Today I received the second coin in my "Roman Republic Provincial" set, a bronze struck in Macedon under the quaestor Lucius Fulcinnius. Unfortunately neither Lucius Fulcinnius, nor Gaius Publilius, who struck a related series of issues as quaestor(see image at the end), appear in the history books, so the exact dating of these issues is debated but I believe that the most logical dating is Pierre MacKay's chronology laid out in "Bronze Coinage In Macedonia, 168-166 BC," ANSMN 14 (1968). MacKay argues that, rather than the "After 148/146 B.C." date that many give these types, they should actually be placed in 168-167 B.C., during the period between the victory of Lucius Aemilius Paulus over Perseus in 168 B.C. and his return to Rome in 167 B.C. MacKay theorizes that Gaius Publilius was the quaestor who followed Paulus into Macedon and struck the initial run of coins from the defeat of Perseus in 168 until Spring 167 B.C. when Fulcinnius was sent to Macedonia to relieve him. Then the Fulcinnius types were struck from Spring-Winter 167 B.C. at which point Paulus returned to Rome to celebrate his triumph. When Rome split Macedon into four "independent" client republics shortly thereafter, MacKay argues that it was likely decided that these coins with Roma on them were simply too strong a symbol of Roman dominance and the decision was made to overstrike them with a new type bearing the image of Silenus on the obverse and "MAKEDONON" on the reverse. MacKay's dating and hypothesis are backed up by the fact that many of the Silenus types appear to be overstrikes and they are only known to be overstruck on the Roma/Wreath types and not some of the other, potentially less offensive types struck during this period. Additionally, if the argument is correct that the Silenus types were overstruck on the Roma/wreath types due to offense taken by the Macedonian population, it makes much more sense for this to occur at the end of the Third Macedonian War when Rome was at least attempting to present an image of an independent Macedon, rather than at the end of the fourth Macedonian War when Rome officially annexed Macedon and split it into the provinces of Achaea and Epirus. Macedon under Roman Rule, Æ21(9.17g). Lucius Fulcinnius, Quaestor, 167 BC. Head of Roma right, wearing winged helmet terminating at the top in the head of a griffin. Border of dots / ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ ΤΑΜΙΟΥ ΛΕΥΚΙΟΥ ΦΟΛΚΙΝΝΙΟΥ in three lines within a wreath of oak-leaves. Above, monogram. Line border. MacKay, "Bronze Coinage In Macedonia, 168-166 BC," ANSMN 14 (1968), pp. 6-7, pl.III, 7; BMC Macedonia 80. Thanks Romae Aeternae Numismatics for the image. I tried to take my own but couldn't do any better due to the thick patina. See below for The Gaius Publilius type referenced above: Please share anything related! Both of my related coins are in the post but I'm on the hunt for a nice Silenus type as well as some of the various Silver types struck under Roman rule
Lovely green bronze and a very convincing analysis of the dating of those coins. As you know, I posted my silver type recently (with the compromise of Macedonian and Roman devices) and that is all I have at the moment------Tet of Aesillas:
Nice coin Spork! That was an interesting time in history for Rome... and your numismatic research is very convincing...nice job! Here is mine; it would be when Makedonon was broken into the 4 Provinces: Macedon as Roman Province, District of Bottiaia. Gaius Publius Tamios, Quaestor AE20, 7.6g, 12h; Macedonian mint, c. 148-146 BC. Obv: Helmeted head of Athena right. Rev: ΓΑΙΟΥ / ΤΑΜΙΟΥ; Cow standing right; monogram beneath. My EEYORE coin...
Very interesting, @red_spork! I hadn't read about much (okay, anything ) about the the history of these issues when I bought this bronze from Rome under Macedon rule: MACEDON, under Roman rule D. Junius Silanus Manlianus, praetor 142-141 BCE AE, 20 x 22 mm, 9.5 gm Obv: Facing mask of Silenus, wearing ivy wreath Rev: MAKE ΔONΩN legend In two lines; D above; all within ivy wreath Ref: SNG Copenhagen 1324 Reading your information from MacKay, I have more questions and will have to do a considerable amount of reading and searching before I can even articulate those questions. Although there isn't a large pool of these for study in online databases, almost all of the Junius Silanus bronzes are attributed as year 142-141. I didn't think to question the specificity but assumed there was some historical record firmly placing the man as praetor at that time. Am I wrong about that? Were the dates for the Silenus-mask bronzes worked out based on the Lucius Fulcinnius and Gaius Publilius bronzes? So confusing... Perhaps a bigger question is how the "mask of Silenus" types were tied to Silanus in the first place. Hoard evidence + firm knowledge of Junius Silanus as praetor around that time + assumption of a visual pun? If there is firm evidence for the date of Junius Silanus's praetorship, and if MacKay is correct, might the "mask of Silenus" bronzes have been issued under a different praetor? These may not even be the right questions-- it is entirely possible that I am not fully grasping the timeline and players .
This is a coin that was struck under Philip V and Perseus who LOST the Makedonon Empire to Rome... AR Tetrobol...
You gotta LOVE those 'mask of Silenus' bronzes!!! Congrats @TIF Wonderful posts @Alegandron----My time of Perseus example is a not quite as nice as yours ---with a differing reverse:
As far as I know, there is no hoard which provides firm evidence for dating, the 142-141 BC date simply comes from the assumption that it was a visual pun on the praetor's name(the praetorship of Silanus being firmly dated from historical sources) and stylistic evidence placing these types in the mid second century BC. One point I missed above as well is that some of the types struck by Publilius were carried over from types in use in Bottiaeia and Amphaxitis before the Romans came into Macedon(I.e. Alegandron's "Eeyore") and that makes it hard to reconcile these quaestors' types with the later date. This combined with the fact that even though Publilius struck multiple types, only the Roma types are known to be overstruck with the Silenus type seems to suggest that they were chronologically linked, as it seems very unlikely that one would attempt to overstrike all these specific types a quarter of a century later after Rome was officially annexing Macedonia, but much more sense after deciding to split Macedon into client republics. As far as auction houses, interestingly the CNG archives have examples of both dates. One of the more recent auctions follows the 167-165 BC dating but older auctions reference the 142-141 BC dating.
ANTIGONOS GONATAS, King of Macedonia AE 19 OBVERSE: Head of Athena right in crested Corinthian helmet REVERSE: BA above, ANTI monogram below, Pan advancing right, erecting trophy Struck at Macedonia, 277-239 BC 4.58g, 19mm Lindgren III, 105, Sear #6786 (var) Countermarked on obverse
Thanks to all who posted nice photos of great coins! I have to admit that I did not have much knowledge about this material...now I am learning a lot. Also, I was just interested in AV coinage, kinda neglected all the others. Now, I have seen the light. I just got my first Roman AR Antonininus from Philip II in FDC !
MacKay's arguments for dating these issues to 168-66 are quite convincing, meaning @TIF and @Alegandron , you guys should change the dates in your attributions. This is the currently-accepted dating. I would suggest reading the article if you have doubts, although red_spork did an excellent job paraphrasing it. And Brian, yes, it's my fault your coin is dated incorrectly. I had not yet read MacKay when I sold it to you, and was merely copying an older attribution.
Ditto on copying attribution also. Not your fault. We both learned from Red's researh! Thank you, I will update.
