My first Denarius (Hadrian)

MKUltra24

I’ve never had a denarius before ^_^.

ffcoins

Man this along with the tetradrachm you picked up… I’m getting jealous

MKUltra24

@ffcoins said:
Man this along with the tetradrachm you picked up… I’m getting jealous

xD These two are my only coins for a while. I had been saving up for them for several months.

Although the Athenian tetradrachm was like 4x more expensive. Lol.

Stella

If you like these, it is easy to fall down the rabbit hole of collecting.

There are denarii by ruler or the Hadrian's Travels series....so much to learn and enjoy.

MKUltra24

@Stella said:
If you like these, it is easy to fall down the rabbit hole of collecting.

There are denarii by ruler or the Hadrian's Travels series....so much to learn and enjoy.

Absolutely! It’s always been hard for me to collect ancients since my local shop rarely had any.

Being able to buy online is so much easier!

Cucumbor

Beautiful denarius, indeed

1984worldcoins

Nice Hadrianus denarius, hes chunky bronze sestertius coins are also good looking.

Swampboy

I love it!
Enjoy it

My Hadrian Denarius is more humble and was circulated more than yours for sure.
The emperors beard is completely worn off.

It's from Hadrian's third consulate as well and that's Aeternitas reverse holding faces of the sun and moon.

BillyKingsley

Congratulations! Great emperor to start with. My first was Antoninus Pius, it's surprisingly affordable to get a nice one of his for not a lot of money. Might be something to think about for your second.

MKUltra24

@BillyKingsley said:
Congratulations! Great emperor to start with. My first was Antoninus Pius, it's surprisingly affordable to get a nice one of his for not a lot of money. Might be something to think about for your second.

I might consider getting Antoninus Pius next.

I wanted to get the “Five Good Emperors” mentioned by Edward Gibbon to start my collection.

Antoninus Pius is on that list alongside Marcus Aurelius, Trajan, Hadrian and Nerva.

BillyKingsley

Like so many before me, the Pax Romana is my favorite era too...Nerva is the one one I haven't gotten anything from yet.

BillJones

I have been working on a set of as many emperors as possible during the pandemic. "The Five Good Emperors" is one way, but my approach was to start with "The 12 Caesars" and then "The Adoptive Emperors." After that, I have continued until Constantine the Great. I would like to collect gold, but that gets to be too expensive.

Nerva, who had to have had a very agreeable personality. He seemed to get along with everyone, including Nero.

Trajan the Empire builder.

Hadrian, who was famous for his wall and his travels though out the empire.

Antoninus Pius who got his name because he honored Hadrian.

And Marcus Aurelius who was the first to share the crown with another emperor.

The other emperor along with Marcus was Lucius Verus. He was more interested in enjoying the perks an emperor enjoyed than doing the job. This piece was made in the eastern empire. Don't be upset if you can't read it; the words are in Greek. This is a Dedrachm, which is thicker and heavier than a denarius.

asheland

That's a great looking example!

MKUltra24

@BillJones said:
I have been working on a set of as many emperors as possible during the pandemic. "The Five Good Emperors" is one way, but my approach was to start with "The 12 Caesars" and then "The Adoptive Emperors." After that, I have continued until Constantine the Great. I would like to collect gold, but that gets to be too expensive.

Nerva, who had to have had a very agreeable personality. He seemed to get along with everyone, including Nero.

Trajan the Empire builder.

Hadrian, who was famous for his wall and his travels though out the empire.

Antoninus Pius who got his name because he honored Hadrian.

And Marcus Aurelius who was the first to share the crown with another emperor.

The other emperor along with Marcus was Lucius Verus. He was more interested in enjoying the perks an emperor enjoyed than doing the job. This piece was made in the eastern empire. Don't be upset if you can't read it; the words are in Greek. This is a Dedrachm, which is thicker and heavier than a denarius.

Nice collection! I hope one day to have denarii of all those Emperors like you do.

BillJones

If you ever get bitten by the bug to get all of the emperors, or even all of the emperors from given period on century, it is quite a challenge. First you have to make a list, and that can be controversial. Do all of the governors or generals who had their men declare them to be the emperor and then issued coins count? What if they never took command of the government in Rome? Some them are impossible to collect because there are only a few of their coins known.

I based my list on what I found on the Internet and then refined it by the list Zander H. Klawans published in the 1960s. Whitman has since re-published his introductory book, “Ancient Greek & Roman Coins,” and sells it on their website.

My interests run more toward the history of the empire and these emperors than collecting every variety. Variety collecting is endless. I have the five books by David Sear on Roman coinage which cover 21,669 varieties. That is only a start. “Roman Imperial Coins” (RIC) covers far more.

As you can see collecting these coins is a lot different from filling a well-defined Lincoln cent album.

