Happy 1,808th Birthday, Aurelian!

[Restitutor]

I cannot believe I almost forgot to post birthday wishes to my account namesake, Aurelian! It is also my sisters birthday today so I was a tad preoccupied (how lucky she is to share birthdays!) 😅

Lucius Domitius Aurelianus was the savior of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century AD. In the span of 4 years Aurelian reunified the shattered empire, divided into West, Central, and Eastern chunks after the humiliating capture of the Emperor Valerian at the hands of the great Shapur. Sadly for Valerians son and heir Gallienus, the Romans were a fickle bunch and stole away most of his inheritance, with Gaul, Britain, and the Eastern Provinces breaking away from central authority. 

After first dealing with unruly Germans in the central part of his empire, Aurelian marched East and engaged in a legendary military campaign against the Eastern Queen Zenobia and her general Zabdas. After defeating the forces of the East in battle at Emesa in 272, Aurelian absorbed the eastern provinces back into the empire and brought Zenobia back to Rome for a triumph (to be held after his reconquest of the West). 

In the West, Aurelian had an easier time than in the East as the Gallic Emperor Tetricus is alleged to have peacefully abdicated rather than face the might of Aurelian and his armies; Tetricus, smartly, saw the writing on the wall! 

Having thus reunified Rome, Aurelian was murdered a year later in 275 by people who I hope are suffering in Dante’s deepest circle of h-e-double hockey sticks 😂

So, in honor of one of the greatest Roman Emperors, please post you coins of Aurelian, the Unconquered Restorer of the World! 

[Orange Julius]

Love me some Aurelian. I have many coins of his and love them but somehow only have a few photographed. 

Here’s my coin with the most “heroic” bust. Looks like a tough guy…

…and a few from Alexandria 

[Furryfrog02]

Happy birthday Aurelian!
You don't look a day over 1,807!
 

Antoninianus

 

Denarius

[Octavius]

 Happy Birthday to a great emperor...

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

I've owned a very tooled Aurelian/Severina double Sestertius for decades. When/if my coin photo skills improve, I'll dig it out.

I guess a so-so Sestertius will have to do.

I really need to upgrade my Aurelian/Vabalathus Tet.  The Vabalathus side is the one I care most about.  A VF or XF example is now within my coin budget so I'd better get to it soon.

[Ryro]

THANK YOU!!!

The true Restitutor of the world, Aurelian:

 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2022 by Ryro

[Curtis JJ]

I'm a particular fan of Aurelian's Eastern captives coinage (identifiable by their pointed Parthian caps).

The pair of Antoniniani (or Aurelianiani) were struck c. 274, just 14 years after Valerian was captured by Shapur.

As I've written before, the Oriens Augusti legends have a double-meaning: dominance over "the East," and "A New Morning in Rome."

Coin-in-hand video.

 

The AE Denarius has a different legend, but it's a similar message:

Edited September 10, 2022 by Curtis JJ

[kapphnwn]

 Av Aureus of Aurelian Minted at Milan 271-272 AD Obv  Bust  right laureate and cuirassed Rv Victory advancing left carrying wreath and palm. At feet captive.  Estiot 422 4.28 grms 21 mm Photo by W. Hansen 

Happy Birthday. Years ago when Ripley's Believe it or Not was still found in the newspapers I had read that the nickname of this guy was "Hand on Hilt" and that he had killed something like a hundred men in combat. Looking at his image on this and most of the coins featured on this thread I can believe it.   

[shanxi]

Happy 1808 Birthday 

 

Aurelianus, 270 - 275
Egypt Alexandria, Tetradrachm, year 3, 272.
Obv.: A K Λ ΔOM AVPHΛIANOC CEB, laureate cuirassed bust right
Rev.: LΓ in left field, Eirene standing left, holding olive branch and transverse sceptre.
Billon,11.39g, 20.3 mm
Ref.: Milne 4359, Kampmann/Ganschow 106.14

 

Aurelianus, 270 - 275
Egypt Alexandria, Tetradrachm, year 5.
Obv.: A K Λ ΔOM AVPHΛIANOC CEB, laureate cuirassed bust right
Rev.: L E, year 5, 273-274, Eagle standing right, wreath in beak, star above
Billon, 9,20g, 21.5mm
Ref.: Dattari 5483, Kampmann/Ganschow 106.47

 

Aurelianus + Vabalathus
Antoninian Antiochia
Obv.: IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG, Laureate and cuirassed bust right., Δ below
Rs.: VABALATHVS VCRIMDR, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
AE, 4.60g, 20.5mm
Ref.: Kamp. 109.3, RIC 381

 

 

Edited September 10, 2022 by shanxi

[mc9]

Happy birthday! How does it feel after all this years ?

