A denarius of Caius Calpurnius L.f. Piso Frugi

Stunning coin
The toning, Apollo's portrait and the cherry on top, the heron!... and that's just the obverse!
LOVE the action packed reverse the horse is at full stride while the horseman has the whip raised, holding on leaning forward
Mine is a little quinarius:

L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi. Quinarius 90, AR 15 MM 1.8 g. Laureate head of Apollo r.; below chin, N. Rev. L·P – ISO Victory standing r., holding wreath in r. hand and sword and spear in l.; in exergue, FRVGI. Babelon Calpurnia 13. Sydenham 672c.

 

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Nice coins! I went through a phase of picking up these - 11 of the Cr. 340/1s and 3 of the nicer Cr. 408/1s, but with so many dies, I think it would be a futile effort to try to get all the symbols.

This was one of my top 10 of 2020 - needs to be re-photographed with greater depth of field:




And another, from 2019.



ATB,
Aidan.

 

My own thread from March of this year, primarily about my denarius of C. Calpurnius Piso L.f. Frugi (but posting as well my denarius of his father) can be read at https://www.cointalk.com/threads/roman-republican-denarius-no-50-c-calpurnius-piso-l-f-frugi.377452/.

Here is an excerpt from the first post in the thread, with apologies for the length of the discussion (concerning the dating of the issue, the control symbols, the two main types of obverses -- laureate and filleted head of Apollo -- etc.):

One of my first few Roman Republican coins was this denarius of L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi, minted in 90 BCE, from one of the largest coin issues (if not the largest) of the Republic, and undoubtedly one of the better-known types. The coin is nothing spectacular, but I still find it very appealing:

Roman Republic, L. [Lucius] Calpurnius Piso Frugi, AR Denarius, 90 BCE. Obv. Head of Apollo right (control marks H behind and F below) / Rev. Horseman galloping right w/palm frond (control marks G above and H below), L• PISO FRUGI beneath. Crawford 340/1, RSC I Calpurnia 11, Sear RCV I 235/1, BMCRR 1938-2129 [this combination of two-letter control marks is not recorded in BMCRR; cf. BMCRR 2120 (H, F on obv. paired with C, A on rev.)]. 17 mm., 4.02 g.



I've known since I bought this coin and did some reading about it that almost 30 years later, Lucius's son was also a moneyer, and was responsible for an issue with the same basic Apollo/horseman design. I've wanted to own an example of that issue ever since, but soon discovered that although the issue is definitely not rare (perhaps half the size of Lucius's), nice examples tend to be much more expensive, perhaps because they were struck in high relief and are generally considered to be quite "artistic." So it took me a long time to find one I could afford that was still nice enough for me to want to buy it. I finally saw one I really liked a couple of weeks ago that wasn't too expensive for me -- and has a very beautiful portrait of Apollo! -- and here it is. Together with an extra-long footnote to celebrate my 50th Roman Republican denarius!

Roman Republic, C. [Caius/Gaius] Calpurnius Piso L.f. [son of Lucius] Frugi [son-in-law of Cicero, married to Tullia], AR Denarius, 67-59 BCE, Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate head of Apollo right in high relief, hair long and in ringlets; behind, control symbol ɸ (Greek letter phi) (Crawford obverse die 32; Hersh 1976* obverse die O-33) / Rev. Naked horseman galloping right wearing shaped conical cap, holding reins but carrying no palm branch or other object; above, control symbol sword [Crawford] or knife [Hersh 1976] with curved blade [Crawford reverse die 43, Hersh 1976 reverse die R-1038]; beneath horse, C• PISO• L• F• FRVG [with VG blurred on die]. Crawford 408/1a [Apollo laureate rather than wearing fillet]; BMCRR Rome 3774 [this die combination]; Hersh 1976 at p. 32, Corpus No. 89 [this die combination]; RSC I Calpurnia 24j [Apollo laureate/horseman wearing conical cap & carrying no palm branch or other object]; Harlan, Michael, Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins 63 BCE - 49 BCE (2d ed. 2015) (“Harlan RRM II”), Ch. 7 at pp. 54-59; Sear RCV I 348; Sydenham 846. 18 mm., 3.86 g. 6 h. [Double die-match to Ira & Larry Goldberg Auction 80, Lot 3048, 03.06.2014, previously sold by LHS Numismatik AG, Auction 100, Lot 398, 23/04/2007. ]**




* Hersh, Charles A., “A Study of the Coinage of the Moneyer C. Calpurnius Piso L.f. Frugi,” The Numismatic Chronicle, Seventh Series, Vol. 16 at pp. 7-63 (1976). Available at https://www.jstor.org/stable/42664788?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents).

