Scoring a rare or even unique ancient coin isn't hard. In fact, most collectors of ancient coins probably have a few which thanks to any number of combined features make their coin rare when compared to similar ones. Each and every ancient coin is handmade after all and therefore "one of a kind". However, for collectors of Roman imperial coins getting a coin of an obscure emperor is an entirely different matter. And here, this coin of a Joe Nobody is an example of a supremely rare ruler. In fact, there might be less than a couple dozen coins known the world over bearing the name of Priscus Attalus.

He was an influential member of the Roman Senate at a time when the post had long become a ceremonial title bestowed on the wealthy and thoroughly devoid of any administrative or legal muscle. When the buffoon emperor Honorius was unable to stem the tide of barbarians descending on Rome their leader overran the city for the first time in hundreds of years and named old Priscus as the new emperor in a bid to sideline Honorius who was holed up in an impregnable fortress a hundred miles north of Rome. But this neither dislodged Honorius nor made things any easier for the barbarians who were now in control of a city brought to starvation and sacked clean of anything worthwhile.

So Alaric, the leader of the barbarians, was at a loss for what to do with his sidekick emperor and decided to retreat with the loot and figure out his next move from the safety and comfort of his home back in Carthage. He died shortly afterwards and Honorius regained the Italian peninsula, however devastated it was in the wake of Alaric's men. Still, Priscus Attalus's 15 minutes of fame were not over just yet. Alaric's successor, a guy by the name of Ataulf, figured he'd try to settle the old score with Honorius again. This time he took his entourage through Gaul rather than directly across Italy. There he settled in to give Honorius grief from the north end (and just to spite him made Priscus emperor again) but before he had a chance to walk into Italy a rival tribe picked a fight with him and forced him to abandon the invasion. Meanwhile Priscus was captured and had to do some serious back pedaling in the court of Honorius who let him off, rather lightly by the then standards of punishment for treason, by having a couple fingers chopped off and exiled off to an island.

So, getting back to the coin, this wreck of a thing at one point broke and was welded back together. Not to mention that a good chunk of it is missing as well. Regardless, us fans of imperial sets don't nitpick too much over mere looks when the prize is so hard to get in the first place.

Oh, and the price? A cool $2,726 on Ebay thank-you. This was the first time this emperor had a coin go on sale here and only the second time he's been offered in any major auction house for the last several years. To come up with the money I had to sacrifice over 20 of my hard-earned coins!

Below is my Certificate of Authenticity from David Sear, one of the world's foremost experts on Roman coins.

23 December, 2003
$2,726 Ebay
AR Siliqua RIC 1412 (Rome)
1.61g