|
This page may contain links that result in small commissions to keep this free site up and running.
Welcome Guest! Registering and/or logging in will remove the anchor (bottom) ads. It's Free!
To participate in the forum you must log in or register. | Author |
 Replies: 52 / Views: 6,888 |
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
3446 Posts |
I am not seeing much "Joy" around this thread lately .......
May have to start 'knocking' heads until morale improves around here !
Unless we get some results I just may start with 'Decline and Fall' again Chapter I paragraph 1
and continue until you all cry 'Caesar' !
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Netherlands
1204 Posts |
Lets bring in some joy! Im posting a very recent purchase, it arrived today actually! With some communication and help with an other member of this forum cough..Furius  I was able to win it for a very good price! The green patina is great, portrait is sharp and a scarcer type. In hand it even looks better!   MARCUS AURELIUS Emperor AD 161-180 As Caesar AD 139-161 Sestertius Bronze 25.83 grams, 33 mm Obverse: AVRELIVS CAESAR AVG PII F, His bare bearded head right Reverse: TR.POT.III COS II/PIETAS, S.C, Pietas standing left holding scepter and extenting hand over child beside him Reference: RIC 1281a, Van Meter 117 Scarce |
|
Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3446 Posts |
Your photo is quite good. A little bit of glare that might be taken care of with a 'polarizer'.
It definitely does look like the much sought after "Better in Hand" variety !
Nice color too .... the color of money.
So could you hear any music ? Mozart or Ludwig van ...... that makes him Dutch doesn't it ? Krauts would be von ....... did you hear anything ?
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Netherlands
1204 Posts |
Haha I havent heard anything but it feels good definitly! I shall edit my post tomorrow with a photo in daylight instead of artificial light
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
My first Ostrogothic coin ever, was so excited when I finally had it in hand. What makes it even better IMO than the more common Ostrogothic types is that it has the name of one of their kings, Theohadad, nephew of the great Theodoric. Theodahad, Ostrogothic Kingdom (reigned 534-536 AD) AE Decanummium Obv: INVICT-A ROMA, Roma helmeted, bust right Rev: DN THEODAHATHVS REX in four lines within wreath, X below (X stands for 10 nummi) Rome mint Ref: BMC Vandals, 16  A tremissis of Byzantine emperor Anastasius. My first gold coin, need I say more? Anastasius, Byzantine (Eastern Roman) emperor Obv: DN ANASTA-SIVS PP AVG, pearl-diademed, draped bust right Rev: VICTORIA AVGVSTORVM, Victory advancing right with head left, holding wreath and cross on globe Mintmark: CONOB Constantinople mint Ref: SB 8 Width: 16 mm, Weight: 1.5 grams .jpg) |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
5155 Posts |
VK- I never tired of seeing those two. I suspect everyone knows where my vote lies...I'd love to see some more entries. Some shy collectors out there?
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3446 Posts |
Well I count a whooping 8 numismatists entering our little 'Ode to Joy'.
What started as a mini rush has slowed to ...... none
Hardly an overwhelming response.
Are the rest just lazy ...... or collectors lacking the requisite passion ?
Surely there must be more tales of "Joy".
No one who has collected for more than but a brief time has not experienced some happy circumstance which makes a coin special !
The stated 'close' of entries was given as 6PM EST today 1-31-2014.
Dope that I am I had forgotten that today was my anniversary (17 years). In my generous spirit of great "Joy" that I am feeling I hearby decree ....... the close shall be extended 24 hours that I may attend to more 'pressing' matters !
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
5155 Posts |
Hail FR our supreme host of hosts!....(Hostest with Mostest was previously taken)
Congrats on the Anniversary.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
579 Posts |
My gf told me once that she was glad I studied history because I remember dates very well and should never forget our anniversary. She on the other hand has already forgotten ones in 3 years of dating...
|
|
Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3446 Posts |
Don't say I didn't warn you .......
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Chapter I
Introduction
IN the second century of the Christian era,
the Empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth,
and the most civilised portion of mankind.
The frontiers of that extensive monarchy were guarded by ancient renown and disciplined valour.
The gentle but powerful influence of laws and manners had gradually cemented the union of the provinces.
Their peaceful inhabitants enjoyed and abused the advantages of wealth and luxury.
The image of a free constitution was preserved with decent reverence:
the Roman senate appeared to possess the sovereign authority,
and devolved on the emperors all the executive powers of government.
During a happy period (A.D. 98-180) of more than fourscore years,
the public administration was conducted by the virtue and abilities of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the two Antonines.
It is the design of this, and of the two succeeding chapters,
to describe the prosperous condition of their empire;
and afterwards,
from the death of Marcus Antoninus,
to deduce the most important circumstances of its decline and fall;
a revolution which will ever be remembered,
and is still felt by the nations of the earth.