** The basic design of this type -- the head of Apollo on the obverse, and a naked horseman racing on the reverse, with nearly 500 known different die combinations and configurations of control symbols, objects held by the horseman, etc. -- is the same as the design of the massive issue of the moneyer’s father Lucius, dating to 90 BCE (Crawford 340/1), with more than 1,000 known die combinations, issued to aid in funding the Social War. Both issues “recall the Ludi Apollinares [the annual games held in honor of Apollo], converted into a permanent festival as a result of the proposal of C. Calpurnius Piso, [urban] Pr[aetor] [in] 211,” an ancestor of our father-and-son moneyers. See Crawford Vol. I p. 344; see also Hersh 1976 p. 8 (the design of Crawford 408 is a “direct reference” to the annual Ludi Apollinares proposed by the moneyer’s ancestor); Harlan RRM II at p. 56 (explaining that the Ludi Apollinares were made permanent in the same year, 211, in which Hannibal broke off his assault on Rome without ever joining battle, an outcome ascribed to Apollo’s divine intervention)..

Varying dates for the son’s issue (Crawford 408/1a-1b), according to different authorities, include the following:

67 BCE (Crawford, RSC I, RBW Collection, Sear RCV I [but see Sear RCV I at p. 138, citing Crawford’s date but noting the “hoard evidence which would seem to indicate a period of issue closer to 60 BC”]);

64 BCE (BMCRR);

63 BCE (Hersh 1976 at p. 8);

61 BCE (Charles Hersh and Alan Walker, “The Mesagne Hoard,” Museum Notes (American Numismatic Society), 1984, Vol. 29 pp. 103-134 (1984) [“Hersh & Walker 1984”], at Table 2, No. 27);

59 BCE (Harlan RRM II at Ch. 7 p. 57).

The different theories over the years for the date of this issue have been based primarily on various known events in the life of the moneyer (“Caius”) -- including the basic premise that Caius must have been moneyer prior to his appointment as quaestor in 58 BCE and his death in 57 BCE -- and in the life of his father-in-law Cicero, as well as on stylistic evidence and, perhaps most significantly, on hoard evidence.

For example, Crawford’s proposed date of 67 BCE was the year when Caius’s relative Gaius Calpurnius Piso was consul and when Caius himself -- born either in 89 BCE (Harlan RRM II p. 57) or 87 BCE (Hersh 1976 p. 8) -- was betrothed to Cicero’s only daughter Tullia, then 9 years old. (See Harlan RRM II p. 54, quoting Cicero’s letter to Atticus from late 67 BCE: “We have betrothed little Tullia to [C]aius Piso Frugi, son of Lucius.”)

But Harlan argues that Caius was far too young in 67 BCE, at only 22 or 20, to serve as a mint magistrate. And Hersh 1976’s comprehensive die study points out (at p. 8) that Caius and Tullia “were married in 63 BC, when Cicero was consul.” Therefore, Hersh proposes that Caius “probably was a moneyer during 63 BC,” during Cicero’s consulship.

However, perhaps most persuasively, Hersh & Walker 1984 dated the issue at 61 BCE based on the evidence of the Mesagne Hoard of 5,940 denarii, which was discovered in 1979/1980, and buried ca. 58 BCE (see p. 103). The hoard contained 198 coins of Caius (id. p. 112), in the top five of all the issues in the hoard, right behind the 199 coins from the still-circulating issue of his father Lucius (id. pp. 108-109). Crucially, “in the Mesagne hoard the coins of [Caius] . . . were in almost mint condition, where not marred by corrosion during burial,” unlike the heavily-circulated coins from older issues. Therefore, “[Caius], who was Cicero's son-in-law, must have been a moneyer in ca. 60 B.C.,” given that “he died in 57 B.C., after his term as quaestor in 58 B.C. had been completed.” (Id. p. 133.) Thus, in the article’s chart of assigned dates based on the Mesagne Hoard, Hersh & Walker settled on 61 BCE as the date for the issue. (See id. Table 2, No.27.) Harlan theorizes, however, that Caius’s “most immediate need to remind the voters of his family traditions” -- i.e., by issuing coins with the same basic design as the huge and still-circulating issue of his father Lucius from 90 BCE -- “came just prior to his election as quaestor for 58, and I, therefore, date the coin to 59.” Harlan RRM II at p. 57.

