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Otho
SmEagle1795
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I haven't intended to build a Twelve Caesars set but I find myself half-way there with this latest acquisition. I purchased this coin from ForumAncientCoins where I was pleasantly surprised to see it for sale. It comes from the Jyrki Muona collection, the defacto Otho specialist.
Silver denarius, BNF III 25; RSC II 11; BMCRE I 9; RIC I -; SRCV I -, Superb EF, light toning on luster,good strike with fresh dies but very highest points a little weak, Rome mint, weight 3.614g, maximum diameter 19.7mm, die axis 180o, 9 March - 17 April 69 A.D.; obverse IMP OTHOCAESAR AVG TR P, bare
head right; reversePONT MAX, Ceres standing left, grain-ears in right, cornucopia in left; from the Jyrki Muona collection; rare;
After the suicide of Nero and the start of a civil war, Rome was struggling. The year AD 69 saw four emperors and their short tenure resulted in all of their coinage being rare. Each of these four had larger-than-life personalities which are reflected in the numismatic portraiture and told in historical accounts.
In the emperor Otho, as in his successor Vitellius, one can find little to admire. Born in AD 32 to a wealthy family, Marcus Salvius Otho grew up as a pampered playboy with a taste for the finer things in life. He had a peculiar abhorrence for bodily hair and removed all hair from his entire body, including his head. To cover his baldness, he then wore a carefully made wig, clearly visible in this outstanding coin portrait.
Otho was the first to openly attain office through the murder of his predecessor. When Nero's regime collapsed in AD 68, Otho was governor of Lusitania, a position given to him by Nero which he resented. Otho was one of Galba's earliest supporters and expected to be named successor to the then 70-year-old Galba. However, Galba chose a young aristocrat instead and Otho retaliated by immediately began plotting his assassination.
Otho took on a substantial amount of debt in order to bribe the Praetorian Guard to murder Galba, under whom they were suffering. After Galba's brutal murder in public view, the terrified senate hailed Otho emperor. Otho’s reign was as brief, chaotic, and desperate as it was degrading. Few in Rome would have wanted to be emperor since the German governor Vitellius was leading his army toward Italy at a rapid pace.
His reign culminated in a battle at Cremona in the north of Italy where Otho and the Praetorian Guard attempted to hold the line against Vitellius at the River Po. The battle went decisively against Otho and as many as 40,000 Roman soldiers died.
His generals urged him to keep fighting, but being clearly disheartened by the carnage, he decided to spare Rome further bloodshed. Retiring to his room with a dagger, he stabbed himself in the heart the morning of April 16 or 17, AD 69. His noble end gained him a respect that had eluded him in life.
In a surprising omission, the late C. H. V. Sutherland, author of Volume I of Roman Imperial Coinage, does not list this issue among denarius types for Otho on the basis of a counterfeit example which had resided in the British Museum since 1867 (sharing an obverse die with a fake aureus) even though a number of perfectly genuine examples have long been known and are in both public and private collections.
The inscription "PONT MAX" referes to Pontifex Maximus, Otho claiming himself to be "the High Priest (Chief Pontif)"
Silver denarius, BNF III 25; RSC II 11; BMCRE I 9; RIC I -; SRCV I -, Superb EF, light toning on luster,good strike with fresh dies but very highest points a little weak, Rome mint, weight 3.614g, maximum diameter 19.7mm, die axis 180o, 9 March - 17 April 69 A.D.; obverse IMP OTHOCAESAR AVG TR P, bare
head right; reversePONT MAX, Ceres standing left, grain-ears in right, cornucopia in left; from the Jyrki Muona collection; rare;
After the suicide of Nero and the start of a civil war, Rome was struggling. The year AD 69 saw four emperors and their short tenure resulted in all of their coinage being rare. Each of these four had larger-than-life personalities which are reflected in the numismatic portraiture and told in historical accounts.
In the emperor Otho, as in his successor Vitellius, one can find little to admire. Born in AD 32 to a wealthy family, Marcus Salvius Otho grew up as a pampered playboy with a taste for the finer things in life. He had a peculiar abhorrence for bodily hair and removed all hair from his entire body, including his head. To cover his baldness, he then wore a carefully made wig, clearly visible in this outstanding coin portrait.
Otho was the first to openly attain office through the murder of his predecessor. When Nero's regime collapsed in AD 68, Otho was governor of Lusitania, a position given to him by Nero which he resented. Otho was one of Galba's earliest supporters and expected to be named successor to the then 70-year-old Galba. However, Galba chose a young aristocrat instead and Otho retaliated by immediately began plotting his assassination.
