My first aureus

[Limes]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what was happening at CT. Little activity going on there, although I admit I have not been active very much either, lately. Thanks to Ryro, who sent me the link to this place, the first mystery is solved! This place is absolutely buzzing with activity, I like it! Kudo's to Restitutor who, if I'm correct, started this forum? I just finished registration, and will update my profile later. 

About the inactivity from my part; well, the last couple of months have been very busy. On February 1st, our daughter was born (child no. 3)! I thought that the birth of child no. 3 was less special so to say, but I was wrong. I can't describe (especially not in english) how special she is, and how much we love her. And to see the interaction between her older sister and brother, who are very happy with her, is really heaven on earth. Oh, and did I mention I started a education last November? What was i thinking..... busy times, less time for the hobby. But every now and then, when the kids are sleeping, and I have a moment to spare, I browse some auctions, or CT or the facebook group, and try to make a post or a reply. And now this forum too...!

The real reason for this thread, is this. To celebrate the birth of our daughter, I caught my first aureus. The reason I got this one, is because of the reverse. (And I could not afford other appropriate reverses or higher grades ones). Despite the scratches, wear, and so on, it's a coin I will cherish the rest of my life.

Coin-cidentally (haha, I used this word deliberately, thank you google translate!) my wife and I took a day off a few weeks ago, and visited a museum here in Holland with the baby. The ladies did not enjoy it that much, but there was a display going on that I just had to see. It was about Domitian, and according to the brochure the question was whether or not he really was a 'bad' emperor. I added some photo's of the display. The story goes that his relationship with the Senate was horrible, which led to his downfall. His policies however paved the road for the new line of emperors to emerge and usher in the most prosperous era of the roman empire: the time of the adoptive emperors. Not quite sure if this is new info, I don't think so, but the display was really well put up and the stuff on display was amazing, including a lot of coins. 

We were welcomed by the man himself, with a appropriate dagger... I dont think this was the dagger 😉

Busted head of Galba, with some coins on display next to the statue. The show started with the youth of Domitian, which included a 3d short clip of the house he grew up in. Next was the rise of Flavian dynasty (and the civil war in 68/69 AD) and Domitian eventually came to power. 

As emperor, he loved poetry, arts and building stuff. On this rather vague fresco, you can see building projects going on in Rome. Charts are driving, you can see cranes, workers, and so on. According to the description, people actually complained about sleep shortage, because a lot of building material was driven around at night. During the day, the streets were  too crowed. I really enjoyed looking at it. It makes the city really come alive. 

But it wasn't all poetry and building things and so, there was some fighting going on as well. This mask of a roman cavalry man (or some other officer, I forgot...) was found in Germany. Below you can see the sestertius of the heroic emperor on a horse, thrusting his spear into a barbarian. On one the reverses of two aureii, you can see a mourning Germania.

In the end he was killed, the Senate truly hated him. This was really interesting, a damnatio memoriae in effect, on a coin. They showed another complete specimen, next to it: 

So, that concludes the coin and the short museum tour. I will enjoy reading the posts on this forum, and I hope in the near future, I will have more time to post. 

All the best! 
Limes (Martijn) 

 

[Etcherdude]

@Limes, nice Roman Gold. I want one.
You’re account is correct, Domitian came to power following the civil war of 69, but only after his father Vespasian and his brother Titus wore the purple.

[Spaniard]

@Limes....What a lovely story and a super coin....Congrats on your 3rd!..

Brave man😁...Just joking...

Here's my Domitian in silver although I think it wants to be gold..

Edited May 29, 2022 by Spaniard

[Pantoffel]

59 minutes ago, Limes said:

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what was happening at CT. Little activity going on there, although I admit I have not been active very much either, lately. Thanks to Ryro, who sent me the link to this place, the first mystery is solved! This place is absolutely buzzing with activity, I like it! Kudo's to Restitutor who, if I'm correct, started this forum? I just finished registration, and will update my profile later. 

About the inactivity from my part; well, the last couple of months have been very busy. On February 1st, our daughter was born (child no. 3)! I thought that the birth of child no. 3 was less special so to say, but I was wrong. I can't describe (especially not in english) how special she is, and how much we love her. And to see the interaction between her older sister and brother, who are very happy with her, is really heaven on earth. Oh, and did I mention I started a education last November? What was i thinking..... busy times, less time for the hobby. But every now and then, when the kids are sleeping, and I have a moment to spare, I browse some auctions, or CT or the facebook group, and try to make a post or a reply. And now this forum too...!

