DonnaML's Top 25 Roman Imperial Coins for 2023

[JeandAcre]

Donna, this is as truly epic a couple of posts (...speaking of Aeneas, for one) as I can remember you ever having done.  Which speaks Volumes --as in, the unabridged OED and the Dictionary of National Biography, both in the original quarto, on one teetering bookshelf.

Back to your first 25, if my life depended on it, I'd likely have to settle on @lordmarcovan's pick, the LVNA LVCIFERA denarius of Julia Domna.  ...Mostly since my criteria had to be unapologetically subjective, or the needle just wasn't going to move.

   

This is mainly for the crescent moon at the top of Luna's head.  I've been noticing anticipations of the Islamic crescent moon in broadly neighboring parts of the world, over the course of late antiquity.  It was clearly a religious symbol in earlier cultures, including Zoroastrianism and the much less well understood pre-Christian religion of Ethiopia (thought to have had Himyarite influences, from modern Yemen).  Just from here, your example of Julia Domna dramatically expands both the geographical and chronological range of the collective precedent.  

Couple other instances: Aksum, from the pre-Christian phase of Ezana's reign, c. earlier 4th c. CE:

And Sasanian Persia: Peroz, late 5th c. CE.  (As another anticipation of Muslim usage, please note the star and crescent reappearing in the upper reverse fields, above the tenders of the Zoroastrian fire-altar.)

 

 

Edited December 22, 2023 by JeandAcre

[DonnaML]

34 minutes ago, JeandAcre said:

Donna, this is as truly epic a couple of posts (...speaking of Aeneas, for one) as I can remember you ever having done.  Which speaks Volumes --as in, the unabridged OED and the Dictionary of National Biography, both in the original quarto, on one teetering bookshelf.

Back to your first 25, if my life depended on it, I'd likely have to settle on @lordmarcovan's pick, the LVNA LVCIFERA denarius of Julia Domna.  ...Mostly since my criteria had to be unapologetically subjective, or the needle just wasn't going to move.

   

This is mainly for the crescent moon at the top of Luna's head.  I've been noticing anticipations of the Islamic crescent moon in broadly neighboring parts of the world, over the course of late antiquity.  It was clearly a religious symbol in earlier cultures, including Zoroastrianism and the much less well understood pre-Christian religion of Ethiopia (thought to have had Himyarite influences, from modern Yemen).  Just from here, your example of Julia Domna dramatically expands both the geographical and chronological range of the collective precedent.  

Couple other instances: Aksum, from the pre-Christian phase of Ezana's reign, c. earlier 4th c. CE:

And Sasanian Persia: Peroz, late 5th c. CE.  (As another anticipation of Muslim usage, please note the star and crescent reappearing in the upper reverse fields, above the tenders of the Zoroastrian fire-altar.)

 

 

Thank you for the kind words, @JeandAcre. Whenever I finally post my Roman Republican list for the year, you will see a considerably earlier coin, dating to 109-108 BCE, with a reverse depicting Luna in a biga with a crescent moon above.

[Octavius]

Great year ! Beautiful coins.

[Tejas]

What a wonderful group of coins and thanks a lot for your very informative write-up. I would have liked to see all 45-50, though.

[Rand]

Thank you @DonnaML for the most exciting stories and coins. I am always impressed with the precision and factuality of your writing. The breadth of your knowledge strikes me. It would be hardly possible for a narrowly specialised collector to see the historic-political context that links centuries of events.

Hadrian's denarius with Romulus would be my favourite if I was pressed to make a hard choice of a single coin.

Edited December 22, 2023 by Rand

[Limes]

Fantastic coins @DonnaML, congratulations! I lts difficult to pick favorites. The Hadrian Nilvs reverse is fantastic. I also really like the coin of Julia Domna, and the AE As of Antoninus Pius. Have a great 2024!