MKUltra24

@BillJones said:
If you ever get bitten by the bug to get all of the emperors, or even all of the emperors from given period on century, it is quite a challenge. First you have to make a list, and that can be controversial. Do all of the governors or generals who had their men declare them to be the emperor and then issued coins count? What if they never took command of the government in Rome? Some them are impossible to collect because there are only a few of their coins known.

I based my list on what I found on the Internet and then refined it by the list Zander H. Klawans published in the 1960s. Whitman has since re-published his introductory book, “Ancient Greek & Roman Coins,” and sells it on their website.

My interests run more toward the history of the empire and these emperors than collecting every variety. Variety collecting is endless. I have the five books by David Sear on Roman coinage which cover 21,669 varieties. That is only a start. “Roman Imperial Coins” (RIC) covers far more.

As you can see collecting these coins is a lot different from filling a well-defined Lincoln cent album.

I’m keeping it simple for the Romans.

First I’m getting the “Five Good Emperors”. Trajan, Hadrian (done), Nerva, Antoninus Pius & Marcus Aurelius.

Then I’m going to go with the 12 Emperors of Suetonius.

After that I’ll stick with Emperors I find interesting whether good or bad.

Commodus would be a good one I think since he was fascinating even if he was a bad emperor.

I just hope one day I can get a Julius Caesar & Augustus denarii since they (at least Caesar) are a fortune even in F grade let alone XF/AU.

BillJones

After that I’ll stick with Emperors I find interesting whether good or bad.

The "bad boys" are often more fun, especially given the fact that you didn't have to live under their rule. Here are a few with intentionally brief descriptions to whet your appetite.

• Caligula (37 to 41) – Insane and deeply troubled. His coins are very expensive. The bronze AS shown above is the only affordable denomination. This one cost several hundred dollars. the denarius goes for $5 to $10 thousand.

• Nero (54 to 68) – The “great entertainer." He had his mom killed, but there might have been justification. She was a piece of work.

• Commodus (177 to 192) – Insane, ditched the Roman toga for a lion skin. He performed in the Roman Colosseum. His act was killing wild animals. I image that they looked for some toothless lions so that he won't become a victim.

• Caracalla (198 to 217) – Perhaps the most blood thirsty of all. He killed his brother, Geta, while his mother watched.

• Elagabalus (218 to 222) – A teenager who was let lose with “the keys to the car, the liquor cabinet and the Playboy Club.” At one point he offered a reward to any surgeon who could give him a sex change operation. His mother was as sex crazed as he was.

It's odd, but "Caligula," " Caracalla," and "Elagabalus" are all nick names. Their real names were something else.

MKUltra24

@BillJones said:

After that I’ll stick with Emperors I find interesting whether good or bad.

The "bad boys" are often more fun, especially given the fact that you didn't have to live under their rule. Here are a few with intentionally brief descriptions to whet your appetite.

• Caligula (37 to 41) – Insane and deeply troubled. His coins are very expensive. The bronze AS shown above is the only affordable denomination. This one cost several hundred dollars. the denarius goes for $5 to $10 thousand.

• Nero (54 to 68) – The “great entertainer." He had his mom killed, but there might have been justification. She was a piece of work.

• Commodus (177 to 192) – Insane, ditched the Roman toga for a lion skin. He performed in the Roman Colosseum. His act was killing wild animals. I image that they looked for some toothless lions so that he won't become a victim.

• Caracalla (198 to 217) – Perhaps the most blood thirsty of all. He killed his brother, Geta, while his mother watched.

• Elagabalus (218 to 222) – A teenager who was let lose with “the keys to the car, the liquor cabinet and the Playboy Club.” At one point he offered a reward to any surgeon who could give him a sex change operation. His mother was as sex crazed as he was.

It's odd, but "Caligula," " Caracalla," and "Elagabalus" are all nick names. Their real names were something else.

Don’t forget Commodus didn’t just fight wild animals.

He fought as a gladiator against other gladiators as well after being trained by Narcissus.

Except the other gladiators got dulled blades to ensure Commodus wasn’t killed.

I would say Caligula had some excuse for his behavior.

He was the son of the beloved Germanicus. The greatest Emperor Rome never had.

Until Tiberius assassinated him in jealousy while Caligula was still a child.

Then when his mother began questioning her husbands death his family was imprisoned & murdered by Tiberius while he was held captive in Rome & then Capri never knowing if Tiberius would kill him.

The first months of his reign were good & peaceful until he got a “brain fever” and fell into a coma for months.

When he woke up from that is when things went wrong. After learning Macro & Gemellus had planned to take the throne he became paranoid and cruel.

I would blame mental illness for Caligula’s behavior. He showed early in his reign that he was a good man up until his “brain fever” coma.