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What are the oldest ancient coins with depictions of Liberty/Libertas/Eleutheria on them?
Mr_Spud
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Does anybody here know?
Mr_Spud
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I don't know for sure, but I like Roman coins with Libertas are some of my favorites. The copper asses of Claudius are the earliest I can think of. Her Greek counterpart Eleutheria certainly appeared on the Roman provincial coinage from Alexandria, but I'm not sure if any were earlier than the imperial issues of Claudius. I'm not familiar with any depictions on pre-Roman Greek coinage.
Thanks, I just started looking into some of them recently and now I’m starting to want to learn more about them before purchasing any.
Mr_Spud
Eleutheria was not a properly fleshed-out goddess in Greek mythology; on Greek-language coinage she only appears on a few coins of Roman Alexandria, during the brief reigns of Galba and Otho. Examples on Wildwinds. In that sense, Eleutheria was a deity the Greeks borrowed from the Romans, opposite to the usual order of things.
The Romans elevated Libertas to a proper minor deity when they overthrew their kings in 509 BC, with the first Temple of Libertas recorded being built in 238 BC. She was patron deity of the family of Brutus, long before he became infamous by assassinating Julius Caesar, his ancestors having helped depose those ancient kings. I believe the first appearance of Libertas on coinage was a portrait on a Republican-era denarius by Brutus back when he was moneyer in 54 BC. Wildwinds example.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded the DPOTD twice.