Most Janus / prow asses bear generic faces but Sextus Pompey issued this variation with the features of his father, Pompey the Great. At least that is how the catalogs say it. On all I have seen the two faces are different enough that I wonder if one (left?) might have been intended to be Sextus. I have no idea of his true appearance but the right face does look like his father. Last I heard these are attributed to a mint in Sicily 43-35 BC. The coin was cleaned by scratching away deposits a bit too roughly at reverse right and obverse left. At obverse top is MAGN (Magnus=great) with M and A ligate. At reverse top is PIVS but the IMP at bottom is too weak to see. Again it is a case of picking which faults you can tolerate. Such scratching might be called smoothing were it a bit smoother but here it seems a less deceptive form of 'excavating'. This is my second coin of Sextus Pompey. I have shown the fourree denarius below several times. It also has the portrait of Magnus but really has few faults other than the big ugly one that goes with being a fourree. This is the place to pile on your Pompey portraits.
I think the As is a great example, they seldom come this nice, so any faults the coin has are outweighed by positives.
Wow, dawg => you are batting these new additions over the fence!! (another homer!) I love the AE RR prow coins ... and this definitely a very cool type (congrats) => that's "two in a row!!" ... man, I can't wait to see your next eight road-trip scores!!
I have one from a large mixed lot. Someday I might try to clean it. SEXTUS POMPEY Circa 43-36 BC, Sicilian mint? AE, 29 mm, 19.8 gm Obv: Laureate head of Janus with features of Pompeius Magnus Rev: Prow of galley right; [PIVS above, IMP below] Ref: Sydenham 1044?
Sweet coin, TIF Maybe a bit later I'll soil the new thread with my AE RR prow examples, or maybe my Sextus Pompey? (the urge is just germinating at the moment) ... ahhh, what the hell, eh? Sextus Pompey (Sicily, Messana) 42-40 BC Galley with aquila, Neptune statue & Monster Scylla Anonymous AE RR Janus Prow-coins Unlike Mentor's sweet new OP-addition, my Janus & prow-examples merely have generic faces (but man, I still love 'em!!)
Great coin Doug! I have seen plenty of these, and most come with flaws - weak strike, worn, stuff off flan, etc. Yours has plenty going for it including an excellent portrait. I have a modest example. I like that MAGNVS is legible and the portrait is ok (but not as good as yours). It is one of my first Imperitorial portrait coins & I got it at a reasonable price. The Pompey looking right reminds me of a school boy being scolded. I wish I had waited and bought a better example. PS - Most of the times someone has a two headed coin, it is to win when flipping for who goes first.
Here's my filial loyalty denarius which happens to be on an atypically broad flan, allowing for all of the figures to show:
I have no physical portraits of Gnaeus Pompey at the moment, but here is a letter he wrote to the Senate imploring them to fund the war against Sertorius. It is a portrait of his wit, in this case a sarcastic wit directed against a Senate apathetic to his plight. In 74 BC, Sertorius had cut off Pompey's supplies by way of guerrilla warfare, and Pompey had long since exhausted his own resources... If I had been warring against you, against my country, and against my fathers’ gods, when I endured such hardship and dangers as those amid which from my early youth the armies under my command have routed the most criminal of your enemies and insured your safety; even then, Fathers of the Senate, you could have done no more against me in my absence than you are now doing. For after having exposed me, in spite of my youth, to a most cruel war, you have, so far as in you lay, destroyed me and a faithful army by starvation, the most wretched of all deaths. Was it with such expectations that the Roman people sent its sons to war? Are these the rewards for wounds and for so often shedding our blood for our country? Wearied with writing letters and sending envoys, I have exhausted my personal resources and even my expectations, and in the meantime for three years you have barely given me the means of meeting a year’s expenses. By the immortal gods! do you think that I can play the part of a treasury or maintain an army without food or pay? I admit that I entered upon this war with more zeal than discretion; for within forty days of the time when I