Harlan’s date has not been adopted by other authorities, so far as I know. Surprisingly, even Hersh & Walker’s well-supported date of 61 BCE, proposed almost 40 years ago, has been ignored by more dealers than have followed it. Instead, Crawford’s 67 BCE date continues to be widely used. For example, both Dr. Martina Dieterle and Shanna Schmidt currently have examples for sale described as being from 67 BC. And even the highly-regarded RBW Collection catalog, published in early 2014, uses 67 BCE as the date for the 23 coins of C. Calpurnius Piso L.f. Frugi it includes -- not mentioning the 61 BCE date in Hersh & Walker 1984, or even the 63 BCE date proposed in Hersh 1976, despite citing and relying upon the latter study. At least David Sear’s RCV I (Millennium Edition), although placing the issue in 67 BCE, notes at p. 138 that the hoard evidence places the issue “closer to 60 BC” (see above).

In any event, Caius’s term as quaestor was preoccupied with his father-in-law’s exile, and he did not live long thereafter. See Hersh 1976 at p. 8: “While in office [Caius] devoted his efforts to trying to obtain the recall of Cicero from banishment in Macedonia, whither he had gone following he legislation sponsored by his enemy, Publius Clodius Pulcher. At the end of his quaestorship [Caius] was allotted the provinces of Pontus and Bithynia, but he remained in Rome to continue his efforts on Cicero’s behalf. He died during the early summer of 57 B.C., before the return of Cicero to Italy on 5 August 57 B.C., following his recall.” See also Harlan RRM II at p. 59, quoting at length from Cicero’s tribute to his son-in-law in his Brutus, written eleven years later in 46 BCE. Cicero stated, among other things, “I have never known anyone with greater zeal and industry -- although I might easily say, anyone even with more talent, who surpassed my son-in-law [C]aius Piso. . . . [H]e seemed to fly not to run. . . . I do not think that there was anyone who could compare with him in self-control and piety and in every other virtue.”

Now to the coins themselves. As noted above, the two basic types of Crawford 408 are 408/1a (laureate head of Apollo) and 408/1b (Apollo’s hair tied with a taenia or fillet). Thus, my coin is classified as part of Crawford 408/1a, the smaller of the two types. Crawford tallies 53 obverse dies and 59 reverse dies for type 1a, with type 1b nearly three times as large -- 144 obverse dies and 175 reverse dies. (See Crawford pp. 419 & 435, and Table XLIII at pp. 420-434, listing all the dies of both types known to Crawford in 1974.)

Two years after Crawford, the die study in Hersh 1976 listed 57 obverse dies and 62 reverse dies for the Crawford 1a type (variously denominated Section I and “Linkage Group A” by Hersh), and 147 obverse dies and 170 reverse dies for the Crawford 1b type (Linkage Groups B & C or Sections II & III under the Hersh classification; the slight differences between those two types are irrelevant to my “Group A” coin). (See Hersh 1976 p. 10.)

Crawford’s table attempted to classify the various die combinations by treating the differences in the horsemen on the reverses as the controlling factors, whereas Hersh’s study of all the die interlinkages “revealed that the obverses, not the reverses, were the regulating element of the issue. Whether the Apollo head was laureate or whether it was bound instead by a taenia or fillet was the key factor and the varied attributes of the horseman on the reverse dies were merely unimportant, if interesting, variations of the main type, probably used as an auxiliary control.” (Hersh 1976 pp. 9-10.)

The die study in Hersh 1976 reached the conclusion that more than one officina was involved in the production of this moneyer’s denarii. See p. 11:



Hersh also discusses, at pp. 9-10 and 11, the artistic aspects of the different types, apparently produced by different officinae.

First, at pp. 9-10, Hersh discusses the artistic aspects in terms of the different “Sections” (my laureate Apollo coin is in Section I). Obviously, he was fond of the issue!