Moderation of Augustus
The principal conquests of the Romans were achieved under the republic;
and the emperors, for the most part,
were satisfied with preserving those dominions which had been acquired by the policy of the senate,
the active emulation of the consuls,
and the martial enthusiasm of the people.
The seven first centuries were filled with a rapid succession of triumphs;
but it was reserved for Augustus to relinquish the ambitious design of subduing the whole earth,
and to introduce a spirit of moderation into the public councils.
Inclined to peace by his temper and situation,
it was easy for him to discover that Rome,
in her present exalted situation,
had much less to hope than to fear from the chance of arms;
and that, in the prosecution of remote wars, the undertaking became every day more difficult,
the event more doubtful, and the possession more precarious, and less beneficial.
The experience of Augustus added weight to these salutary reflections,
and effectually convinced him that,
by the prudent vigour of his counsels,
it would be easy to secure every concession which the safety or the dignity of Rome
might require from the most formidable Barbarians.
Instead of exposing his person and his legions to the arrows of the Parthians,
he obtained, by an honourable treaty,
the restitution of the standards and prisoners which had been taken in the defeat of Crassus.
His generals, in the early part of his reign,
attempted the reduction of Ethiopia and Arabia Felix.
They marched near a thousand miles to the south of the tropic;
but the heat of the climate soon repelled the invaders,
and protected the unwarlike natives of those sequestered regions.
The northern countries of Europe scarcely deserved the expense and labour of conquest.
The forests and morasses of Germany were filled with a hardy race of barbarians,
who despised life when it was separated from freedom;
and though, on the first attack,
they seemed to yield to the weight of the Roman power,
they soon, by a signal act of despair, regained their independence,
and reminded Augustus of the vicissitude of fortune.
On the death of that emperor, his testament was publicly read in the senate.
He bequeathed, as a valuable legacy to his successors,
the advice of confining the empire within those limits, which Nature seemed to have placed as its permanent bulwarks and boundaries;
on the west the Atlantic ocean;
the Rhine and Danube on the north; the Euphrates on the east;
and towards the south,
the sandy deserts of Arabia and Africa.
Give up yet ? Ready to play with the other children ?
No ! Have it your way .....
Imitated by his successors
Happily for the repose of mankind,
the moderate system recommended by the wisdom of Augustus,
was adopted by the fears and vices of his immediate successors.
Engaged in the pursuit of pleasure, or in the exercise of tyranny,
the first Caesars seldom showed themselves to the armies,
or to the provinces;
nor were they disposed to suffer,
that those triumphs which their indolence neglected should be usurped by the conduct and valour of their lieutenants.
The military fame of a subject was considered as an insolent invasion of the Imperial prerogative;
and it became the duty, as well as interest, of every Roman general,
to guard the frontiers intrusted to his care,
without aspiring to conquests which might have proved no less fatal
to himself than to the vanquished barbarians.
Conquest of Britian was the first exception to it
The only accession which the Roman empire received
during the first century of the Christian era, was the province of Britain.
In this single instance the successors of Caesar
and Augustus were persuaded to follow the example of the former,
rather than the precept of the latter.
The proximity of its situation to the coast of Gaul seemed to invite their arms;
the pleasing, though doubtful intelligence, of a pearl fishery, attracted their avarice;
and as Britain was viewed in the light of a distinct and insulated world,
the conquest scarcely formed any exception to the general system of continental measures.
After a war of about forty years, undertaken by the most stupid,
maintained by the most dissolute, and terminated by the most timid of all the emperors,
the far greater part of the island submitted to the Roman yoke.
The various tribes of Britons possessed valour without conduct,
and the love of freedom without the spirit of union.
They took up arms with savage fierceness;
they laid them down, or turned them against each other with wild inconstancy;
and while they fought singly, they were successively subdued.
Neither the fortitude of Caractacus,
nor the despair of Boadicea,
nor the fanaticism of the Druids,
could avert the slavery of their country,
or resist the steady progress of the Imperial generals,
who maintained the national glory, when the throne was disgraced by the weakest,
or the most vicious of mankind.
At the very time when Domitian,
confined to his palace, felt the terrors which he inspired;
his legions, under the command of the virtuous Agricola,
defeated the collected force of the Caledonians at the foot of the Grampian hills;
and his fleets, venturing to explore an unknown and dangerous navigation,
displayed the Roman arms round every part of the island.
The conquest of Britain was considered as already achieved;
and it was the design of Agricola to complete and ensure his success by the easy reduction of Ireland,
for which in his opinion, one legion and a few auxiliaries were sufficient.
The western isle might be improved into a valuable possession,
and the Britons would wear their chains with the less reluctance,
if the prospect and example of freedom were on every side removed from before their eyes.