The real reason for this thread, is this. To celebrate the birth of our daughter, I caught my first aureus. The reason I got this one, is because of the reverse. (And I could not afford other appropriate reverses or higher grades ones). Despite the scratches, wear, and so on, it's a coin I will cherish the rest of my life.

Coin-cidentally (haha, I used this word deliberately, thank you google translate!) my wife and I took a day off a few weeks ago, and visited a museum here in Holland with the baby. The ladies did not enjoy it that much, but there was a display going on that I just had to see. It was about Domitian, and according to the brochure the question was whether or not he really was a 'bad' emperor. I added some photo's of the display. The story goes that his relationship with the Senate was horrible, which led to his downfall. His policies however paved the road for the new line of emperors to emerge and usher in the most prosperous era of the roman empire: the time of the adoptive emperors. Not quite sure if this is new info, I don't think so, but the display was really well put up and the stuff on display was amazing, including a lot of coins. 

We were welcomed by the man himself, with a appropriate dagger... I dont think this was the dagger 😉

Busted head of Galba, with some coins on display next to the statue. The show started with the youth of Domitian, which included a 3d short clip of the house he grew up in. Next was the rise of Flavian dynasty (and the civil war in 68/69 AD) and Domitian eventually came to power. 

As emperor, he loved poetry, arts and building stuff. On this rather vague fresco, you can see building projects going on in Rome. Charts are driving, you can see cranes, workers, and so on. According to the description, people actually complained about sleep shortage, because a lot of building material was driven around at night. During the day, the streets were  too crowed. I really enjoyed looking at it. It makes the city really come alive. 

But it wasn't all poetry and building things and so, there was some fighting going on as well. This mask of a roman cavalry man (or some other officer, I forgot...) was found in Germany. Below you can see the sestertius of the heroic emperor on a horse, thrusting his spear into a barbarian. On one the reverses of two aureii, you can see a mourning Germania.

In the end he was killed, the Senate truly hated him. This was really interesting, a damnatio memoriae in effect, on a coin. They showed another complete specimen, next to it: 

So, that concludes the coin and the short museum tour. I will enjoy reading the posts on this forum, and I hope in the near future, I will have more time to post. 

All the best! 
Limes (Martijn) 

 

Great write up and congrats on the coin! 

Was it the exhibition at Museum van Oudheden you went to? Believe i saw some advertising on it. 

[Limes]

10 hours ago, Pantoffel said:

Great write up and congrats on the coin! 

Was it the exhibition at Museum van Oudheden you went to? Believe i saw some advertising on it. 

Yes it was, in Leiden. Great museum. It has a lot of very interesting Dutch finds of the Roman era on display. It never bores me, I have visites the museum three times already. 

[AncientNumis]

12 hours ago, Limes said:

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what was happening at CT. Little activity going on there, although I admit I have not been active very much either, lately. Thanks to Ryro, who sent me the link to this place, the first mystery is solved! This place is absolutely buzzing with activity, I like it! Kudo's to Restitutor who, if I'm correct, started this forum? I just finished registration, and will update my profile later. 

About the inactivity from my part; well, the last couple of months have been very busy. On February 1st, our daughter was born (child no. 3)! I thought that the birth of child no. 3 was less special so to say, but I was wrong. I can't describe (especially not in english) how special she is, and how much we love her. And to see the interaction between her older sister and brother, who are very happy with her, is really heaven on earth. Oh, and did I mention I started a education last November? What was i thinking..... busy times, less time for the hobby. But every now and then, when the kids are sleeping, and I have a moment to spare, I browse some auctions, or CT or the facebook group, and try to make a post or a reply. And now this forum too...!

The real reason for this thread, is this. To celebrate the birth of our daughter, I caught my first aureus. The reason I got this one, is because of the reverse. (And I could not afford other appropriate reverses or higher grades ones). Despite the scratches, wear, and so on, it's a coin I will cherish the rest of my life.

Coin-cidentally (haha, I used this word deliberately, thank you google translate!) my wife and I took a day off a few weeks ago, and visited a museum here in Holland with the baby. The ladies did not enjoy it that much, but there was a display going on that I just had to see. It was about Domitian, and according to the brochure the question was whether or not he really was a 'bad' emperor. I added some photo's of the display. The story goes that his relationship with the Senate was horrible, which led to his downfall. His policies however paved the road for the new line of emperors to emerge and usher in the most prosperous era of the roman empire: the time of the adoptive emperors. Not quite sure if this is new info, I don't think so, but the display was really well put up and the stuff on display was amazing, including a lot of coins. 

