Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XX 29-30 Oct 2020
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Carinus AV Aureus. Rome, AD 283-285. IMP C M AVR CARINVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust to right / VIRTVS AVGG, Hercules standing to right, right hand on hip, left hand resting on club set on pile of stones; lion skin over shoulder. RIC 234; C. -, Calicó 4402. 5.60g, 20mm, 6h.
Mint State. Extremely Rare.
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Acquired from Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG;
Ex Phoibos Collection.
The reverse of this stunning aureus typifies the propagandist nature of Roman coinage, and bestows on Carinus the quality of 'virtus', which encompassed valour, manliness, excellence, courage, character, and worth - the necessary attributes of a Roman and especially of an emperor. Coupled with the standing figure of Hercules, with his usual attributes of club and lion's skin, this type references the military victories that Carinus had achieved against the Quadi and suppressing disturbances in Gaul, and likens them to the completion of Hercules' labours who is depicted here standing resting after the end of his exertions.
The reverse of this coin was modelled on what is now known as the Farnese Hercules, the famed marble statue that was discovered during excavation of the Baths of Caracalla in 1546. Thought to have been copied and enlarged in the third century AD by Glycon from a lost original by Lysippus from the fourth century BC, the sculpture shows Hercules leaning heavily on his club, on which is draped the skin of the Nemean lion. That he has completed his labours is shown in the original scuplture by the Apples of the Hesperides, which he holds behind his back in his right hand. Gaining its name from the Palazzo Farnese in Rome in which it was housed for two hundred years, the statue now resides in the Museo Archeologico Nazional in Naples.
Mint State. Extremely Rare.
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Acquired from Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG;
Ex Phoibos Collection.
The reverse of this stunning aureus typifies the propagandist nature of Roman coinage, and bestows on Carinus the quality of 'virtus', which encompassed valour, manliness, excellence, courage, character, and worth - the necessary attributes of a Roman and especially of an emperor. Coupled with the standing figure of Hercules, with his usual attributes of club and lion's skin, this type references the military victories that Carinus had achieved against the Quadi and suppressing disturbances in Gaul, and likens them to the completion of Hercules' labours who is depicted here standing resting after the end of his exertions.
The reverse of this coin was modelled on what is now known as the Farnese Hercules, the famed marble statue that was discovered during excavation of the Baths of Caracalla in 1546. Thought to have been copied and enlarged in the third century AD by Glycon from a lost original by Lysippus from the fourth century BC, the sculpture shows Hercules leaning heavily on his club, on which is draped the skin of the Nemean lion. That he has completed his labours is shown in the original scuplture by the Apples of the Hesperides, which he holds behind his back in his right hand. Gaining its name from the Palazzo Farnese in Rome in which it was housed for two hundred years, the statue now resides in the Museo Archeologico Nazional in Naples.