LEFT FACING BUST

[Jims,Coins]

Bronze coin (AE3) minted at Londinium for CONSTANTINE II, as Caesar in 335 A.D. Obv. CONSTANTINVS.IVN.N.C Helmeted & cuirassed bust l. Rev. BEAT.TRANQLITAS.VOTIS.XX. Altar inscribed VOT/IS/XX with globe atop, three stars over globe. RCS #3941. RICVIII #312. DVM #31.

[Jims,Coins]

Silver coin (AR Argenteus) minted at Siscia during the reign of Constantine I, The Great between 306-337 A.D. Obv. IMP.CONSTANTINVS.AVG. Helmeted, cuir., spear across right shoulder, left. Rev. VICTORIAE.LAETAE.PRINC.PERP.VOT. P.R. Two Victories stg. facing one another, together holding shield, inscribed VOT.PR. on altar.  RCS #3853. RSC #643. RICVII #61 pg.433. DVM #17.

[Jims,Coins]

Bronze coin (AE Follis) minted at Cyzicus during the reign of Constantine I, The Great between 317-320 A.D. Obv. IMP.CONSTA-NTINVS.AVG. laur., dr., globe, sceptre in l. hand, mappa in r. hand, bust left. Rev. IOVI.CONSERVATORI.AVGG. Jupiter standing facing, hd. l., chlamys hanging from l. shoulder, r. holding Victory on globe, l. leaning on sceptre; wreath at feet to l. DVM #50 pg.290 RICVII #8 pg. 644.

[DonnaML]

@Jims,Coins, I have a suggestion for you. Perhaps, going forward, it might be helpful if you posted the coins you want to show in a particular thread combined together in a single post, rather than having a separate individual post for each coin. There are 25 posts per page on this forum -- regardless of the length of any single post or the number of photos it contains -- so following my suggestion won't affect anyone else's posts in the thread. Whereas posting four or five coins as separate posts one after the other has had the effect of pushing the thread onto a new page, thereby making all the coins that other people posted on the first page more difficult to see.

[Ricardo123]

On 7/31/2022 at 2:37 PM, Ocatarinetabellatchitchix said:

On at least 95% of Roman imperial coins, we will find on the obverse the bust of the Emperor facing right

And do you know how much for roman provincial, I will say more them 95% ?

hadriano alexandria

[Curtis JJ]

Great Hadrian @Ricardo123! Is that a "Pronoia" reverse? I think @DonnaML may have once posted a Pronoia elsewhere. I'm curious what she's all about, but don't see a lot of info, as those seem to be pretty uncommon reverse types.

Seems like Hadrian favored the left-facing bust on his Tetradrachms for a time.

I have a Hadrian Tetradrachm from the previous year (21) with a Demeter reverse -- artistically it's remarkably similar:

[DonnaML]

3 hours ago, Curtis JJ said:

Great Hadrian @Ricardo123! Is that a "Pronoia" reverse? I think @DonnaML may have once posted a Pronoia elsewhere. I'm curious what she's all about, but don't see a lot of info, as those seem to be pretty uncommon reverse types.

 

Wow, @Curtis JJ, you have an amazing memory! Yes, I did post a Pronoia reverse over at CT in November of last year, and the coin @Ricardo123 posted is indeed a Pronoia -- the left-facing bust version of the type I posted. Both are from Year 22 of Hadrian's reign (his final year), and both represent the first time Pronoia ever appeared on Roman Alexandrian coinage. My version has an unusually fierce-looking Hadrian on its obverse, facing right. Here's my write-up, including the footnote about Pronoia:

Hadrian, Billon Tetradrachm, Year 22 (137/138 AD), Alexandria, Egypt mint. Obv. Laureate head right, slight drapery on left shoulder, ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙϹ ΤΡΑ - ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟϹ ϹƐΒ / Rev. Pronoia standing facing, head left, crowned with flowers, wearing long chiton and peplum, holding in outstretched right hand a phoenix standing left, and in left hand a long scepter held obliquely; Π-Ρ-ONOIA; in left field, KB/L (Year 22). RPC III 6252 (see https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/6252), Emmett 881.22, Milne 1560 at p. 37, K&G 32.770 (ill. p. 154), BMC Alexandria 598 at p. 72, Sear RCV II 3747, Köln (Geissen) 1243, Dattari (Savio) 1450. 24 mm., 12.94 g. Ex. Economopoulos Numismatics, Holicong PA, Oct. 2021 (Nick Economopoulos, formerly of Pegasi Numismatics).*



*Pronoia was a minor figure in Greek mythology representing foresight or forethought; see https://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NymphePronoia.html (“HESIONE PRONOIA (Pronoea) was the Okeanid-nymph wife of the Titan Prometheus. She was a minor goddess of foresight”) (noting that the name of Prometheus's wife was sometimes given as Asia). See also Jones, John Melville, A Dictionary of Ancient Greek Coins (London, Seaby, 1986) at p. 197 [entry for Pronoia]: “’Forethought’, the equivalent of the Roman imperial virtue Providentia, personified at Alexandria as a female figure with scepter or phoenix.”

However, J.G. Milne did not agree that Providentia and Pronoia could be equated, and had a view of the significance of Pronoia’s appearance on this type that I have not seen elsewhere. See the Introduction to his Catalogue of Alexandrian Coins (1971 reprint) at pp. xxxi-xxxii, discussing various personifications, including Pronoia, who were so unfamiliar in Egypt that they had to be specifically named on coins depicting them, such as this type:

“The majority of the personifications that occur on Alexandrian coins are borrowed from Rome, and show little or no modification of the Roman types. {Names of various personifications omitted.] . . . . It is some evidence of their strangenss to Egyptian ideas that their meaning had to be explained by adding their names in the legends of the coins on which they first appeared . . . .

