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 Replies: 10 / Views: 1,918 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
I've missed these threads! Didia Clara was the adult daughter of Didius Julianus, roughly 40 years old when her father purchased the title of Augustus from the Praetorian Guard on March 28, 193 following the assasination of Pertinax. Said to be one of the most beautiful women in the empire, no historical sources mention her in any detail. She was given in marriage to the urban Prefect, Sextus Cornelius Repentinus, to solidify her father's position. Julianus however was murdered on June 1 of the same year, upon the arrival of Septimius Severus. Clara's mother, Manlia Scantilla, died about a month later of natural causes. Clara and her husband were spared, and retired to obscurity. The coinage of Didia Clara is rare, confined to only a single type in three denominations. All coins depict the empress with waved hair gathered in a bun at the back of her head, with the legend DIDIA CLA-RA AVG. The reverse of all types shows Hilaritas standing with a long palm and cornucopiae, legend HILAR TEMPOR. Aureii and Denarii were struck by the same dies, grouped under RIC 10. Limes denarii were also struck. Sestertii are of the same type, listed as RIC 20. No provincial coins are known. Interestingly, there are a number of facial differences present on extant examples, making her appear anywhere between youthful and middle aged.  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5029 Posts |
Beautiful coin. Very interesting write up! Thank you for sharing.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1120 Posts |
Edited by travelcoin
07/27/2018 11:52 am
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Pillar of the Community
 Spain
2752 Posts |
Lovely coin Steve!
Very rare and usually very expensive(for me).....
Really nice portrait!...Great pick up .....congrats
Paul
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Pillar of the Community
United States
949 Posts |
Great thread, Steve. Thanks for waking us up to this series again. I like the writeup. In some respects I guess we would have to say with the denarii of Didia Clara, "When you've seen one you've seen 'em all." But seriously, I'd like to compare the portraits to see how close or far apart they are. Here's my example:  Are they close enough to be sisters? Edited by lrbguy
07/28/2018 12:00 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1304 Posts |
Wow, didn't even know about this one! Probably won't find one either! Cool!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
616 Posts |
I've been wanting to add her to my empress collection but don't have the $$$. Or is it $$$$?
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
6130 Posts |
Thanks all!
Didia Clara is one of the priciest empresses to get in anything resembling an acceptable grade; a problem free VF-XF will run you upwards of 3 grand, easily. Fortunately, mine is a problem coin and I bought it for about $250, an absolute steal in my eyes.
With @lrbguy's example as a reference, I am inclined to say that the existence of multiple bust styles points to an originally large production, only a small fraction of which survived melting when Severus and Albinus took power.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
949 Posts |
 What he said! |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2100 Posts |
Excellent. Really excellent. A lady I doubt that I will ever own.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3098 Posts |
That's a rare one! Nice pick up.
Paul Bulgerin
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Replies: 10 / Views: 1,918 |
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Posted 07/27/2018 10:22 am
