Featured A Cool (and unpublished) Coin of C Vibius Cf Pansa

I received an interesting coin Monday thanks to Ken Dorney.

The auction ended Friday the 13th and arrived Monday. That was a quick trip from California to Texas!
I was not in the market for a second coin from a large issue of coins (Crawford estimates 988 obverse dies). I found over 200 examples of Cr. 342/5b on line before I stopped looking. I have a similar coin that I bought in 2006. It is the second coin on my RR spreadsheet. The artwork is far from the best on RR coins. But..... @Ken Dorney is a good salesman! He mentioned an unpublished control mark: "This type unrecorded with any [reverse] control marks.", and the hook was set.

Roman Republic, Silver Denarius, Rome, C Vibius Cf Pansa, 90 BC, unpublished reverse control mark
Obverse: Laureate head of Apollo right, [control mark?] before, PANSA behind. Crawford says that this coin should have a control mark before Apollo’s chin. I see no signs of a control mark there, but the coin is off center and it could be just a bit outside the flan. Grueber in BMCRR mentions several different obverse symbols (dolphin, palm branch, prow, etc); Roman numbers; Latin letters; Greek letters and letters with dots.
Reverse: Minerva driving quadriga right holding reins and scepter, R control mark below, [C] VIBIVS CF in exergue. Crawford and other RR coin books do not mention a reverse control mark. The mark could be an L., R or a reversed lambdia that should have gone on the obverse.
Cr - 342/5b
BMCRR – Rome 2244 - 2307
Syd - 684
Bab / RSC - Vibia1
4.25 grams - The weight of 66 examples I found on line and in books was 3.8 grams. My example was the heaviest.
18mm

This type unrecorded with control marks on the reverse.
I found two other examples of a reverse control mark. The coins:
1. My coin – Obverse symbol off flan or none. Reverse symbol L. or something else.
2. British museum, #342.5.24. The BMCRR on line coin was purchased through Sotheby's (30/5/1842) from Dr Nott. It has a palm frond control mark on the obverse and the reverse mark is similar to this coin.
3. Grueber in BMCRR shows a coin with an obverse mark of L.I. (Plate xxxvi, #11). The reverse of this coin has what looks like L. below the horses and above the exergue line.
Neither of the examples mention the reverse mark in the written description.

The BM on line example.


My coin shown with the BMCRR example.

 

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Way cool Gene! Nice capture! Why DOES @Ken Dorney give up these unique / interesting coins? I could not be a Dealer...

I have a Pansa with a proper control mark near chin, and nada on reverse. Yours must be a defect... you may want to return yours...


RR Vibius Pansa 90 BCE AR Den Apollo Minerva Quadriga Sear 242 Cr 345-5 Social-Marsic War

 

I know nothing about these except that there are RR issues that have numbers or marks that work this way: Does this issue show more than one die with the same minor device/letter or were they used to enumerate the individual dies? I have no idea what the cutter was trying to depict with the reversed lambda (lower case? Were those used then???). There are many such devices on various coins that are identified in our books that strike me as a little questionable as to ID and I see no better answer here.

 

It would have been better if it would not have come for the Friday the 13th conspiracies.

 

But really nice coins

 

Because I could never afford to own them all! Honestly. Being a dealer among other things means that I can own some really amazing things, even if temporarily. Back in the early 90's I remember buying FDC Aureii for $1,500 (which was very high for the time) but are now going for $10,000 and up. But, I owned them for a time.

I am happy that there has been a link to another of the OP example. I dont know how I missed it originally, but I tend not to check BMC. From what I can tell the BMC reverse is the same die, but in a better state of preservation, early on in the life of the die.

 

I am not aware of a die study of this issue. As I noted, it is a large issue. The coins were produced during the Social War in 91 - 88 BC. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/wars_italian_social_war.html
I have not looked at all of the Crawford #s, but this is the largest issue I have noticed. L.PISO.FRVGI, 91 BC, the moneyer I thought had the largest die count only had 864. I assume there is more than one die per symbol because the die estimate is much higher than the symbol list.
It is interesting that two BM references show coins with reverse symbols and neither mention the symbol. Pics from BMCRR below show the description and picture of the coin with a reverse symbol.



BMCRR calls the obverse symbol L I-dot.

 

Very cool! Congrats!! Here's mine. Note the control mark, liitus, below chin...


C. Vibius C.f. Pansa.

90 B.C.E. AR denarius (16.5
mm, 3.70 g, 6 h). Rome
mint. PANSA, laureate head
of Apollo right, liitus below
chin / C·VIBIVS·CF, Minerva
driving quadriga right,
holding reins and spear.
Crawford 324/5b;

 

Very neat!