"The physical appearance of the coins themselves is most satisfying and interesting. The laureate heads of Apollo on some of the obverse of this issue (Section I) are of superior workmanship and have some of the most artistically excellent portraits in the entire Roman Republican series." (Emphasis added.) That's quite a compliment! Hersh goes on to state: "Perhaps the


Then, at p, 11, he discusses the coins’ artistry again, this time in terms of laureate Apollo heads vs. heads bound with a taenia, with my coin belonging to the former type:

“As


Even if the laureate head/Section I/Group A coins are not struck in as high a relief as the taenia/fillet type, I should note that my example, at least, is struck in higher relief than any other Roman Republican coin I own. But I do agree with Hersh’s high opinion of the artistic merit of the laureate Apollo. It’s certainly more notable than the artistry of my Lucius Piso Frugi example. Such a beautiful young god!

At pp. 17-25 of Hersh 1976, the author individually lists and describes each known obverse die and reverse die. (At p. 21, there is a key to the coding of the various attributes of the reverse dies.) My coin, as noted above, is Hersh Obv. Die O-33 (= Crawford Obv. Die 32). Here is the portion of the obverse die table showing Obv. Dies O-23 through O-34, with O-33 being the control-symbol ɸ (the Greek letter phi). Note that O-33 is linked to only one other reverse die besides my R-1038 die:



And here is the portion of the reverse die table including my Hersh Rev. Die R-1038 (= Crawford Rev. Die 43). Hersh calls the control-symbol a curved knife, while Crawford calls it a curved sword. To me, it looks more like a sword. Just as my obverse die links to only one other reverse die besides mine, my reverse die links to only one other obverse die besides mine:



The “B" shown for R-1038's reverse legend, as explained in the key at p. 21, is for the legend "C• PISO• L• F• FRVG." (In other variations, the final word of the legend is spelled "FRVGI," "FRV," or "FR," or the PISO is spelled "PIS.") The "CX" refers to the horseman wearing a conical cap, and not carrying anything. Out of the 62 reverse dies in Hersh’s Group A/Section I (i.e., those linked to the Apollo laureate head obverses), my coin’s reverse die is one of only five on which the horseman carries nothing (no palm branch, whip, etc.). On three of those five, the horseman is winged. So there is only one other reverse die (R-1006) on which the horseman carries nothing and has no wings to aid him instead!

At pp. 26-60, Hersh 1976 also individually describes each of the 486 known die combinations, in a “Corpus of the Coins of C. Calpurnius L.F. Frugi.” A number of additional varieties have been discovered since Hersh 1976; see Hersh & Walker 1984 at pp. 20-23, listing several found in the Mesagne Hoard; RBW Collection p. 302 (note following no. 1459). (As mentioned above, there are more than 1,000 die combinations known for the Apollo/horseman issue of the moneyer’s father Lucius [Crawford 340] -- i.e., more than twice as many as for Caius’s issue. There has never been a die study published for Crawford 340; the one referenced at Crawford p. 340 as “forthcoming,” to be co-authored by R. Grassby, never came forth.)

My die combination for Crawford 408/1a is No 89 in the Hersh 1976 Corpus, at p. 32:



Hersh lists only four other specimens of my die combination, one at the British Museum (already noted above in my coin description), one at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, one at the Vatican, and one in the author’s personal collection. All are presumably double-die matches, since it appears that only one die was made matching each description in Hersh 1976. In addition (unless it is the same coin owned by Hersh as of 1976), one other example of Hersh’s Corpus No. 89 is listed on acsearch. It was sold by Ira & Larry Goldberg Coins & Collectibles, Inc., Auction 80, Lot 348, on 03.06.2014, for $1,400, and was previously sold by LHS Numismatik AG, Auction 100, Lot 398, on 23/04/2007, for $1,100. See
https://www.acsearch.info/image.html?id=2012900:



The coin is clearly a double-die match to mine. My example is clearly not as nice -- it’s considerably more worn (compare Apollo's hair, the horse's head, etc.), and it looks in hand like someone may have tried to polish it at some point -- but I paid only a rather small fraction of those auction prices! More importantly, I’m very, very happy with mine.

