of Caligula by the Praetorians on 24 January 41 AD, Galba is said to have been urged for the first time by his friends to reach for power, but he refused. In the winter of 67/68 AD, under the initiative of Gaius Iulius Vindex, governor of the unarmed province of Gallia Lugdunensis, an insurrectionary movement began against Nero. Galba initially remained neutral in response to the latter's request for support, neither joining nor sending news of the rebellion to Rome, as other commanders did. This seems to have been because Galba did not trust the letters. It was not until the beginning of April 68 AD that Galba joined the rebellion and was proclaimed emperor on 3 April in Carthago Nova by soldiers and provincials. However, he initially called himself legatus Senatus Populique Romani, as the final decision on Nero's successor was to be left to the Senate. Galba also sent letters to the other provincial governors asking for their support. These requests were met by Aulus Caecina Alienus, the quaestor of Baetica, and Marcus Salvius Otho, the governor of Lusitania, who joined him. It was precisely Otho's financial support that Galba needed to pay his troops. News of his confirmation as emperor probably reached Galba on 16 or 18 June, when his freedman Icelus arrived in Clunia. This was followed two days later by a message containing the exact text of the Senate's decision, delivered by the senator Titus Vinius. Galba now assumed the name Servius Galba Imperator Caesar Augustus and the tribunicia potestas. Lucius Livius Ocella Servius Sulpicius Galba; Reign: Galba, Roman Imperial, Civil War; Mint: Antiochia ad Orontem, Syria; Date: c. 68 AD; Nominal: Tetradrachm; Material: Silver; Diameter: 25.5mm; Weight: 15.00g; Reference: Wruck 56; Reference: Prieur 95; Reference: McAlee 304; Reference: RPC I 4195; Obverse: Laureate head of Galba, right; to right, star; Inscription: ΓΑΛΒΑϹ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΩΡ ϹΕΒΑϹΤΟϹ ΚΑΙϹΑΡ; Translation: Galbas Autokrator Sebastos Kaisaras; Translation: Galba Imperator Augustus Caesar; Reverse: Eagle on thunderbolt, left; to left, palm branch; Inscription: ΕΤΟΥϹ ΝΕΟΥ ΙΕΡΟΥ Α; Translation: Etous neou ierou Alpha; Translation: First new sacred year.

OK, seriously. I have alcohol here - I'll try that later and then, if it's not enough, I'll use acetone. Then I feel reassured when I can use acetone safely. I'll let you know if I was successful.

OH NO! What did you advise me? Look what happened with acetone and a 36mm sesterce... 😂 😂 😂

Now it's clear why he looks like that! Answers I didn't want to hear 😄 No seriously, first of all, thank you! But I always associate acetone with a smelly, corrosive liquid. If I remember correctly, my brushes always dissolved in the acetone bath. I'm a little afraid of acetone. But I'm a layman when it comes to removing wax. It's probably an unfounded fear (of acetone)?!

Oea was an ancient city in present-day Tripoli, Libya. It was founded by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BC and later became a Roman–Berber colony. As part of the Roman Africa Nova province, Oea and surrounding Tripolitania were prosperous. It reached its height in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, when the city experienced a golden age under the Severan dynasty in nearby Leptis Magna. By the later half of the 2nd century BC, Oea was conquered by the Romans, who included it in their province of Africa, and gave it the name of Regio Syrtica. Around the beginning of the 3rd century AD, it became known as the Regio Tripolitana, meaning "region of the three cities" (namely Oea (modern Tripoli of Libya), Sabratha and Leptis Magna). It was probably raised to the rank of a separate province by Septimius Severus, who was a native of Leptis Magna. In spite of centuries of Roman habitation, the only visible Roman remains, apart from scattered columns and capitals (usually integrated in later buildings), is the Arch of Marcus Aurelius from the 2nd century AD. There are also remains of a little temple called Genius Coloniae, conserved in Tripoli Museum. Imperator Caesar Divi filius Augustus Reign: Augustus; Mint: Oea, Africa; Date: 27 BC / 14 AD Nominal: Unit; Material: AE Bronze; Diameter: 32mm; Weight: 18.93g Pedigree: From the Patrick Villemur Collection Pedigree: From the Alberto Campana Collection Pedigree: From the Patrick Villemur Collection Provenance: CNG Classical Numismatic Group, Auction Triton XI, Lot 551, Date 08.01.2008 Provenance: NAC Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 64, Lot 2400, Date 17.05.2012 Provenance: Heidelberger Münzhandlung Herbert Grün, Auction 86, Lot 386, Date 16.05.2023 Provenance: Heidelberger Münzhandlung Herbert Grün, Auction 87, Lot 86, Date 14.11.2023 Reference: RPC I 826 (.4 this coin) RPC Online: https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/1/826 RPC Online Plate: https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coin/452670 Obverse: Bare head of Augustus, left; in front, lituus; behind, praefericulum; all in laurel wreath; Inscription: (with or without) C (above lituus); Reverse: Helmeted bust of Minerva, right, and laureate bust of Apollo, with cithara and quiver on shoulder; Inscription: WY'T (above); S'VQ ThThE (beneath).

This example is shown in Friedhelm Prayon "Projected buildings on Roman coins" and Dietrich Mannsperger "Annos undeviginti natus" (Hausmann-Festschrift 1982, p. 322, 332) on plate 71.6 Octavian is here firmly cementing his connection to the now 'divine' Julius Caesar, thinly disguised as the more traditional fulfilment of pietas, in the minds of the Roman people. The bearded portrait on the obverse, the typical attitude of mourning for the male Roman citizen, recalls the assassination of his patron and adoptive father eight years before, but it is with the reverse type that the message is made clear. Depicting a structure that had not yet been built was a calculated move from Octavian that in part renewed his commitment to the project, which had been agreed six years earlier. Finally dedicated in 29 BC, construction having started only after the Battle of Actium, the Temple of Divus Julius was built on the site in the forum where Caesar's body had been cremated fifteen years previously. Gaius Octavius, Gaius Iulius C. f. Caesar Reign: Roman Republic, Civil War Mint: mint moving with Octavian in central or southern Italy Date: 36 BC; Nominal: Denarius; Material: Silver; Diameter: 19mm; Weight: 3.93g Reference: Sydenham 1338; Reference: Babelon Julia 139; Reference: Crawford RRC 540/2 Obverse: Head of Octavian, right, bearded. Border of dots Inscription: IMP CAESAR DIVI F III VIR ITER R P C Translation: Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Triumvir Iterum Rei Publicae Constituandae Translation: The emperor Octavian son of the divine Caesar, triumvir for the second time for the restoration of the Republic Reverse: Tetrastyle temple; within, figure wearing veil and holding lituus in right hand; on architrave, DIVO·IVL; within pediment, star; on left, lighted altar. Border of dots Inscription: COS ITER ET TER DESIG Translation: Consul Iterum et Tertium Designatus Divo Iulio Translation: Consul for the second time and designated for the third time, to the divine Jules Next: another ancient coin with a building at the reverse...

Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus; Antoninianus of the Roman Imperial Period 238 AD; Material: Silver; Diameter: 22mm; Weight: 4.77g; Mint: Rome; Reference: RIC IV Pupienus 11b; Obverse: Bust of Pupienus, radiate, draped, cuirassed, right. The inscription reads: IMP CAES PVPIEN MAXIMVS AVG for Imperator Caesar Pupienus Maximus Augustus; Reverse: Clasped right hands. The inscription reads: PATRES SENATVS for Patres Senatus (To the father of the senate).