Heard it through the Grapevine

When in Rome …

Hoard 651 silver coins? Why not?

A CNN story edited by Ralph Finch

The details of a “very special” haul of 651 Roman coins found in the ancient city of Aizanoi in Turkey have finally been been released by researchers behind the discovery. The ruins of Aizanoi are found in modern-day Kutahya province, which is in western Turkey.

The silver coins were found in a jug during archeological excavations led by researchers from Pamukkale University, according to the university’s press release.

The coins were found in *2019 and date from the period of Emperor Augustus, who ruled from 44 BC to 14 AD. He was the first Roman emperor, who took over after Julius Caesar was assasinated, and built an empire that would eventually stretch from England to Egypt, boasting on his death bed that: “I found Rome built of bricks, and left it marble.” (*And why were the details only recently released? Probably the same reason that privy diggers, when they find a great spot, keep it private until the area has been completely dug.)

Many of the coins feature Augustus’ face, while others bear the likenesses of Marcus Junius Brutus — one of the ringleaders in the assassination of Caesar in 44 BC — and some show Caesar himself.

Elif Ozer, an archeologist and professor at the university, said the coins “may have been brought to Aizanoi by a high-ranking soldier. The majority of the coins appear to have been minted in southern Italy. It is the most special silver coin find of recent times,” added Ozer. (In September 2018, at least 300 Roman coins were found in a soapstone jar unearthed in the basement of the Cressoni Theater in Como, north of Milan.) And last October, an ancient Roman coin described as a “naked and shameless celebration” of the assassination of Caesar set a new record for a coin sold at auction. It went for $3.5 million, and featured a portrait of Brutus. (Not the one in the Popeye cartoons.)

What would you do with a bag of 651 ancient Roman coins? My suggestion? I’d go again with Janet over to Rome’s Trevi Fountain and toss a coin over my left shoulder. I did that once with Janet in 2012. (Only I’d be more careful now. At 81, my shoulder isn’t what it used to be.)

Wikipedia explains: The tradition of throwing a coin over your shoulder and into the fountain has its roots in Roman legend. The story goes that if you throw a coin into the fountain with your right hand and over your left shoulder, this guarantees that one day in the future you will return to Rome.

TOP: A nice batch of 651 Roman coins. Well, they are no Buffalo Head nickels, but not bad. ABOVE: These gold coins were found around 2018, unearthed in the basement of a demolished theater in northern Italy. The coins date to the Roman Imperial times in the fourth or fifth century, and were spilling out of a two-handled soapstone jar called an amphora, buried in the dirt. The coins have engravings of the emperors Honorius, Valentinian III, Leon I, Antonio and Libio Severo, and do not go beyond 474 AD.

Heard it through the Grapevine

Hugo De Groot?

Shoot! I missed him, but here’s a peek at his amazing life

By Ralph Finch

Because the hobby is a such a worldwide brotherhood (and sisterhood) of great glass and great people, Willy Van den Bossche of Belgium, one of Europe’s top collectors and historians, sent me an email Dec. 19, telling me of another painted bottle. (Decades ago, I had more of an interest in “painted women,” but my tastes have improved.)

I like old and painted demijohns, so here is what Willy alerted me to: Offered by “the salesroom,” located in *Newbury, Berkshire, England, was Lot 658, described as: “A circular brown glass bottle with hand-painted portrait of Hugo De Groot with a painted inscription 1616, probably after a print by **Michiel Janszoon.” The auction house estimated the bottle as worth “100 GBP-200 GBP” ($134-$234), plus a 30 percent sales tax.)

Willy, thank you for the “across-thepond” thoughtfulness.

And, as every picture tells a story, here is the story behind that bottle. Wikipedia tells us that Dutch humanist Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) was a teenage intellectual prodigy, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, poet and playwright. WOW! When I was a teen, I struggled to get through high school, while Hugo studied at Leiden University, and was imprisoned for his involvement in the intra-Calvinist disputes of the Dutch Republic. He was exiled to France in 1617, but escaped, hidden in a chest of books. Grotius wrote most of his major works in exile in France. Impressive. (I was exiled once, from the Chicago bottle club, but that, like Hugo, is an old story. But did Hugo ever collect antique toilet paper? I have no shame.)

The painted bottle with an image of the illustrious Hugo De Groot.

FYI: *Newbury’s town centre retains a rare medieval Cloth Hall, an adjoining half-timbered granary, and the 15th- century St. Nicolas Church, along with 17th- and 18th-century listed buildings.

**Michiel Janszoon van Mierevelt (15661641), was a Dutch Golden Age painter and draftsman who devoted himself first to still lifes; he eventually took up portraiture, in which he achieved such success that the many commissions entrusted to him necessitated the employment of numerous assistants, by whom hundreds of portraits were turned out in factory fashion. Today over 500 paintings are or have been attributed to him.

Comments/zingers can be sent to Ralph at rfinch@twmi.rr.com. Intelligent conversations can be sent to wvdbossche@ telenet.be.