A youthful portrait of Tacitus

[maridvnvm]

I have been updating the images of some of the coins in my collection and thought it worthy of sharing.

Obv:– IMP C CL TACITVS AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev:– PROVID DEOR, Providentia standing left, holding baton and cornucopia; at foot, globe
Minted in Lugdunum (no marks), Emission 1, from October to December A.D. 275
References:– Bastien 41. RIC 49 Bust Type C



The reason I thought it worthy of sharing is that it shows a very youthful portrait of this elderly senator who was supposedly around 75 years old when promoted to Emperor by the Senate. The youthful portrait soon disappeared.

Regards,
Martin

[slokind]

I think that's almost a COTD.  Pat L.

[maridvnvm]

Thanks Pat. I think I am finally making some progress with my photography, which is mainly due to your patience, advice and encouragement.

Here is a coin from the same issue and the portrait looks older.



and later has matured even further to similar to the following example.



The portrait styles can be seen to evolve with time even on a relatively short reign like Tacitus.

Regards,
Martin

[Pscipio]

Martin,

those pictures are absolutely great! (as are the coins)

Lars

[gb29400]

very nice coins , Martin   

Guy

[David Atherton]

I'm no expert on Tacitus' coinage...but I think that youthful portrait is quite remarkable. Excellent quality.

[rick fox]

It is interesting to see how different his portrait looks from mint to mint and over the less than a year he reigned. 

maridvnvm - I just want you to know I am EXTREMELY jealous... as Tacitus is all I collect.

[bpmurphy]

For those of you who like Tacitus, I've posted some from my collection on ancients.info. They can be viewed here:

http://www.ancients.info/gallery/showgallery.php?thumbsonly=4&perpage=90&cat=3401&ppuser=0&thumbcheck=4&page=1&sortby=&sorttime=0&way=&date=0

Barry Murphy