Here a coin with a more rare obverse text

some other Aurelianus coins:

 

[Roman Collector]

Aurelian is fun to collect. I like the long-necked ones!


Aurelian, AD 279-275.
Roman billon antoninianus, 3.61 gm, 20.6 mm, 12 h.
Milan, 3rd emission, autumn 271 – autumn 272.
Obv: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: FORTVNA REDVX, Fortuna seated left, holding rudder and cornucopiae, wheel under seat; S in exergue.
Refs: RIC 128; MER/RIC 1466; CBN 452; Sear 11539; MIR 16, Hunter p. cx.

[maridvnvm]

A slightly scarcer Alexandrian from his first year.

Aurelian, Billon Tetradrachm

Obv:– A K Λ ∆OM AYPHΛIANOC CEB, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right (seen from the front)
Rev– Eagle standing right, wreath in beak, palm frond behind
Minted in Egypt, Alexandria. L - A (year 1) across fields; Year 1 of Aurelian, 270 A.D.
Reference:– Milne 4301. Curtis 1734 (noted as a rare variety), BMC Alexandria 2367

8.67 gms. 20.36 mm. 0 degrees

[Dafydd]

Here is my reduced Sestertius

 

 REDUCED SESTERTIUS OF AURELIAN: 
CONCORDIA. ROME, AD 274-5. RIC: 80

Obverse: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG, Laureate and cuirassed bust of 
Aurelian facing right.

Reverse: CONCORDIA AVG, Aurelian, in military attire, standing left, holding sceptre
in left hand and clasping hands with Severina standing right, radiate bust of Sol facing
right between them. No officina mark.

RIC: 80. Sear: 11646. [Rome, AD 274-5].

Diameter: 25 mm. Weight: 9.6 g.

 

[Restitutor]

13 hours ago, Curtis JJ said:

I'm a particular fan of Aurelian's Eastern captives coinage (identifiable by their pointed Parthian caps).

The pair of Antoniniani (or Aurelianiani) were struck c. 274, just 14 years after Valerian was captured by Shapur.

As I've written before, the Oriens Augusti legends have a double-meaning: dominance over "the East," and "A New Morning in Rome."

Coin-in-hand video.

 

The AE Denarius has a different legend, but it's a similar message:

The silvering remaining on that second one is exceptional! 😍

[Curtis JJ]

17 minutes ago, Restitutor said:

The silvering remaining on that second one

Thanks much! I'll confess that, with examples like that, I often wonder whether they've been artificially re-silvered in modern times. (Or some other white metal besides silver.) That one is even brighter in hand (what looks like toning is just shadows/ lighting). I've never figured out how to tell the difference except on the obvious ones. 

I love your captives example at the top -- on the right captive you can see two diagonal lines down/ across the back. I'm not certain, but I think those may represent some of the cordage with which the captives are bound. 

On your fourth coin, who is the little figure in the middle? Is that a captive, a royal child,or a cupid or something? 

 

[wittwolff]

Happy birthday to the restorer of the world!

Emperor Aurelian - Antoninianus - 272-74 A.D. - Cyzikus mint

Obv.: IMP AVRELIANVS AVG

Rev.: RESTITVT ORIENTIS

Emperor Aurelian - Antoninianus - 274-75 A.D. - Serdica mint

Obv.: IMP C AVRELIANVS P F AVG

Rev.: RESTITVT ORBIS

Edited September 10, 2022 by wittwolff

[Steve]

Wow, great OP-coins, Restitutor ... oh, and some amazingly sweet Aurelian examples from the rest of the coiners as well (great thread!)

=> here is my only ol' Aurelian example (man, he was a long-necked fella, eh?)

Roman Imperial - Aurelian. Æ Silvered Antoninianus

Cyzicus mint

Date: 272-274 AD

Weight: 3.70 gm

Diameter: 22 mm

Obverse: IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG, radiate cuirassed bust right

Reverse: RESTITVTOR ORBIS, woman standing right, presenting wreath to Aurelian standing opposite, A in ex

Ex-stevex6

Edited September 10, 2022 by Steve

[Nerosmyfavorite68]

I should have bought it. Here was a gilded Denarius, presumably sold in 2009.

I bought some nice pieces from Rutten and Wieland.  I liked that dealer.

That's about all she wrote for the Aurelian coins in my photo folder.

