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is the Caligula era Divus Augustus dupondius anything special?


Nerosmyfavorite68

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My dad was discussing the ancients stock of the local shop with me and mentioned a 'large' AE they had of Augustus minted under Caligula.  His definition of 'large' is As-sized, so I'm assuming that he means the dupondius issue minted under Caligula.  He said it was rough and looked like it was 'dragged over concrete'.  The price was $100. :classic_ohmy:

Only a few come up in a vcoins search but it's probably not worth getting, especially in that condition.  I advised him to not worry about that one.

I'm guessing he means this type: (the clearest example from a vcoins' search) https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/pars_coins/121/product/roman_empire_divus_augustus_died_ad_14__dupondius/1551031/Default.aspx

Edited by Nerosmyfavorite68
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Caligula & Divus Augustus , Æ Dupondius , 37-41 AD. , RIC 56 [Caligula], Cohen 87 [Augustus], BMC 88 
DIVVS AVGVSTVS S-C, radiate head of Divus Augustus left./ 
CONSENSV SENAT ET EQ ORDIN P Q R, laureate & togate statue of Gaius Caligula seated left on curule chair, holding branch 
30 mm / 16.4 g  image.jpeg.1e3186ed08a40190d072672e13622ce4.jpeg

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'Dragged over rocks' sounds like it was heavily corroded/scraped, perhaps a BD survivor with extensive scooping?  Or, from finder's marks?

He said he'd update me the next time he visited there,and would only buy it should I advise him to do so, which I won't, as a hundred dollars are better spent elsewhere and I don't really want a super-decrepit example of this particular coin.

The local shop tends to be a bit overpriced, and unfortunately's been on an NGC slab kick the past couple of years, but it sounds like the latest stock are raw coins. The slabs have yielded some neat types, but my favorites from there have been the raw ones.

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8 hours ago, Nerosmyfavorite68 said:

My dad was discussing the ancients stock of the local shop with me and mentioned a 'large' AE they had of Augustus minted under Caligula.  His definition of 'large' is As-sized, so I'm assuming that he means the dupondius issue minted under Caligula.  He said it was rough and looked like it was 'dragged over concrete'.  The price was $100. :classic_ohmy:

Only a few come up in a vcoins search but it's probably not worth getting, especially in that condition.  I advised him to not worry about that one.

I'm guessing he means this type: (the clearest example from a vcoins' search) https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/pars_coins/121/product/roman_empire_divus_augustus_died_ad_14__dupondius/1551031/Default.aspx

https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/yoshua_three_coins/315/product/video_incl_superb_rr_caligula_divus_augustus_ric_56_date_3741_ad_ae_dupondius_rome_curule_chair/1764216/Default.aspx
 

„Whereas in the past, misguided by the identification of the seated figure with Augustus, it was taken for granted that the legend CONSENSV SENAT ET EQ ORDIN P Q R referred to the first princeps, such an interpretation is no longer plausible. Instead, the coinage recovered for Caligula's reign finds its precise interpretation in the literarily transmitted events at the beginning of his reign. The corresponding legend refers to Caligula's accession to power in Rome, when the emperor gave a speech before the senate, knights and representatives of the plebs (Cassius Dio 59,6; Suetonius, Caligula 14), which was to confirm the Consensus Universorum. While looking through older auction catalogues, we came across a coinage (Fig. 1) that now allows an identification of the seated Togatus with Caligula quite unambiguously[...]. For the discussion on the naming of the reverse representation see v. Kaenel in Schweizer Münzblätter 1978 pp. 39 ff.“


 
You can read the full text here - starts at page 39: 

https://www.e-periodica.ch/digbib/view?pid=smb-001:1978:28::525#42 
 

 

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