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 Replies: 18 / Views: 2,309 |
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Pillar of the Community
 United Kingdom
1168 Posts |
I'm a bit of a sucker for coins that I haven't seen before, or appear unusual (to me). This Claudius quadrans is one such coin, and as it was inexpensive it was added to the collection. It was interesting to find that the modius was a bushel measure for any dry or solid commodity, and contained a third part of an amphora. Four of these measures being the ordinary monthly allowance given to slaves. Hopefully I'll find a bronze Claudius coin with his bust at a reasonable cost. Claudius coins with an animal reverse appear to be few and far between.  Claudius Quadrans (Modius) Rome. 41 AD. Obverse: Modius. Obverse Inscription: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG. Reverse: SC. Reverse Inscription: PON M TR P IMP COS DES IT. Bronze. Diameter: 18 mm. Weight: 3.2 gr. Sear: 1863; RIC 84; BMCRE 179; CBN 185; Cohen 170 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7066 Posts |
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Moderator
United States
188001 Posts |
Very nice!  |
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5172 Posts |
An excellent coin! I think I have a similar quadrans somewhere, though I'm not sure if I've ever uploaded the pics to CCF... Incidentally, I could never take the modius obverse seriously because that cylindrical tripod always looked like an alien spacecraft to me.  (an alien spacecraft, in a bottom-up view that makes it particularly modius-like; it's normally supposed to have a propeller on top) |
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Pillar of the Community
 Sweden
2124 Posts |
A really nice coin, @Novicius. I am not familiar with these coins, but I wonder if that modius should make people think of the numerous modii of grain that were distributed freely and regularly to many of the inhabitants of Rome? Just to remind people that they had a benevolent emperor to thank for that little extra ...
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Pillar of the Community
Spain
2752 Posts |
Very nice coin Jim, well centred with full legends. There are coins of this type I think it's Domitian with a rhino on the obverse  |
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Pillar of the Community
 United Kingdom
1168 Posts |
Thanks Bob and Jbuck. Quote:
Incidentally, I could never take the modius obverse seriously because that cylindrical tripod always looked like an alien spacecraft to me.
(an alien spacecraft, in a bottom-up view that makes it particularly modius-like; it's normally supposed to have a propeller on top) Nice one @january1may.  Quote:
Just to remind people that they had a benevolent emperor to thank for that little extra ... He did indeed appear to be benevolent @erafjel, especially with the winter grain shortages. The paragraph below appears on many different sites, including Wikipedia. "The port at Ostia was part of Claudius' solution to the constant grain shortages that occurred in winter, after the Roman shipping season. The other part of his solution was to insure the ships of grain merchants who were willing to risk travelling to Egypt in the off-season. He also granted their sailors special privileges, including citizenship and exemption from the Lex Papia-Poppaea, a law that regulated marriage. In addition, he repealed the taxes that Caligula had instituted on food, and further reduced taxes on communities suffering drought or famine." Quote:There are coins of this type I think it's Domitian with a rhino on the obverse. Cheers, Paul. It would be nice to have one of these huge animals in the menagerie, but my pockets aren't deep enough for the huge price tags.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4964 Posts |
That's a cool quadrans novicius! I purchases one a few years ago for exactly the same reason you got yours. I read somewhere that mine hands and scale had something to do with Claudius restoring the weight standard for some coin that were changed by Caligula. Mine isn't quite as attractive as yours.  Claudius, AE Quadrans , AD 42. O: TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG, hand holding scales, PNR in field; R: PON M TR P IMP PP COS II around S C. RIC 91, Cohen 73. 17 mm, 3.2 g. |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1168 Posts |
Thanks for posting your quadrans chrsmat71. It is also a pretty cool coin, and adds weight to Claudius being a benevolent ruler. The more I read about him, the more I realise that there was a lot more to him than first meets the eye.
I did wonder what the PNR stood for, and found this on the augustuscoins web site:
"PNR might abbreviate "PONDVS NVMMI RESTITVTVM" (weight of the [gold] coins restored) which refers to restoring the weight of the gold coins to the higher standard used before Caligula reduced it."
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1168 Posts |
I've been pretty fortunate and now have a Claudius coin with an animal reverse. It should be up in the animals thread soon.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
The very first Roman coin that came into my collection was a denarius of Antoninus Pius in in EF condition, with a modius on the reverse as the only design feature. I bought it for AUD $4, waaay back in 1964.
Alas, I sold it as part of my entire collection of about 80 Roman coins as part of a much larger collection 12 years later, in 1976, which by that time, included a two Roman gold coins.
I needed the cash at that time to provide 10% of the valuation of our first home, to start a mortgage.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1168 Posts |
It must have been quite a wrench to part with your collection, @sel_69l. I wonder what your AUD $4 Antoninus Pius denarius would be worth today?
I remember well the recession in the 1970s UK, and all that we had to give up just to keep our heads above water at the time. Of course the family and the home had to come first. The (not so) good old days!
Jim
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11880 Posts |
That is a lovely looking coin. Congrats! IN NECESSARIIS UNITAS - IN DUBIIS LIBERTAS - IN OMNIBUS CARITAS THE MAN IN THE ARENA, Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne Paris on April 23, 1910: " It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." My coin website: https://fairfaxcoins.com |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Started another collection 1976, never sold a coin since then.
My first numismatic love from 1976 until now has remained ancients.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1168 Posts |
Quote:
That is a lovely looking coin. Congrats! Thank you, @numismatic student. Quote:
Started another collection 1976, never sold a coin since then.
My first numismatic love from 1976 until now has remained ancients. Wow, it must be quite a collection you have now, @sel_69l.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
My avatar was coin my first Greek coin acquired in 1978.. It came from Spinks in London, after buying advice after a personal appointment with the Coins and Medals Department of the British Museum.
A that time, although I was reasonably versed in Roman coinage, I felt that I didn't know nearly enough about Greek, so I had to trust those with the highest reputation.
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Replies: 18 / Views: 2,309 |
Posted 11/04/2022 11:58 am
