Is this a Silphium seed & level on my C.PISO.L.F.FRVGI Cr 408/1

C.PISO.L.F.FRVGI, Cr 408/1, 67 BC


Roman Republican Denarius, 67 BC, C. Calpurnius L.f. Frugi.AR.
Obv. Head of Apollo right in "high" relief, hair bound with fillet (see info below on what a fillet is); behind, anchor (per vendor) or pendelum (Hersh) or level (Gene).
Rev. Horseman galloping right, holding palm branch; below, C PISO L F FRV/ uncertain symbolsilphium seed.
Cr. 408/1B.
BMCRR – Rome 3654 to 3815
RSC – Calpurnia 24 - 29
Syd. 851/H.
Cf. Banti 268/4.
C A Hersh, Coinage of C. Calburnius Piso L. F. Frugi, Numismatic Chronicles 1976 - #214; O-228, Apollo head wearing a taenia headband, right, behind die mark - pendelum; R-2044, rider wearing no hat, carries palm branch, below, legend – C.PISO.L.F.FRV, in ex – control mark – silphium seed, see pic below.



Hersh described the symbol on the obverse as a Roman pendulum. I was not able to find an example of a Roman pendulum with a quick google search. I think it could be l level. See a pic of my weight and an artist's rendering of a level like the Romans used.


Post anything that is remotely related: silphium seed coins, Piso coins (either one), ancient weights (or other bronze items).


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I do not remember who suggested: C A Hersh, Coinage of C. Calburnius Piso L. F. Frugi, Numismatic Chronicles 1976. Thanks, I bought the book and it came in handy with this coin!

 

Stellar RR Denarius!!! Love the toning and surfaces.

 

Here's a link to a picture of a seed head of giant fennel, which is thought to be silphium: http://floraofgibraltar.myspecies.info/file/1956 . Judge for yourself whether it's the same as the image on the coins.

Cal

 

That's a very nice example of the type! Beautiful portrait, well-centered, lovely toning.

Hmm, interesting! The issue has such a vast array of control marks, with (per Crawford) 144 obverse and 175 reverse dies. Some of his control mark descriptions leave room for other interpretations and this seems to be one of them.

Have you looked through table XLIII in Crawford to see which pair you think best matches your coin? Unlike some control marks, he doesn't have line drawings for these. I suspect Crawford would call yours reverse die #9 and he calls the control mark a leaf. He noted five obverse die pairings for reverse #9 and of those five, yours could only be what he calls a pennant (obverse die #13) or a key (obverse die #15). Maybe it's none of these and I overlooked a better match, or maybe this pairing isn't in Crawford?

Okay

Silphium plants; one on an authentic ancient coin and one on a historic electrotype of a BM coin:


KYRENAIKA, Barke
480-450 BCE
AR hemidrachm, 13 mm, 1.57 gm
Obv: silphium plant
Rev: head of Zeus Ammon right within linear frame, B A P K around
Ref: Müller MAA 301. Very rare.
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-kyrenaikas-silphium-plant.245537/


KYRENAIKA, Kyrene
modern copy by electrotypist Robert Ready
host coin, c. 410-400 BCE, acquired by the British Museum in 1872
AR "tetradrachm", 27 mm, 16.64 gm
Obv: Bearded head of Zeus-Ammon, wearing tainia with uraeus-like ornament at forehead, facing slightly left within laurel wreath
Rev: silphium plant; K V P A N A (split between fields, retrograde K)
Edge: initials R R
Ref: BMC 77 (host coin); B.V. Head. A guide to the principal coins of the Greeks, from circ. 700 B.C. to A.D. 270. London. 1965 pl. 20, 61 (host coin); host coin BM accession number 1872,0709.361; B.V. Head. A Guide to the Select Greek and Roman Coins Exhibited in Electrotype, London. 1880. Period III C #44.

And a different Frugi, relative of the OP coin's Frugi?


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