Wow, this is my second fantastic score from a HJB Buy/Bid Sale. In their last sale I nabbed a Julia Domna Fecunditas denarius from high atop my wishlist. When their current BBS posted I didn't imagine finding yet another great deal but there it was: in first position on my "Alternate Modes of Transportation" wishlist, a Crepereius denarius with good centering. I'd seen this particular coin before and didn't imagine it would be available to me after selling only two years ago in an NAC auction. I put it in my cart and checked out as quickly as possible and as usual, HJB mailed it immediately . ROMAN REPUBLIC Moneyer Q. Crepereius M.f. Rocus 69 BCE (revised from Crawford's 72 BCE) AR serrate denarius; 3.99 gm Obv: draped bust of Amphitrite seen from behind, with head turned r.; behind, sea anemone; horizontal I to right of right shoulder (only partly visible on this coin) Rev: Neptune in biga of hippocamps right, holding reins and brandishing trident; above, I and below, Q·CREPER·M·F / ROCVS Ref: Crawford 399/1b; Babelon Crepereia 1. Sydenham 796a. Rare. from HJB BBS 200, October 2016 ex NAC 78 lot 1828, from the JD Collection of Roman Republican Coins I see that @Volodya was on the job and fixed a mistake from the prior NAC listing, which called the obverse control mark a squid. It's a sea anemone. This coin has two Crawford subtypes. 1a has the reverse legend Q. CREPEREI / ROCVS. Additionally, there are Latin letters from A to K, the same letter on obverse and reverse, and each letter is associated with a different sea creature. Crawford reported a total of 24 obverse dies and 27 reverse dies (total for both subtypes). ... Roma has a nice blurb about the type: There is barely anything known about the gens Crepereia, which makes it difficult to explain the marine imagery present on this type. Eckhel regards this coin as referring to the colony of Corinth, but Caesar did not annexe the region as a province until 44 BC, which is in disagreement with the dating of the coin. There were, however, cults at Corinth dedicated to both Neptune and Venus well into the Roman age. There are inscriptions which confirm that the gens maintained a trading presence throughout the Mediterranean, being recorded as active in the East and North Africa; it is possible the moneyer’s family also had a presence at or connection to Corinth which was significant to them, but is now lost to history. The female bust on the obverse is often described as the sea-goddess Amphitrite, but in his analysis of the coin, Andrew McCabe argues that Venus is the more likely candidate to accompany Neptune. While we cannot be certain as to why the moneyer chose this particular imagery, Tacitus does relate how Neptune was less than propitious towards his descendent Crepereius Gallus who was killed in an assassination attempt against Agrippina when he boarded the self-sinking boat Nero had commissioned. ... Feel free to show off your hippocamp bigas, other non-horse transports, or anything else you feel fits!
I think I've said a couple of times already, but will say it again... JEALOUS!! That is without doubt a fantastic score. Congrats on the steal! That control mark chart is very cool, btw. My octopus version:
I wonder why there are no "J" control marks for this coin. Hmm... Julius Caesar was appointed quaestor the year this coin was struck. Among other duties, quaestors oversaw the treasury. Maybe this Crepereius had a beef with Caesar and didn't want his initial on the coin? EDIT: There was no "J" in the Latin alphabet at the time this coin was struck. Worse yet, I made this same mistake on another Republican coin, calling a control mark a retrograde J.
The hair on the obverse certainly looks wet and makes sense for Amphitrite. This is a beautiful coin and one you should collect one per minor type. Of the group, the heron is different as a sea creature only when it comes to diet. Great coin!
Thanks, Doug and everyone! Zumbly, I was pretty jealous when you nabbed one before I did I have to 'fess up that Doug pointed out an error in my second post. He thought I was joking but I was just stupid. J wasn't a control mark because the letter J wasn't part of the the Latin alphabet at the time. This means I've made a mistake on another coin too, having logged it as having a J control mark. It's a retrograde C (the issue is known for having backwards letters, although not all of the dies had retrograde letters). That coin also fits the thread and I like to show it as often as possible, so here it is Roman Republic, L. Julius L. f. Caesar 103 BC AR denarius, 17mm, 3.9 gm Obv: Helmeted head of Mars left; CAESAR; ・J above Rev: Venus Genetrix in chariot left, drawn by two Cupids; lyre to left; dot retrograde C above Ref: Crawford 320/1. Jencek E-auction 26, lot 58, 14 October 2014. Ex CNG XXXI lot 699, September 1994; ex RBW Collection
Now I have one of thos (just poorer condition) L JULIUS CAESAR ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS JULIA AR Denarius OBVERSE: CAESAR Head of Mars left in crested helmet REVERSE: Venus Genettris with scepter, in chariot drawn by two Cupids left, lyre in field, contolmark above, L IVLI L F in ex. Struck at Rome, 103BC 3.85g, 17mm Cr320/1, Syd 593a. and one with lions M. VOLTEIUS M.F. ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS VOLTEIA AR Fouree Denarius OBVERSE: Laureate & helmeted bust of Attis right; shield behind REVERSE: Cybele seated right in chariot drawn by two lions; OQ above Rome 78BC 2.9g, 18mm Cr385/4; Syd 777, Volteia 4
Nice! The Volteius lion biga has eluded me so far. There are so many weird Roman Republican bigas. Someday I hope to have one of each. As for Doug's suggestion to collect the Crepereius control marks... uhm, yeah... that would take my coin budget for the next several years, although it might take longer than that to find all of them!
Wasn't "J" a letter that came LATER in the Roman alphabet? That the contemporary spelling during the time that Caesar was living: CAIUS IULIUS CAESAR? I do NOT know Latin, nor am I a linguist... perhaps other folks have expertise to answer this... *edit* AH! I see you answered in a post as I was writing this...
Congratulations on your new coin TIF. That's hard to find well centered and I really like the anemone control mark. Also, thanks for the lesson on the issue. I'm still looking for mine...
Wow, Granger => as I stated in one of our PMs => that coin is amazing!! Ummm, I wish I had a seahorse like you and Z-Bro (*sigh*) Non-horse transports, eh? => well, I may have a few of those babies? Again => TIF, that's a fricken amazing OP-addition (congrats)
Beautiful coin, TIF. I really feel sorely tempted when I see the R.R denarii you and the other members post...but alas, I am busy enough with my imperials. Congratulations! Exactly how do you do those animations - they are hilarious! PS-you all would have really enjoyed the H. Lückger Collection of Roman Coinage auctioned by Peus in Frankfurt yesterday. 850 coins spanning all periods of Roman coinage. This was truly an old time collection put together started in 1894. Some beautiful R.R denarii in that collection, and of course some very special imperial coins.
That was one amazing collection. If online live bidding had been available for that auction... well, let's just say my wallet is thankful that online live bidding wasn't available.
I was planning to attend, as I always do, but I hurt my leg and am not able to drive. Fortunately, I was able to bid by phone, and managed to obtain a sestertius of Lucius Verus which looks very nice. The nice thing about the Lückger collection is that the collector was also a passionate historian, and assembled his collection 100 years ago, obtaining many original and beautiful examples a number of which were found in excavations in his native city, Cologne. That really adds to the attractiveness of his collection.