Germanicus. Died AD 19. Æ As (26.5mm, 10.50 g, 6h). Rome

Germanicus. Died AD 19. Æ As (26.5mm, 10.50 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck under Gaius (Caligula), AD 40-41. GERMANICVS • CAESAR • TI • AVG • F • DIVI • AVG • N •, bare head left / C • CAESAR • DIVI • AVG • PRON • AVG • P • M • TR • P • IIII • P • P • around large S • C. RIC I (1st ed.) 47; BMCRE 74-8 (Caligula); BN 123-5 (Caligula). Brown patina, minor deposits. Near EF.

From the Barry N. Rightman Collection, purchased from Freeman & Sear, January 1994. Ex Superior (10 December 1993), lot 1840.

The fair-haired young hope of his generation, Germanicus Caesar was the son of the great general Nero Claudius Drusus, famed for "conquering" Germany in the last decade BC, although most of this was undone by the Varian disaster of AD 9. Germanicus was raised in the household of Augustus and proved talented both in political and military endeavors. He won a spectacular triumph in AD 17 for his punitive expeditions into Germany the previous two years, which restored Roman honor. Seemingly destined to become emperor himself, Germanicus died at the age of 34, under mysterious circumstances, while on a diplomatic tour of the Roman East. His marriage to Augustus's granddaughter Agrippina Senior produced nine children, including the future emperor Gaius 'Caligula,' who struck this coin in his father's honor.