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ROMAN MINERVA GODDESS OF WISDOM AND WAR COIN PENDANT IN 14K YELLOW GOLD 198 A.D. This stunning and extremely well detailed GENUINE ancient Roman silver denarius coin depicting the goddess MINERVA in full battle dress makes for a superb centerpiece of ancient coin jewelry. The bright silver of the coin richly contrasts with the 14 karat polished yellow gold ribbed pendant setting. The detail is remarkable and every minute feature can be seen in the ancient Roman art on this coin. Minerva was the goddess of war, wisdom and medicine. As Minerva Medica she is the patroness of physicians. Her symbol was the owl. Her Greek name was Athene, with Athens being her city of divine residence. Minerva is believed to be the inventor of numbers and musical instruments. She is thought to be of Etruscan origin, as the goddess Menrva or Menerva. Minerva was the product of a bizarre birth. One day, Jupiter had a bad headache which was beyond any cure. Out of desperation and frustration, Vulcan split open Jupiter's head. Out sprang Minerva dressed in full battle armor carrying a shield and spear and with that, Jupiter's pain finally subsided. Minerva was
also the goddess of arts and crafts. She was particularly good at
weaving. Once a woman called Arachne wove a beautiful tapestry.
In her jealousy, Minerva tried to find something wrong with it.
Arachne's weaving was perfect and Minerva could not find anything wrong
with it so in her rage, she tore it up and turned Arachne into a spider.
To this day, the mysterious ability of the spider can be seen when it
weaves its beautiful webs. This coin was minted under the young emperor Geta who was born May 27, 189 A.D. in Milan, Italy. He was the younger of two sons of the emperor Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. He was made Caesar in 198 at the same time his older brother Caracalla was elevated to the rank of Augustus with his father. After the great victories in Britain in 209, Geta was also appointed to Augustus clearly signifying Severus' intention for his two sons to rule the Empire together upon his death. Not a good idea since both brothers deeply hated each other, constantly fighting even before their appointments. Upon the death of their father in 211, their fighting broke out into open hostility and there was even talk of splitting the Roman Empire because of it. The ruthlessness of Caracalla would not rest and Caracalla had his brother Geta murdered just three days short of the anniversary of their first year of joint reign. One version of events claimed Geta was lured to come without his bodyguards to a meeting with Caracalla and their mother, Julia Domna, to discuss a possible reconciliation. When Geta arrived, he was attacked by centurions. Wounded and bleeding, Geta ran to his mother and clinging to her, died. Caracalla then proceeded to have all memory of his brother erased and supposedly executed 20,000 of Geta's supporters. Coins of Geta are much less common than those of Caracalla. The first issues featuring Geta shown him as a young child and over the years of subsequent issues, a gradual maturing may be seen. The aging of this prince as seen through numismatic portraits is a fascinating topic of interest to collectors. Overall diameter is 26 mm. CPR102 SOLD COMES WITH A CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY / HISTORY SHEET *** shown with optional CHAIN E, not included |
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