On this denarius her facial features are similar to those of Caligula – a feature that seems to combine family resemblance and a programmatic desire to show the kinship between the new emperor and his mother. As part of this programme of honouring his ill-fated relatives, Caligula issued this denarius with the portrait of his mother, who for the decade after Germanicus' death had been Tiberius' greatest critic, and his most persistent opponent. (His brother Drusus Caesar died of starvation in prison, and none of his remains survived.) The seas were stormy, and the perilous nature of his journey only amplified the appearance of Caligula's devotion to the memory of his family. Since Caligula's claim to power rested upon his membership in the Julio-Claudian family, early in his reign he tried to curry favour by taking a journey to the islands of Potnia and Pandateria to gather the ashes of his mother Agrippina and his eldest brother Nero Caesar. His father had died under mysterious circumstances and the rest fell during the family's contest for power against Tiberius and his prefect Sejanus. This silver denarius of Roman Emperor Caligula is not only the key coin in the Twelve Caesars silver series, but is the finest example we have handled in many, many years. The rarity of denarii of Caligula, Claudius, and Nero does raise the. C CAESAR AVG PON M TR POT IIII COS IIII, laureate head of Gaius. When Caligula became emperor he did so as the lone-surviving male of the lines of Augustus and Germanicus though his three sisters were still alive, he had lost both parents and both brothers during the reign of Tiberius. A reported countermark of Vespasian on a pre - reform denarius among the Indian. Lightly toned, well centered and struck, Very Fine/Good Very Fine. Frank granted us at the Julio Claudian Iconographic Association permission to use photos.Gaius, 37-41 Denarius Rome circa 37-38, AR 19.00 mm., 3.69 g. This was sent to me by Frank where he found this denarius of Caligula. For sentimental reasons the coin is not for sale, but I’ll be happy to contribute to numismatic science by publication of its image Regards Frank.

By 31 BCE, 13 years after Caesar’s assassination, having defeated. They had been defeated by the joint forces of Marcus Antonius most famous as the lover of Cleopatra of Egypt and Octavian, Julius Caesar’s adopted son and heir. As the above information is first-hand, I can guarantee the coin is genuine. In 42 BCE, Brutus committed suicide after his army lost a crucial battle at Philippi in north-east Greece. The brown margin on top of the reverse is concretion (some people mistakenly thought the coin is subaerate). Knowing that the salary of a common soldier at that time was about one denarius a day, the amount of denarii found here was quite considerable. Nothing else was found here, except a small copper Gallic coin, much older, and, since it was in superb condition, using the same wear/age considerations, was lost about a hundred years earlier. Through the wear of the coins, from republican denarii, gallion types of Marcus Antonius, several Augustus denarii and the common Tiberius denarius with Livia seated, it can easily be concluded that the 20 denarii were hidden or lost at one time, about 38 AD, because the wear of each coin was equivalent with the age as compared with the most recent one (of Caligula). It was evidently a site where was located a small country house, modest in all ways and deserted ever since the first century AD. Besides some broken roman tiles, the area was virgin. The successful conspiracy took place on 24 January AD 41 in the cryptoporticus (underground corridor) beneath the imperial palace on the Palatine Hill. Thanks to the calcarious soil the coins did not suffer corrosion. Suetonius Tranquillus, Caligula, chapter 1.

In fact, this denarius of Caligula is part of a small treasure of 20 denarii, scattered over a small area of semi-arid scrub land, near the ancient roman city of Nemausus (today Nimes). I did not want to lose the information so I finally got around to putting into the Juio Claudian pool, Amazing find Frank!! Could you imagine finding a piece of Julio Claudian history in the terra! Frank, a member of our Julio Claudian group was blessed enough to find this silver denarius with Germanicus reverse.

Caligula denarius