Probably-unwise purchases I’m considering, Pt. 1: A Roman denarius
This may be the first of a series about things I probably shouldn’t buy.
I visited Spain in 2016 and brought back a bronze Roman coin that had been minted there in the first century A.D. (It depicts two brothers, Nero — not that Nero, a different one — and Drusus, who were briefly in line to be emperor, until they were both killed, Princes-in-the-Tower style, clearing the way for [eventually] Caligula.) It was surprisingly affordable, just sixty bucks or so. It’s a nice memento of the trip.
So I thought, maybe I should get an old coin from everywhere I visit. And last summer, my wife and I visited England to bike the Hadrian’s Wall cycleway. We loved it . . . I want to do it again and see a few things we missed.
And it turns out again that there are plenty of associated Roman coins out there which are affordable, in my opinion. When you hear about hoards of coins that are found by metal detectorists, many of them wind up for sale to the public. (Legally. It’s all good.)
One, pictured here, is from the Dereham Hoard, which was over 1,000 Roman coins found in 2004. It shows Julia Domna, the wife of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus; who, coincidentally, spent time in England and Scotland (laying waste to lands and locals as the Romans were wont to do). It’s just 95 pounds, so, 130 bucks or so delivered here to the US.
Isn’t it cool? I think so! I could own this piece of history.
But . . . what would I really do with it? How often would I really look at it? How many people could I share it with who would care?
When I think of owning it I sometimes picture myself like Gollum, crouching there fawning over it and talking to it . . . my precious . . .
It might not be a wise purchase.
In terms of things I have which remind me of that fun trip we took, I still have the Hadrian’s Cycleway guidebook I bought beforehand, and also a small guidebook to the castle in Newcastle, which have a lot more information and were just . . . much wiser purchases . . .
