Roman Empire: Gaius "Caligula" (37-41 AD), bronze as, struck ca. 37-38 AD
lordmarcovan
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GAIUS "CALIGULA" (37-41 AD), bronze as, struck ca. 37-38 AD
Obverse- C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PON M TR POT, bare head left.
Reverse- VESTA, S C across field, Vesta seated left, holding patera and sceptre.
RIC I 38; BMCRE 46; Cohen 27. 10.9 g. NGC VF (Strike 4/5, Surfaces 3/5), cert. #4170211-002. Ex- Athena Numismatics, UK, January 2013.
This is actually my fourth Caligula coin. The first was sold with my original collection in 2008, and the new owner quite understandably hung on tight and had no desire to sell it back to me years later. The next two I bought in 2012 had run-ins with bronze disease, which was heartbreaking. A rather ironic twist has been that out of only two ancient coins I've ever had affected by the dreaded "bronze disease" (basically a green "coin cancer"), both were scarce and expensive Caligula bronzes! I called that "The Curse of Caligula". Even two thousand years after his assassination, the evil Caligula's his bad mojo was still at work on his coins! So my first two attempts to replace my old 2008 type coin ended tragically and expensively. Finally, on the third try in early 2013, I spent a bit more money on this one from a seller in the UK, and got it into NGC plastic. And I like the patina on this piece. Caligula came pretty easily to me in the old 2007-2008 collection, but after the ordeal of finding an acceptable, slabworthy piece this time around, I began to understand why other collectors often consider his to be the toughest emperor slot to fill in a Twelve Caesars collection.
Main Roman Imperial Collection list
Obverse- C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS PON M TR POT, bare head left.
Reverse- VESTA, S C across field, Vesta seated left, holding patera and sceptre.
RIC I 38; BMCRE 46; Cohen 27. 10.9 g. NGC VF (Strike 4/5, Surfaces 3/5), cert. #4170211-002. Ex- Athena Numismatics, UK, January 2013.
This is actually my fourth Caligula coin. The first was sold with my original collection in 2008, and the new owner quite understandably hung on tight and had no desire to sell it back to me years later. The next two I bought in 2012 had run-ins with bronze disease, which was heartbreaking. A rather ironic twist has been that out of only two ancient coins I've ever had affected by the dreaded "bronze disease" (basically a green "coin cancer"), both were scarce and expensive Caligula bronzes! I called that "The Curse of Caligula". Even two thousand years after his assassination, the evil Caligula's his bad mojo was still at work on his coins! So my first two attempts to replace my old 2008 type coin ended tragically and expensively. Finally, on the third try in early 2013, I spent a bit more money on this one from a seller in the UK, and got it into NGC plastic. And I like the patina on this piece. Caligula came pretty easily to me in the old 2007-2008 collection, but after the ordeal of finding an acceptable, slabworthy piece this time around, I began to understand why other collectors often consider his to be the toughest emperor slot to fill in a Twelve Caesars collection.
Main Roman Imperial Collection list
0
Comments
+1. I understand what you're trying to do with your collection Rob, but ancients just don't belong in slabs...
<< <i>Very nice As Lord M. Fits your set well.
Did you just say I had a nice as?
I just got the thing INTO plastic, so don't y'all go hatin' on my slabbishness!
Besides, if I cracked 'em all out, they'd rattle around in the box:
Virtus Collection - Renaissance and Baroque Medals
And I like the patina too.
Great example.
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
So I picked up a denarius of Julius Caesar, elephant trampling serpent instead. Yeah, right.
<< <i>Nice coin! I've been eyeing ancients for a while, and posts like yours keep tempting me to take the plunge. >>
I was always interested in them, even as a child collector. Even as a child, before I became a collector at age 10.
But I allowed myself to become intimidated by all the information and terminology I heard experts using. The learning curve seemed scary, and too steep. Finally, after hanging around on the fringes for a few years, I took the plunge. Now, five years into my romance with the ancients, I still would probably be considered a novice (or at least I feel that way over on the FORVM Ancient Coins boards), but I'm OK with that. I'm not as green as I used to be, and I know enough to not be embarrassed over admitting how little I know!
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<< <i>
<< <i>Nice coin! I've been eyeing ancients for a while, and posts like yours keep tempting me to take the plunge. >>
I was always interested in them, even as a child collector. Even as a child, before I became a collector at age 10.
But I allowed myself to become intimidated by all the information and terminology I heard experts using. The learning curve seemed scary, and too steep. Finally, after hanging around on the fringes for a few years, I took the plunge. Now, five years into my romance with the ancients, I still would probably be considered a novice (or at least I feel that way over on the FORVM Ancient Coins boards), but I'm OK with that. I'm not as green as I used to be, and I know enough to not be embarrassed over admitting how little I know! >>
+1, great post!