We were welcomed by the man himself, with a appropriate dagger... I dont think this was the dagger 😉

Busted head of Galba, with some coins on display next to the statue. The show started with the youth of Domitian, which included a 3d short clip of the house he grew up in. Next was the rise of Flavian dynasty (and the civil war in 68/69 AD) and Domitian eventually came to power. 

As emperor, he loved poetry, arts and building stuff. On this rather vague fresco, you can see building projects going on in Rome. Charts are driving, you can see cranes, workers, and so on. According to the description, people actually complained about sleep shortage, because a lot of building material was driven around at night. During the day, the streets were  too crowed. I really enjoyed looking at it. It makes the city really come alive. 

But it wasn't all poetry and building things and so, there was some fighting going on as well. This mask of a roman cavalry man (or some other officer, I forgot...) was found in Germany. Below you can see the sestertius of the heroic emperor on a horse, thrusting his spear into a barbarian. On one the reverses of two aureii, you can see a mourning Germania.

In the end he was killed, the Senate truly hated him. This was really interesting, a damnatio memoriae in effect, on a coin. They showed another complete specimen, next to it: 

So, that concludes the coin and the short museum tour. I will enjoy reading the posts on this forum, and I hope in the near future, I will have more time to post. 

All the best! 
Limes (Martijn) 

 

WOW! Congrats on your first aureus (as well, as of course, the birth of your daughter), looks amazing. Really nice mini write-up too 🙂 . I have no coins of Domitian to contribute, but I'm super jealous of yours 😄 

[Qcumbor]

Great acquisition for a great event. It's woth having a lot of kids...

Welcome here

Q

[Alegandron]

Congrats on the Gold @Limes...nice capture!

what a wonderful feeling! Congrats on the birth of your daughter! Wow! Wonderful!

Edited May 30, 2022 by Alegandron

[Roman Collector]

Lovely, lovely coin, @Limes! Thanks for the virtual tour of the museum. Cool stuff on display!

Coingratulations on the aureus and congratulations on the new baby! Here's to three happy children:

Antoninus Pius, AD 138-161.
Roman orichalcum sestertius, 23.46 g, 32.3 mm, 12 h.
Rome, December 159 - December 160.
Obv: ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XXIII, laureate head, right.
Rev: PIETATI AVG COS IIII, Pietas, standing facing, head left, holding globe in extended right hand and child on left arm; on either side of her, small girl standing, raising one hand.
Refs: RIC 1031; BMCRE 2088-90; Cohen 621; Strack 1192; RCV 4205.
Notes: Likely commemorates the birth of Fadilla to Faustina II; the children at the goddess' feet are thought to represent Faustina III and Lucilla. RIC 1002 and BMCRE 2062 are misdescribed by Mattingly in both RIC3 and BMCRE4. It is extremely doubtful that any specimens read TR P XXII on obv., but actually read TR P XXIII with the final "I" being merged with the neck truncation.

 

 

[Egry]

Congratulations @Limes both on the new addition to your family and on the Aureus!

 

P.s. I really like your Avatar name, quite fitting considering you are from Holland. 

[DonnaML]

Congratulations, @Limes, on the birth of your new daughter and on your first aureus. The aureus is beautiful, but I'm sure your daughter outshines it!

This was my first aureus, with a provenance back to the DeSartiges Collection, published in 1910:

And here's a coin showing Faustina II with three children, in honor of your family:

Faustina II (coin of Antoninus Pius), three children (Annia Faustina [a/k/a Faustina III], Lucilla, and Fadilla):

Antoninus Pius Æ Dupondius, Rome, ca. 159- 160 AD, Rome Mint. Obv. Radiate head right, ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XXIII / Rev. Pietas [representing Faustina II] standing left, holding globe in extended right hand and infant in left arm, two children standing at her feet, one on each side , each with one arm raised [probably representing the Emperor’s three granddaughters then living, namely Marcus Aurelius’s and Faustina II’s daughters Annia Faustina (a/k/a Faustina III), Lucilla, and Fadilla; issued before birth of Cornificia in Aug. 160], PIET-ATI - AVG COS IIII, S-C across fields. RIC III 1035, Sear RCV II 4280 (ill.), Cohen 625. 25.5 mm., 15.57 g. [Ex. Naville Numismatics, Auction 28, Jan. 22, 2017, Lot 611, previously in Italian collection (with old ticket in Italian in name of “Antonino Pio”).]

[Egry]

49 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

Congratulations, @Limes, on the birth of your new daughter and on your first aureus. The aureus is beautiful, but I'm sure your daughter outshines it!

