Caesar_was_not_a_tyrant

@lordmarcovan Congratulations on your purchase of this incredible and historic coin. Here is my example of the same type. It is not without fault but it checked all of the boxes for me. Attractive portrait Full legends No major damage on the actual portrait. Lifetime No major issues I am passionate about late Republican history and primarily collect that area. This coin is my most historically important coin (hard to get more important than this) and the centerpiece of my collection. It is surreal to own such an important piece of history! Welcome to the club! I also find the veiled type to be more historically interesting than the non-veiled version. In addition to promoting Caesar as the Pontifex Maximus, it is a continuation of Caesar associating himself with the mythical founding of the Republic. A veiled head was a sign of pietas towards the gods, hence why priests veiled their heads while sacrificing. The mythical tradition was that this practice was brought by Aeneas to Italy (Aeneas on the Ara Pacis). Caesar had previously directly associated himself with Aeneas on Crawford 458; the reverse depicting the mythical scene of Aeneas carrying his father and the palladium with a massive "CAESAR" vertically next to it. Of course claiming descent from Venus and her frequent inclusion on his coinage also associated Caesar with Aeneas and Rome's mythical founding.

Coingrats on your new acquisition! Two lovely examples of significant historical importance. The Cr-359/2 is such fascinating type historically and stylistically. I believe it is the first time we see an issue of coinage from a personal military mint without authorization of the senate, making it an extremely important type. It is nakedly self-promotional, referring to Sulla's own personal achievements rather than the more typical iconography honoring the moneyer's ancestors. Of course moneyers were almost always young men in the dawn of their career without personal achievements of their own. It also shows Venus who Sulla would claim as his own patron goddess. This was another precedent that would be followed by later imperators like Caesar (who would also chose Venus). The trophies depicted on the reverse are of great interest too. The Greek and Roman Trophy: From Battlefield Marker to Icon of Power by Lauren Kinnee is an in-depth work tracing the history of the trophy from its origins on the Greek archaic battlefield to the Roman adoption as a tool of empire building. Kinnee examines how the trophy on Roman coinage was always depicted as an attribute of a god or hero until the quinarii honoring Marius' victories over the Teutones and Cimbri in 101 BC and 98 BC, minted by C. Fundanius and T. Cloulius respectively. This type Cr-359/2 is the first coin after those two quinarii to use a trophy as a symbol of political propaganda for an active imperator, and the first time a trophy was depicted for self-promotion by the imperator minting the coin. This type certainly set the precedent that lead to the trophy's common depiction on later coins minted by the imperators of the Caesarian Civil War.

I just acquired an integral piece for my late Republic collection. A denarius of L. Cornelius Sulla Felix struck from a military mint in 82 BC. L. Sulla; L. Malnius Torquatus; 82 BC, Military Mint Moving with Sulla; Crawford 367/5 I found this example to check all my boxes for this type. Excellent state of preservation, quality style, good centering on the reverse, fully legible L. SVLLA, and victory fully on the flan. I look forward to the toning that this piece will acquire! Post your Sulla or late Republic coins!