My last two coins from the recent group were individual lots rather than part of the bulk lot but both still have faults that kept them from selling over my head. First is M. Nonius Sufenas 59 BC with head of Saturn and Victory crowning Roma. The obverse has some serious scratches but the reverse has the whole legend including the PR L V P F (Praetor ludos victoriae primus fecit) in honor of the moneyer's father who originated a series o games honoring a Sullan victory. The part I find odd is that the father Sextus is named on the reverse rather than moneyer Marcus. I would like to hear what Harlan has to say about the coin but it is covered in his 63-49 BC book which I lack. Finally is a reasonable example of a type I fell in love with when Bing posted his specimen. This one has some extra metal on the noses on the obverse (die rust???) but is decent on the reverse where it counts. While jugate heads of the Dioscuri are nice to have, the galley on the reverse is shown at a 3/4 perspective angle so you can see the oars on the back side of the boat. Few ancient coins show perspective well drawn. This is another of those types with many variations of field letters and devices. Mine has an F. I'll be buying another as long as the style is at least as good as this and the minor details are different.
I agree => that sweet ship-reverse is awesome (congrats) Ummm, I'm not exactly sure what's happening on that first example's reverse, but it looks quite interesting as well (Nike/Victory crowning?) => sweet additions
Glad to see you finally found one of these coins. I like the jugate heads, but, like you said, the reverse design sets it apart.
My sentiments exactly. I LOVE that jugate example with that fantastic reverse---another I need to add to my collection.
I'm a little annoyed I don't have a Fonteius galley denarius yet, but I'll share this picture of an actual ship's prow instead. It was taken during a visit to the Vasa Museum in Stockholm six years ago. The museum houses the entire salvaged remains of the 17th century warship Vasa, which sank in 1628. I learned belatedly - today, actually - that the wooden sculptures you can see in the picture arrayed along the beakhead are that of twenty Roman emperors, from Tiberius to Septimius Severus. Augustus is missing; I haven't read a definitive explanation of why that is, but one article suggests that it was because the Swedish king, Gustavus Adolphus, thought himself Augustus reborn. His first name is an almost-anagram of Augustus?
Thanks for the link to the interesting article on Vasa. It must have been the most witnessed ship sinking in history since it only lasted 1300m into its maiden voyage. I am a bit confused on the statement in the article that it was a great source of 17th century shipbuilding methods since typical ships of the period floated better. It does prove that fools and government waste are not new to modern days. I might point out that Roman and Viking ships sat lower in the water probably because they realized that not falling over was a good feature. Pre-canon ships like the one shown by Fonteius were made for ramming explaining the smiling face on the prow. The more common ship of the slightly earlier Fonteius lacks the personality afforded by the 3/4 view but it is still a neat type.
Wow, Z-Bro => that is a very cool photo of the ship's prow ... man, that must be a very neat museum experience (amazingly cool photo ... thanks)
Yeah, it was great, especially for a one-exhibit museum . The city had some other cool museums, including one with a lot of Viking gold in the basement.
Doug - I like the bearded guys on coins about this time. They fit in well with Houston's bearded heros - My bearded coins Roman Republican Denarius, 57 BC (59 BC by Crawford before M. hoard) M. Nonius Sufenas Obv - SVFENAS – S·C Head of Saturn r.; in field l., harpa and conical stone. Rev. PR·L·V·P·F Roma seated l. on pile of arms, holding sceptre and sword, crowned by Victory standing behind her; in exergue, SEX·NONI·. Cr - 421/1. Gruber - Rome 3820 Sydenham - 885 RSC / Bab - Nonia 1 I will re-read Harlan's book and write a summary. He discusses the date of the coin changing from 59 BC by Crawford to 57 BC after the Mesange hoard was found and analyzed. He also discusses the squabble between J Ceasar and Pompey / Crassus while Caesar was in Gaul and wanted another 5 years to complete his job. Roman Republican Denarius, 56 BC C. Memmius Obv - MEMMI.C.F / QVIRINVS Laureate head of Quirinus to right. Rev - MEMMIVS AED. CERIALIA PREIMVS FECIT Ceres seated right, holding torch and grain ears Crawford - 427/2 Grueber - Rome 3940 Sydenham - 921 RSC / Bab - Memmia 9