There are, however, a few types which seem to be independent of Roman models [discussion of Eleutheria and Kratesis omitted.] . . . . Another special type is Pronoia, who also had to be identified by name whenever she appeared, and seems to have no relation to the Roman Providentia. The figure first appears in the last year of Hadrian, when the meaning is made clear by a phoenix placed in her hand; in the following year, under Antoninus, the phoenix is used as an emblem of the completion of the Sothic cycle which took place in that year, and so the Phoenix of the earlier year is the anticipation of this event.”
 

[Severus Alexander]

Congrats on that super leftie Victorinus, @Ocatarinetabellatchitchix!  Your Gallic Empire collection is truly stunning.

I haven't sought out lefties, with the result that my Roman collection (after 1st century AE) contains very few left-facing portraits that aren't explained by The Terence Principle (nicely done, @kapphnwn).  Here's one... and I've noticed that for some reason Procopius is very often depicted left facing.  I wonder why?

(Um, can you tell I bought this for the portrait? 😆 Though at least the magic Procopius mushroom is visible despite the roughness.)

[Curtis JJ]

Great writeup on Prononia, @DonnaML, thank you for sharing it again! That's very interesting, I wasn't even close in who I thought she was. I didn't realize that was a Phoenix. This makes a nice pair with your Sothic Phoenix of Antoninus.

Wow, that Hadrian is MAD! Obviously they had different artists for his different sides... Or maybe that represented which "side of the bed he woke up on" [for non-native speakers: wrong side of the bed = bad mood] ... We may have found our answer to the entire Left-facing / Right-facing question!

[Curtis JJ]

14 hours ago, Severus Alexander said:

The Terence Principle (nicely done, @kapphnwn)Though at least the magic Procopius mushroom is visible despite the roughness.)

I'm going to try to remember that as "The Terence Principle," [edit: one T] good phrase. Wow -- I never noticed how weird and cool that Procopius imagery is! (Also with that Chi-rho at 1 o'clock.) Incidentally, here's one (not mine) from a different die also being described as a mushroom (well, "mushroom-like object"), in better condition, but still, what is that?? Edit: Oh, more over there in the old place (including the one above)!

Edited August 2, 2022 by Curtis JJ
Spelling name

[kapphnwn]

Unfortunately I am only partly finished though I do like the Terence Principle. (Please spell my name correctly) To start off with; ancient kingship which would include Roman emperors is mainly military. So on many occasions the King or Emperor would be involved in some form of military ceremony. Among these two basic ceremonial events would be rather commonplace

1. The Pass in revue. In this the soldiers would march in front of their superior with him stationary on a dais or some kind of platform

2. Reviewing the troops in this case he would be on horseback  riding past the troops who are in this case stationary.

In either case what the soldiers would likely see would be in our case the Emperor with his head slightly turned. In case 2 his head would almost always be turned to the right. When looking at this image of Gordian III we can see something of this phenomenon.

Sestertius of Gordian III 240 AD obv Bust right laureate draped and cuirassed seen from the back. Rv  Felicitas standing facing head left holding caduceus and cornucopia RIC 328  20,40 grms 29 mm Photo by W. Hansen As can be seen on this coin Gordian has his back to us but is facing  to his right. You can see how the line created by the top of his shoulder goes part way across his neck creating the effect. Clearly what this image is trying to convey is what the soldier standing in the ranks would have seen after the Emperor had just passed him by. So what does this have to do with some of the left facing portraits. If we take this concept and attempt to create an image of the Emperor in the same pose but as of yet not passed the viewer we get something that looks like this. 

Philip II As Augustus Ar Antoninianus Antioch 244-249 AD Obv. Bust right left radiate draped and cuirassed seen from the front. Rv Aequitas standing facing head left holding scales and cornucopia RIC- 3,70 grms 20 mm Photo by W. Hansen

I picked this image as it is one of the clearest examples within my collection of what I am attempting to convey. Though the rendition of the image is rather awkward.  One can clearly see Philip's shoulder which is right below his chin. He is clearly facing to his right. 

Edited August 2, 2022 by kapphnwn
cosmetic

[Romancollector]

I was hoping that this coin would arrive in time for this thread and luckily it did. I attempted bidding on an example from the McAlee collection in a CNG e-auction, but my bid didn't go through due to a glitch. Nevertheless, I was very excited to pick this example up in Leu's recent e-auction.

Philip I (AD 244-249) 

AR Antoninianus (20mm, 5.11 g). Antioch mint. AD 247. IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, Radiate and cuirassed bust left / AEQVITAS AVG, Aequitas standing front, head to left, holding scales in her right hand and cornucopiae in her left. RIC IV 82. 

Ex Leu Numismatik Web Auction 20 (18 July 2022), lot 2612.

Ex Goldberg 72, 3 February 2013, 4556.

[thenickelguy]

Crispus BEATA TRANQVILLITAS from the Trier Mint

(Diameter: 19 mm. Weight: 2.46 grams)
OB: Laureate and cuirassed left, spear in right hand, shield in left - IVL CRISPVS NOB CAES
REV: Altar inscribed VO / TIS / XX surmounted by globe, three stars above - BEATA TRANQVILLITAS
Struck at the Trier mint, this coin has the mintmark •STR• 

[Jims,Coins]

Copper coin (AE as) minted during the reign of CALIGULA between 37 - 38 A.D. Obv. C.CAESAR.AVG.GERMANICVS.PON.M.TR.POT. Bare head left. Rev. VESTA.S.C. S –C to l. and r. of Vesta, veiled and dr., std l., on ornamental throne, r. holding patera, l. long transverse sceptre. SEAR #616. RICI #38. Pg.111. DVM #9 pg.80. RSCII #1803

Edited August 14, 2022 by Jims,Coins