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Galba - Denarius

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Ancient Coin - Galba - Denarius Laureate Head / Livia Standing
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SubjectGalba
Reverse TypeLivia
DenominationDenarius
Primary ID TypeRIC
Primary ID014
InscriptionObvIMP GALBA
InscriptionRevDIVA AVGVSTA
MaterialSilver
Earliest68
Latest Possible Year69
MintTarraco
Size (mm)17
Weight (gr)139
PeriodImperial
CultureRome



Additional References: BMC 167
Notes: Laureate head of Galba to right; small globe at point of bust / Livia standing to left holding patera and scepter.
Obverse: Galba (Servius Sulpicius Galba Caesar Augustus); 24 December 3 BC – 15 January 69), was Roman Emperor for seven months from 68 to 69. Galba was the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, and made a bid for the throne during the rebellion of Julius Vindex. He was the first emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors and the last emperor born in the First Century BC.

Otho, governor of Lusitania, was one of Galba’s earliest supporters. He was disappointed at the selection of Piso as Galba’s heir and entered into communication with the discontented Praetorians, and he was hailed by them as their emperor on 15 January 69. Galba at once set out to meet the rebels, though he was so feeble that he had to be carried in a litter. According to Suetonius, Galba prior to his death had put on a linen corset—although remarking that it had little protection against so many swords. He was met by a troop of Otho’s cavalry and was killed near Lacus Curtius. One guard, centurion Sempronius Densus, died defending him. Piso was killed shortly afterwards. According to Plutarch, during Galba’s last moments he offered his neck, and said, "Strike, if it be for the good of the Romans!"
Denomination: In the Roman currency system, the denarius was a small silver coin first minted about 211 BC during the Second Punic War. It became the most common coin produced for circulation but was slowly debased in weight and silver content until its replacement by the double denarius, called the antoninianus, early in the 3rd century AD. The word denarius is derived from the Latin dēnī "containing ten", as its value was 10 asses, although in the middle of the 2nd century BC it was recalibrated so that it was now worth sixteen asses or four sestertii. It is the origin of several modern words such as the currency name dinar; it is also the origin for the common noun for money in Italian denaro, in Portuguese dinheiro and in Spanish dinero.

From Wikipedia
Period: Imperial Rome. As the Roman Republic began to implode because of corruption and infighting among powerful members of the Roman Senate, a new type of Roman Republican coinage emerges, that of the military strongmen who dominated and fought among each other before the final fall of the Republic. The drama surrounding the fall of the Roman Republic is a story full of political intrigue, military action, betrayal, murder and sex scandals. Different parts of this story have been told and retold by ancient historians, modern day scholars, dozens of Hollywood movies and even an HBO miniseries. All of the actors in this great drama, Crassus, Pompey, Julius Caesar, Brutus and Cassius, Mark Antony and Cleopatra and the last man standing at the end of it all, Octavian (later known as the first emperor of Rome, Emperor Augustus) all minted coins during this time bearing their names and propaganda images supporting their factions and political ideals.
Culture: Ancient Rome. A famous catch phrase "Rome was not built in a day" definitely applies to the Roman civilization. Rome stated as a series of small villages among the famous seven hills of Rome along the river Tiber. Eventually through conquest, diplomacy, wise policies of indirect rule and assimilation, the Romans were able to not only unify the Italian peninsula, but though a series of brutal wars against regional powers established a great Empire that spanned Europe, Asia and Africa, making the Mediterrean Sea and "Roman Lake."

All Roman coinage can generally be divided into eight time periods as described below. An interesting thing about Roman coins minted during these eight time periods is that you can literally see the "Rise and Fall" of the Roman Empire on its coinage as the sharp imagery and pure silver and gold coins of the Roman Republic and Early Imperial Period gradually devolves into crude, illegible and heavily debased coins of the "Barracks Emperors" and "Barbarian" Period.
Item created by: gdm on 2016-08-14 11:39:39. Last edited by gdm on 2016-08-14 16:32:02

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