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Search Advanced Search Search By Coin ID     Home ANCIENT/BYZANTINE Ancient Spain (872) Byzantine (753) MEDIEVAL/EARLY WORLD Germany (30) MODERN WORLD COUNTERFEITS AND IMITATIONS   Submit New Coin(s)   Sponsors page Terms of Service Contact Us About Us FAQ Page Coin Detail Click here to see enlarged image. ID:     41-54      [UNVERIFIED] Type:     Roman Imperial Issuer:     Galba Date Ruled:     A.D. 68-69 Metal:     Gold Denomination:     Aureus Struck / Cast:     struck Date Struck:     AD July 68-January 69 Diameter:     21 mm Weight:     7.34 g Obverse Legend:     IMP SER GALBA CAESAR AVG Obverse Description:     Laureate and draped bust right Reverse Legend:     HISPA_NIA Reverse Description:     Hispania advancing left, holding poppy and corn-ears in right hand and round shield and two transverse spears in left Primary Reference:     RIC 192 (this coin) Reference2:     BMC p. 311 note (this coin) Reference3:     C – Reference4:     CBN –; Calicó 480a (this coin) Photograph Credit:     Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG Source:     http://www.arsclassicacoins.com/ Price Sold For:     290000 Swiss Franc Date Sold:     11/20/2007 Grade:     Brilliant EF Notes:     NAC Auction 41, Lot 54 An apparently unique variety of an extremely rare type. A strong portrait and a magnificent reddish Boscoreale tone. Brilliant extremely fine Ex Sothebys 10 November 1972, Metropolitan Museum of Art part I, 42 and Triton IV, 2000, 480 sales. From the Boscoreale hoard. The uprising of Vindex in Gaul that sparked the civil war of 68 to 69 was important, but doomed to failure; the soldiers he had gathered were no match for the legions being sent from Germany to confront them. Even that did not prevent Galba from offering his support to Vindex, after which he was hailed imperator at Carthago Nova on April 2, 68. Soon enough he learned of Vindexs defeat and left Hispania Tarraconensis to lead his legions on the long march to Rome. Fortunately for Galba, no battle was necessary since Nero committed suicide while he and his soldiers were still en route, and the capital lay open to receive him as emperor when he arrived. Neros death represented the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and Galba took the helm at a critical moment, for he was not only the first emperor who was not a member of the ruling house, but his revolt had shown the senate that emperors easily could be made in the provinces – a lesson that would be learned time and again during the next few centuries. Certainly one of Galbas most elegant coin types, this aureus celebrates Spain, the land he had governed at the time of his insurrection against Nero. Hispania, the personification of Spain, is here shown as a woman of dual virtue: fertility of the land, and prowess in war. In some later representations she is accompanied by a rabbit – a symbol of the region. Both Stabo and Pliny wrote that rabbits were so plentiful in Spain that occasionally entire towns had to be moved because their communities were overrun and, on at least one occasion, a citys foundation had been dangerously undermined by burrows.

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