Numismatic and History Discussions > Coin of the Day

LBs CotD Sept 25th. Julia Domna Venus

(1/2) > >>

LordBest:
Had this coin for a while, one of my nicest Julia Domna denarii. Expressive portrait, sneering yet beautiful. ;)

AR Denarius. IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG draped bust right/VENVS GENETRIX Venus seated left .RICC388c. EF. Issue 9, 216AD
                                      LordBest. 8)

curtislclay:
   Nice coin!
   Don't trust Hill for dates, however.  A substantial proportion of his dates are pure conjecture, up to three or four years off.  Unfortunately he had not done his homework of collecting the material and arranging it logically.
   That VENVS GENETRIX type was struck, as we can tell from the parallel dated types in Caracalla's own coinage, from soon after the introduction of the antoninianus in the course of 215, until early in 217.
   Your coin is one of the earliest of the issue, doubtless struck before the end of 215, because it still shows Julia with a large bun in her hair.  That portrait type was superseded on the silver coins soon after the introduction of the antoninianus, by the type with much smaller bun which, very curiously, had already been in use on the gold and bronze coins since 207 AD!
    So your denarius was certainly struck sometime in the course of 215.

Misanthropus:
Greetings!  I take it, then, that my Julia Domna IVLIA PIA FELIX AVG/MATRI DEVM is about the same date?

Harry

Misanthropus:
Reverse:  Cybele with drum and lion

curtislclay:
Harry,
     PIA FELIX means after Sept. Sev.'s death in Feb. 211, denarii only for your type means before introduction of the antoninianus in mid-215.  I assign your type to Caracalla's first issue after the assassination of Geta, first half of 212.  According to hoard figures, its volume matches the types of Caracalla himself in that issue, that being the main criterion.  
    Hill 1329 got this date right, though he's flubbed Caracalla's types for the same issue; Hercules and Serapis belong to the suceeding issue later in 212, when Julia's type had changed to DIANA LVCIFERA.
Regards,
Curtis

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page