coin
- Museum number
- 1844,0425.1609
- Description
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Alloy coin. (whole)
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Bare head of Antinous, right. (obverse)
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Demeter seated left. (reverse)
- Production date
- 130-138
- Dimensions
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Weight: 26.690 grammes
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
- The young courtier Antinous died suddenly in AD 130. The Greek part of the empire seems to have been particularly sensitive to the emperor’s grief at the loss of his hunting attendant and probable eromenos. Cults were established; even a city was named in his honour. Some local civic coinage was struck with his image as if he, like Sabina, were a member of the imperial family; an unparalleled occurrence for an emperor’s male lover. This coin records an individual (either Gesios or Gaisios) who had either sponsored the Eleusinian cult of Demeter or the production of this particular coinage commemorating Antinous, but both might seek to appeal to the emperor’s interests.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
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Exhibition History:
2019 21 Sep-17 Nov Shire Hall Historic Courthouse Museum, Dorchester, Desire, love, identity: exploring LGBTQ histories
2019 8 Jun-31 Aug Norfolk & Norwich Millennium Library, Desire, love, identity: exploring LGBTQ histories
2019 15 Mar-26 May, Bolton Museum, Desire, love, identity: exploring LGBTQ histories
2018-2019 14 Dec-3 Mar, National Justice Museum, Desire, love, identity: exploring LGBTQ histories
2018 25 Sep– 2 Dec, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Desire, love, identity: exploring LGBTQ histories
2017, 11 May - 15 Oct, BM, Gallery 69a, Desire Love Identity: Exploring LGBTQ Histories
- Acquisition date
- 1844
- Acquisition notes
- DEV.769
- Department
- Coins and Medals
- Registration number
- 1844,0425.1609
- Additional IDs
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Miscellaneous number: DEV.769
- C&M catalogue number
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GC14 (BMC Greek (Mysia)) (4) (13)