But the superior merit of Agricola soon occasioned his removal from the government of Britain;
and for ever disappointed this rational,
though extensive scheme of conquest.
Before his departure, the prudent general had provided for security as well as for dominion.
He had observed that the island is almost divided into two unequal parts by the opposite gulfs,
or, as they are now called, the Firths of Scotland.
Across the narrow interval of about forty miles,
he had drawn a line of military stations, which was afterwards fortified in the reign of Antoninus Pius,
by a turf rampart erected on foundations of stone.
This wall of Antoninus, at a small distance beyond the modern cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow,
was fixed as the limit of the Roman province.
The native Caledonians preserved in the northern extremity of the island their wild independence,
for which they were not less indebted to their poverty than to their valour.
Their incursions were frequently repelled and chastised;
but their country was never subdued.
The masters of the fairest and most wealthy climates of the globe turned with contempt
from gloomy hills assailed by the winter tempest,
from lakes concealed in a blue mist,
and from cold and lonely heaths,
over which the deer of the forest
were chased by a troop of naked barbarians.
Edited by FVRIVS RVFVS
02/01/2014 12:06 pm
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4980 Posts |
happy anniversary FR!
watch out for naked barbarians!
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3446 Posts |
Very well then ....... naked barbarians or not !
Time to commence with the weighty matters at hand.
The issue of Joy
We may now commence with the ballots.
The winners will then team up and run ....... never mind
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5180 Posts |
More of a placeholder post than anything (aka "inability to make good photos in bad lighting strikes again", aka "I completely forgot that this smackdown was even going on"). I hadn't been collecting ancients much. From my first ancient purchase to the most recent one, it had been less than a year... literally; a day short of a full year. First was on January 5th 2013; most recent was on January 4th 2014, which also happened to be my birthday. Anyway, on the 4th, here I go to my favorite ancients dealer (the very same guy I got my first purchase from), and look at the $6/coin tray. First interesting thing I noticed was a late bronze of some guy ending with an "is". Now, I wasn't aware of any emperors ending with these letters, and at the end it turned out to be an Arcadius someone missed the V of, but that isn't the point anyway. The next coin, however... "wait, isn't that a Honorius? I heard these are pretty rare." Well, the dealer said it was pretty uncommon, but not just for being a Honorius as because he had a star behind his head, which apparently signified some uncommon issue or other. What I mentally heard was, essentially, that I did find an actual coin of Honorius, that it was even rarer than normal coins of Honorius, and that I got pretty lucky getting that for six bucks. Sure, it was pretty awful in quality, and the mintmark was all but gone, but hey, it was an actual real coin of a post-division Western emperor! I hadn't yet found out if it was worth the $6, or if the type was really any rare (though a CCF search doesn't catch any). And my matching coins of Arcadius and Theodosius II (found in the same tray) were in far better condition (particularly the Theo II, which surprised me as his coins are apparently very uncommon). But I think the Honorius coin fit the meaning of the smackdown better, so I would post photos of it   Honorius, Gloria Romanorum AE4 (three emperors reverse). Probably Antioch mint (but I can never be sure). (P.S. Sorry for being late. My internet access randomly shut down at the last minute, and I wasn't able to post it until it went back up again... almost fifteen minutes later.) |
| |
Replies: 52 / Views: 6,888 |
To participate in the forum you must log in or register.
- All Members, Post Your Most Recent US Coin Purchases!
- A Continuing Thread ~ Post Your Tokens, Medals, Exonumia Acquisitions
- Post Your Coins Depicting Sailing Ships
- Bovine Coins - Post Yours
- Post Your Coins With Hats
- G L B 49's MS-70 Perfect Silver Coins
- G L B 49's Silver Libertad Collection
- G L B 49's Dragon Silver Coins
- 1838-C 8 Reales, Peru, Cuzco Mint, PCGS MS-63
- Perth Mint New Release: 2026 2oz Silver Antiqued Turtle Yaunati Coloured Coin
- Buffalo/Indian Head 1 Gram .999 Silver Round Coins
- Quarter Roll Searching
- Dime Roll Searching
- 2026 US Mint Set Subscriptions Are Available - Mintage Raised To 300,000
- Ike Dollar Counterstamped With Reagan Inauguration
- 2023 P Edith Kanaka'ole Quarter PMD Or Strike Through?
- 1934 $10,000 Federal Reserve Note, New York, PCGS Choice Uncirculated 64
- Help Identify These Greek Coins
- July 4th Privy Mark Quarters: How Is Your Search Going?
- Savings Bank Liquor House Token
Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Coin Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Family- all rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Coin Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited.
Contact Us | Advertise Here | Privacy Policy / Terms of Use
|
| Coin Community Forum |
© 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Forums |
| It took 0.43 seconds to rattle this change. |
 |
|
| |
| |
First Page
Posted 01/28/2014 1:34 pm