I suppose that the line going up from the top of Apollo’s head to the edge on both coins is a die-break or some other die flaw. I also assume that the teardrop-shaped object hanging down from the back of Apollo’s head on both coins is supposed to be some kind of hair-tie or ribbon. It’s not mentioned in any description of the die, but somewhat resembles the hair-tie in a similar position in my example of Crawford 340, from Lucius’s issue.

 

Here's the Hersh 1976 corpus entry for @red_spork's example:



Note that Hersh describes the obverse control symbol as a heron, whereas Crawford (Table XLII, O5/R5) describes it as a stork.

 

Great thread, full of interesting info, mystery, and beautiful coins!

I don't have a Frugi like @red_spork and others but will contribute one by a contemporary relative:



ROMAN REPUBLIC, M. Piso M.f. Frugi
58 BCE (redated from Crawford's 61 BCE by Hersh and Walker, 1984)
AR denarius, 20 mm, 3.94 gm
Obv: terminal bust of Mercury right, wearing winged diadem; calix below chin; to left, star above wreath; dotted border
Rev: M·PISO·M·F / FRVGI above secespita (sacrificial knife) and patera; all within laurel wreath
Ref: Crawford 418/2b; Sydenham 825; Calpurnia 23
formerly slabbed, NGC XF, 4/5 strike, 4/5 surface


I am confused about Crawford's take on who exactly this later Frugi is. I've read the passage five times and still don't understand.

Instead I'll pass along Andrew McCabe's description:

"Lucius Calpurnius Piso Pontifex, owner of the villa and brother-in-law of Julius Caesar - Caesar's wife was Calpurnia - left an elegant portrait bust which somehow bears similarities to Julius Caesar though not of blood family. The Calpurnia gens had an history of pontifical appointments. This coin of 58BC likely of an uncle, Marcus Piso Frugi, shows the pontifical implements: patera, knife and dish. The word pontifex literally means bridge-maker and their role was to maintain peace with the gods, by ensuring religious procedures and ceremonies were properly followed. In contrast with many other religions, being a pontifex was no bar to political office or military leadership. Indeed it was a useful source of secondary power - the ability to commune with the gods - and much sought after by leading men of the Roman Republic."

Since Muybridge came up (twice), I thought I'd mention that I used the famous Muybridge galloping horse photos to create the animation I made for the Domitian Snake Cowboy coin. In photoshop I cut out the horse and snake from my coin, chopped the horse into body parts, and overlaid the parts (stretching and repositioning as needed) to match the Muybridge horse.

 

Lovely example, Spork!

I was just talking some friends the other day about mine which is specifically referenced in Crawford for the symbol. I bought it completely unprovenanced only to find out it's Haeberlin thank you to Mr. Crawford.

You never knows what Easter Eggs await you when you're willing to look in the weeds. I love the weeds.




Adolph Cahn and Adolph Hess Nachf., Haeberlin Collection, July 17, 1933, Lot 2268 (Sold in lot 2268-2270: 24-7 RM) 3.84g sold to Spink.

 

As for the cupping on the reverse, and high-relief on the obverse, that Donna mentions of Crawford 408/1b coins, I can confirm with this photo of the reverse of my coin.

 

Nice, @red_spork ...

I do not have the 61 BCE Moneyer, rather I have a few from the Social War and an earlier family member from 133 BCE

QUINARIUS

RR L Calpurnius Piso Frugi AR Quinarius 90 BCE Social War 13 mm 1-93 g 2 h Rome Laureate head of Apollo right uncertain symbol behind Victory advancing right holding wreath and palm Cr 340-2 Calpurnia 13


DENARII


RR Calpurnius Piso Frugi 90 BCE Social War AR Denarius CXXXII ROM-A monogram Apollo Horseman - Marsic S 235 Cr 340-1


RR Calpurnius Piso Frugi 61 BCE Social AR Den Apollo Horseman Sear Craw


EARLIER FAMILY


RR P Calpurnius AR Denarius 20mm 3.9g Rome 133 BCE Roma star behind - Venis biga crowned victory Cr 247-1

 

You're in luck! You do have the 61 BC moneyer. Note the C at the beginning of the reverse legend of this coin, along with the obverse head which has its hair tied with a tainia rather than a laurel wreath as all the 90 BC denarii do.

 

LOL, wow! Thank you! I believe it was a low-cost eBay purchase from several years ago.

Man, you keep finding cool attributions on my coins! Thank you very much.