received from you the empty title of commander I had raised and equipped an army and driven the enemy, who were already at the throat of Italy, from the Alps into Spain; and over those mountains I had opened for you another and more convenient route than Hannibal had taken. I recovered Gaul, the Pyrenees, Lacetania, and the Indigetes; with raw soldiers and far inferior numbers I withstood the first onslaught of triumphant Sertorius; and I spent the winter in camp amid the most savage of foes, not in the towns or in adding to my own popularity. Why need I enumerate our battles or our winter campaigns, the towns which we destroyed or captured? Actions speak louder than words. The taking of the enemy’s camp at Sucro, the battle at the river Turia, and the destruction of Gaius Herennius, leader of the enemy, together with his army and the city of Valentia, are well enough known to you. In return for these, grateful fathers, you give me want and hunger. Thus the condition of my army and of that of the enemy is the same; for neither is paid and either can march Victorious into Italy. Of this situation I warn you and I beg you to give it your attention; do not force me to provide for my necessities on my own responsibility. Hither Spain, so far as it is not in the possession of the enemy, either we or Sertorius have devastated to the point of ruin, except for the coast towns, so that it is actually an expense and a burden to us. Gaul last year supplied the army of Metellus with pay and provisions and can now scarcely keep alive itself because of a failure of the crops; I myself have exhausted not only my means, but even my credit. You are our only resource; unless you come to our rescue, against my will, but not without warning from me, our army will pass over into Italy, bringing with it all the war in Spain. The Roman historian Sallust (Gaius Sallustius Crispus) records the above letter. It struck enough urgent fear into the senate that they commissioned Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus to strike denarii to pay the soldiers, as such... ROMAN REPUBLIC. Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus. AR Denarius, 4.0g, 20mm, 6h; Spanish Mint, 74 BC. Obv.: Diademed, draped and bearded bust of the Genius of the Roman People facing right, scepter over shoulder, "G P R" above. Rev.: Globe between wreathed scepter and rudder, "EX - S C" in field, "CN LEN Q" below. Reference: Crawford 393/1a; Sydenham 752.
VERY nice example @dougsmit ... a good AE Pompey is tough to fine. I have one that is rather pedestrian: RImp Pompey 42-38 BC AE As Janus Prow Magnus Sear 1394 Craw 479/1 RR Cornelius Letulus 76-75 BCE AR Denarius Obv: Genius of the Roman People Rev: Globe between wreated scepter and rudder, S-C in field Struck in Spain by Lentulus as Quaestor to Pompey as he was assisting Q Caeclilius Metellus Pius in the protracted war with Sertorius Sear 323 Craw 393/1a Cool history: Pompey got his butt kicked by Sertorius a couple times; big learning experience... RR Sicinius / Coponius 49 BCE Apollo Club draped with lion skin Sear 413 Craw 444/1 Cool history: Sicinius as moneyer with Pompey in exile in the East after Caesar's invasion. Praetor Coponius commanded Pompey's Fleet RR Faustus Cornelius Sulla 56 BCE AR Denarius Venus Signet Pompey Sear 386 Craw 426/3 Cool History: The reverse was a copy of Pompey's signet ring. The three trophies represented his victories on three continents - Europe, Asia, Africa.
The OP coin is a difficult one to get in high grade (do they even exist ?) Her's mine, and my two other Pompeys Sextus Pompey, As struck in Sicily c.43-36 BC Head of Janus with features of Pompey the Great, MAGN above Prow of galley right, PIVS IMP in field 16.57 gr Ref : HCRI # 336, RCV #1394, Cohen #16 Cnaeus Pompey Jr, Denarius minted in Corduba ? in 46-45 BC M [POBLICI LEG] PRO PR, Helmeted head of Rome right CN MAGNVS IMP, Spain standing right, presenting palm branch to a soldier (Pompey ?) standing left on a prow of galley 3.65 gr Ref : HCRI # 48, RCV #1384, Cohen #1 ROMAN IMPERATORS, Sextus Pompeius and Q. Nasidius, Denarius Mint moving with Sextus Pompeius, Sicily, 42-39 BC NEPTVNI, head of Pompey the great right, trident before head, dolphin below Q.NASIDIVS at exergue, galley sailing right, star in upper field 3.92 gr Ref : HCRI # 235, RCV # 1390, Crawford # 483/2, Sydenham # 1350, Cohen # 20 Ex Freeman & Sear, Ex Barry Feirstein collection Ex Roma Numismatics Q
