Description
Denomination: Copper As
Period: Roman imperial
Date: AD 192
Origin: Rome mint
Condition: Very fine. good portrait and better reverse. scarce. nice dark patina
Obverse: Head right clad in lion’s skin. L AEL AVREL COMM AVG P FEL
Reverse: HER-CVL/RO-MAN/AV-GV/S-C in four lines divided by vertical club. all within a laurel-wreath
Size and Weight: 25mm. 10.03g
References: Spink 5864
Features and Provenance: Commodus was the first emperor to be born ‘in the purple.’ that is during his father’s reign. His father being the last ‘good emperor.’ Marcus Aurelius. He ruled jointly with his father until Marcus’s death in AD180. leaving the 18 year old as sole emperor. He then proceeded to devalue the currency by decreasing the amount of silver in the denarius. His inability to rule effectively continued. and one historian of the time remarked “he has turned a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust.” Additionally to is ineptitude. he was also a megalomaniac. declaring himself the new Romulus and renamed Rome after himself. He also believed himself to be the reincarnation of Hercules and took to the arena. this was considered disgusting. He is known to have killed 100 lions in a day and many gladiators. which of course all had to lose. As he descended more into the realms of madness. conspiracies to assassinate him were rife and they finally caught up with him in 192. Our coin comes from this year and depicts the emperor dressed as Hercules.
Condition Summary. This varies with the age of coin and there are grades in between
Uncirculated (U). As struck with no traces of wear
Extremely Fine (EF). Very slight traces of wear. all parts of legend etc present. visible and clear
Very Fine (VF). Some signs of wear on the higher parts of the relief. all parts of legend etc present. but maybe worn
Fine (F). Wear on the coin and parts of legend etc may be missing or not visible
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