[Restitutor]

4 hours ago, Curtis JJ said:

Thanks much! I'll confess that, with examples like that, I often wonder whether they've been artificially re-silvered in modern times. (Or some other white metal besides silver.) That one is even brighter in hand (what looks like toning is just shadows/ lighting). I've never figured out how to tell the difference except on the obvious ones. 

I love your captives example at the top -- on the right captive you can see two diagonal lines down/ across the back. I'm not certain, but I think those may represent some of the cordage with which the captives are bound. 

On your fourth coin, who is the little figure in the middle? Is that a captive, a royal child,or a cupid or something? 

 

Just updated the photos to include the format/description I’ve been working on. Looks like it’s a captive, raising hands toward the emperor; I would imagine the goal was also to make the captive look like a child. The imagery the Romans conjured up sure was something! 

[maridvnvm]

Aurelian, denarius

Obv:– IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG, Laureate, cuirassed bust right
Rev:– VICTORIA AVG, Victory walking left, holding wreath and palm.
Minted in Rome, (B _ //VSV). Allocated by Estiot to Emission 10 dating to end A.D. 274.
Reference:– Paris-185, Gobl-135f2 (9 spec.), RIC-71, C-250 (Elberling, 6 Fr.).
Virtually fully silvered , a good strike, well centred and not showing much evidence of wear

[maridvnvm]

Obv:– IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG, Radiated cuirassed bust right
Rev:– PACATOR ORBIS, Sol walking left, right hand raised, left hand holding whip
Minted in Lugdunum, (//.A.L.). Emission 3, Officina 1. mid A.D. 275
Reference:– Bastien 7 (17 examples cited). RIC 6 Bust Type F

[John Conduitt]

Aurelian Antoninianus, 272-274
Mediolanum. Bronze. Aurelian, radiate, cuirassed bust right; IMP AVRELIANVS AVG. Aurelian, laureate, standing left, holding sceptre and receiving wreath from woman; RESTITVT ORIENTIS; mintmark *S (RIC V.1, 234). From the South Petherton (Somerset) Hoard 2013, NGC 2066331-003.

[Agrippa]

Nice coins!

Have a couple of Aurelians I can share:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dougsmit]

I never was a specialist in Aurelian but still found several of his coin appealing (and cheap) enough that they came here for a while.  If the bunch, I think I like the one with lion in exergue best.  Another favorite is the ratty one from the first period before Aurelian put down the revolt of the mint workers and started issuing coins with decent workmanship.  IMO any collection of Aurelian needs at least one of these uglies.

 

His long neck portraits have been mentioned but there are also those I might term 'chesty'.

 

I like several features of this coin.  Style, strike, silver .... It came out of a Jonathan Kern $25 pick-out bag in 2000 at a Baltimore show.  I got ten coins from him that day.  He was one of my favorites back then but later discovered slabs which sent me to other tables.  

 

Like I said:  Lions are loveable even if the coin is not mint state.  Don't pass one up if you get the chance.

 

I like the whale, too, but the style is not the match of the lion coins.

 

I always was fond of left facers when most were right.

 

Pet Peeve:  The Vabalathus side of this coin was the obverse.  The king was in control of the mint that produced the coins and his reign started before Aurelian was on the scene.  The officina letter belongs on the reverse of the coin which is, in this case, Aurelian. I never got one of these that was struck equally well on both sides. 

The Alexandrian tets are double dated: 4 for the king and 1 for the Augustus.  Note also that Alexandria used two lambdas in Vaballathos.   Who has the Antioch issue for Vabalathus that spells it VHabalathus?  Not I.

 

Edited September 11, 2022 by dougsmit

[Jims,Coins]

Silver washed Bronze Coin (AE Antoninianus) minted at Siscia during the reign of AURELIAN between 270 - 275 A.D. Obv. IMP.C.AVRELIANVS.AVG.: Rev. RESTITVT.ORBIS.: figure of Orient presenting wreath to AURELIAN, in ex. XX.I. RCS #3267. RICV #234. DVM #24b. RCSVIII #11595.

Billion Coin (AE Antoninianus) minted at Siscia during the reign of AURELIAN between 270 – 275 A.D. Obv. IMP.AVRELIANVS.AVG.; Rad., dr. & cuir. bust r. Rev. IOVI.CONSERV.; Jupiter stg. r., holding sceptre, presenting globe to AURELIAN, stg. l., holding sceptre. RCS #112 RICV #174

Sellers picture, waiting for coin to arrive.