Since one of the goals I have for this trip is to dig at least one Roman coin, no matter how small or crude, it’s time to give such a coin away. I have here a small Roman bronze coin or barbarous radiate. (Sorry, there’s no picture of it at present, but it very much resembles the one at the top of the page here.)
I think the portrait on the coin resembles Tetricus I (270 to 273 or 274 AD), the last ruler of the Gallic empire that broke away from Rome for about fourteen years in the mid-3rd century AD. The joint reign of Tetricus I and his son Tetricus II ended when they were defeated by Aurelian and the breakaway Gallic empire was brought back into the fold of the greater Roman empire. (In a rare example of imperial clemency, Aurelian spared their lives- the fate of defeated usurpers and enemies was usually far more grim. )
On these coins, the emperor wears a “radiate” crown, which looks like sun rays coming from his head (I believe this had something to do with Sol, the sun god). That is why this particular type of coin is sometimes referred to as a “radiate”, or the local imitations as “barbarous radiates”.
At some point after the weekend is up, I’ll fire up the random number generator again, and one of our shareholders will win this coin.
Edit- Hyperion won it!
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