Otho took on a substantial amount of debt in order to bribe the Praetorian Guard to murder Galba, under whom they were suffering. After Galba's brutal murder in public view, the terrified senate hailed Otho emperor. Otho’s reign was as brief, chaotic, and desperate as it was degrading. Few in Rome would have wanted to be emperor since the German governor Vitellius was leading his army toward Italy at a rapid pace.
His reign culminated in a battle at Cremona in the north of Italy where Otho and the Praetorian Guard attempted to hold the line against Vitellius at the River Po. The battle went decisively against Otho and as many as 40,000 Roman soldiers died.
His generals urged him to keep fighting, but being clearly disheartened by the carnage, he decided to spare Rome further bloodshed. Retiring to his room with a dagger, he stabbed himself in the heart the morning of April 16 or 17, AD 69. His noble end gained him a respect that had eluded him in life.
In a surprising omission, the late C. H. V. Sutherland, author of Volume I of Roman Imperial Coinage, does not list this issue among denarius types for Otho on the basis of a counterfeit example which had resided in the British Museum since 1867 (sharing an obverse die with a fake aureus) even though a number of perfectly genuine examples have long been known and are in both public and private collections.
The inscription "PONT MAX" referes to Pontifex Maximus, Otho claiming himself to be "the High Priest (Chief Pontif)"
Learn about our world's shared history told through the first millennium of coinage: Colosseo Collection
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I wonder how many Otho brockage errors that Otho specialist is aware of
Here's mine, again. It has survived the dissolution of my Twelve Caesars collection and remains part of my Box of 20.
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By most accounts Otho was a nut and I believe Rome was spared a long reign of terror by his early demise.
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<< <i>Fine example, I owned one of those for awhile, it is now back in LMs hands.
Yep. That's the very coin I posted. Glad you let me buy it back.
I couldn't be more pleased with this representing Otho in my Twelve Ceasars set
<< <i>I'll add mine to the pile
I couldn't be more pleased with this representing Otho in my Twelve Ceasars set >>
Never seen an otho like that, very nice!
Still saving up to get one of my own. Just got vitellius out of the way though.
<< <i>Holy crap, that brockage is WAY cool!
Indeed! What an interesting coin! It would make a very unique set to get all Twelve Caesars with brockages.
<< <i>Now you need an aureus of his, right?
If I can ever find a nice one, I'll definitely jump on it. Part of me now wants to build a Twelve Caesars Boscoreale set. They are all represented in the hoard, although it will take quite some time for all of them to come to market, knowing how tough some of them can be (Otho in particular).
Was there silver as well as gold in the Boscoreale hoard? I haven't really read much on it aside from your mention of it.
<< <i>By most accounts Otho was a nut and I believe Rome was spared a long reign of terror by his early demise. >>
He was a pal of Nero's, wasn't he? That says a lot.
After hearing what NiceCurrency paid for that brockage, I award a "you suck". It is hard to find a low grade, NON brockage example for that price.
Now, I know ancient brockages don't command the premiums modern brockage errors do, but still... an error on a coin from a rare "key" emperor? That has some. "wow" factor.
While Otho was likely a terrible person and perhaps would've ruled as another Nero the fact that he took his own life to end the needless bloodshed (and I imagine he knew he couldn't defeat Vitellius) really makes us wonder. They certainly looked favorably onto him after the fact. Hell didn't some of his own soldiers commit suicide after they learned what happened? or they threw themselves on his funeral pyre? I remember reading something to that effect
and I don't intend to crap up smeagles thread here, but lordM and I have been going back and forth via PM about the brockage so rather than create 80 Otho threads I figure we can discuss it here
That is Grand Theft Otho
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Speaking more of Othos, here is a coin of Augustus, struck 76 years earlier... by a moneyer named Marcus Salvius Otho
Same name as the emperor's.
His grandfather, perhaps? Or would it be his great-grandfather?
<< <i>Oh, man, that would be amazing. A 12C set all with Boscoreale provenance would be as interesting as an all-brockage collection.
Was there silver as well as gold in the Boscoreale hoard? I haven't really read much on it aside from your mention of it. >>
The group was only aurei, although they were found with a number of silver pots. I sure wish the pedigree of the pots were maintained as that would be fantastic to have the container which held the coins!
<< <i>Hijacking this thread with other Othos is perfectly permitted
first name starts with a C from Florida?
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<< <i>
<< <i>Hijacking this thread with other Othos is perfectly permitted
first name starts with a C from Florida? >>
Not the same, although certainly a testament to the coin if you have that many people trying to pry it from you