This was my first aureus, with a provenance back to the DeSartiges Collection, published in 1910:

And here's a coin showing Faustina II with three children, in honor of your family:

Faustina II (coin of Antoninus Pius), three children (Annia Faustina [a/k/a Faustina III], Lucilla, and Fadilla):

Antoninus Pius Æ Dupondius, Rome, ca. 159- 160 AD, Rome Mint. Obv. Radiate head right, ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XXIII / Rev. Pietas [representing Faustina II] standing left, holding globe in extended right hand and infant in left arm, two children standing at her feet, one on each side , each with one arm raised [probably representing the Emperor’s three granddaughters then living, namely Marcus Aurelius’s and Faustina II’s daughters Annia Faustina (a/k/a Faustina III), Lucilla, and Fadilla; issued before birth of Cornificia in Aug. 160], PIET-ATI - AVG COS IIII, S-C across fields. RIC III 1035, Sear RCV II 4280 (ill.), Cohen 625. 25.5 mm., 15.57 g. [Ex. Naville Numismatics, Auction 28, Jan. 22, 2017, Lot 611, previously in Italian collection (with old ticket in Italian in name of “Antonino Pio”).]

That is a crackin aureus! Especially with the provenance.

I believe I recall a thread post of yours on CT possibly 2 years ago (give or take) that mentioned you we seeking to get your first solidius, wow have times changed. 

Edited May 31, 2022 by Egry
Spelling

[Limes]

Thanks everyone for replying! 

 

9 hours ago, Egry said:

P.s. I really like your Avatar name, quite fitting considering you are from Holland. 

Thank you Egry! I mentioned in another topic that I live near the limes. When i was in college, i used to walk over the visualization of the limes shown in my profile picture almost on a daily basis. Back then, I didn't notice it actually, only when I started to read more on Roman history and the limes did 'the quarter fall'. There are some nice bars around the corner of that street, where that limes is in, by the way. Good times, good times... 🙂

50 minutes ago, DonnaML said:

The aureus is beautiful, but I'm sure your daughter outshines it!

Thank you Donna, you're too kind! And thank your for sharing that dupondius of AP. 🙂 And your aureus is still stunning. I remember when your first showed it. I can image you are still delighted with it! 

Edited May 31, 2022 by Limes
Just because I can :-)

[Egry]

1 minute ago, Limes said:

Thanks everyone for replying! 

 

Thank you Egry! I mentioned in another topic that I live near the limes. When i was in college, i used to walk over the visualization of the limes shown in my profile picture almost on a daily basis. Back then, I didn't notice it actually, only when I started to read more on Roman history and the limes did 'the quarter fall'. There are some nice bars around the corner of that street, where that limes is in, by the way. Good times, good times... 🙂

Thank you Donna, you're too kind! And thank your for sharing that dupondius of AP. 🙂 And your aureus is still stunning. I remember when your first showed it. I can image you are still delighted with it! 

I had to take a closer look at your profile pic. Very cool. Is it only footing stones left? 

[jfp7375]

beautiful coin! I'm a new collector so owning an aureus is like a dream... maybe one day 🙂

congrats on the birth of your daughter as well. Hopefully she will inherit your interest in history!

[Egry]

Well here is my first and unfortunately only aureus.

 

 

[DonnaML]

53 minutes ago, Egry said:

That is a crackin aureus! Especially with the provenance.

I believe I recall a thread post of yours on CT possibly 2 years ago (give or take) that mentioned you we seeking to get your first solidius, wow have times changed. 

Thanks. Times haven't changed that much -- I now have a grand total of three solidi and two aurei, and my "ancient gold" budget is exhausted for the foreseeable future! 

[Aleph]

Great aureus, Limes!  I really like the cornucopia.  if I ever get an aureus, it will probably be Flavian.  Coincidentally (I don’t have the heart to hit that pun), several of my rarest Roman coins have been gilt in antiquity to pass as aurei.

a tessera of Mitrieus.

A quadrans of Antoninus Pius.

[Agricantus]

Gefeliciteerd x 2, @Limes

no aureii in my hoard. 

[noname]

I just won my first aureus at CNG today! I didn't get a amazing deal on it, but I didn't overpay at all. I'm overall happy with the coin, its quite worn,  but the wear is uniform, the coin has no surface, flan, or any other issue, and in my opinion, its really pleasing to look at.


Description from CNG- Titus. As Caesar, AD 69-79. AV Aureus (18mm, 7.04 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck under Vespasian, AD 75. T CΛESAR IMP VESPΛSIΛN, laureate head right / PAX AVGVST, Pax seated left, holding olive branch and scepter. RIC II.1 782 (Vespasian); Calicó 749a. Toned, some marks. Fine.