Who are the people on Roman Republic Denarii...senators, consuls, anybody with money? Who did the minting?
Senators, wealthy people, quaestors (mint officials) did the minting. Who did the minting depended on the situation, but as long as you had approval from the Senate to strike coins for that year, you could do so. Who or what appears on RR coinage depends on the coiner. Sometimes it was the faces of the Gods and Goddesses Sometimes mythical creatures, and sometimes even real people (but after they had died), etc. Like this one of Philip V of Macedon. Ultimately, the coiner could depict any theme he wanted, as long as he never depicted the image of a living human being. Julius Caesar broke that tradition, and the rest is history. Julius Caesar lifetime portrait denarius
Wikipedia has a pretty good article on Roman moneyers, which gives an account of their duties and includes a list of them. Some became famous enough later in their political careers to have their own articles in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_moneyers_during_the_Republic I really enjoy collecting Roman Republican denarii. Although they can be quite expensive, there are still bargains out there if you don't mind a little wear or a few banker's marks. Here is one I recently picked up for under $25. The moneyer is rather a mystery - not much of a later career, apparently: C Maianius Denarius. 153 BC. Helmeted head of Roma right, X behind / Victory in biga right, C MAIANI below, ROMA in ex. Crawford 203/1a, Syd 427.
From an article on: http://www.monete-romane.com/roman_coins/moneyers.html "In the last part of the Roman Republic coins became a mean of communication, thanks to the inscrptions and the images displayed on it. The moneyers, who had the responsibility to define the characteristics of the coins, began to use coins as tool of politic propaganda, celebrating the origin of their family (gens) at the beginning, then using historical references more and more close to themselves. The moneyers made part of the Vigintisexviris, that was a college of minor magistrates of the Roman Republic. The name means Twenty-six men."
So, if I am following correctly, a "C Maianius Denarius" is a denarius made by the moneyer C Maianus. He chose the design, so to speak, and minted to the governments standards. The images on the coins are all classical designs, but not a particular person of the Roman Republic at the time.
I believe that is correct - C. Maianius, as moneyer - chose the design; although we don't really have any records outlining a moneyer's exact duties - the coins themselves are about all we have to go on. You'll find that the earlier denarii from the Republic carry the same few designs - Roma on the obverse, a chariot (biga, etc.) of some sort, or the dioscuri (the gods Castor & Pollux) on the reverse. This one being early (by "early" I mean c. 211-100), the design is pretty standard. It seems these earlier moneyers were pretty conservative in their design choices (perhaps there was a law about this - we just don't know). The very earliest denarii did not carry the moneyer's name, which makes collecting these a real challenge. Then small, discrete monograms started appearing - a while back I got what I thought was an "anonymous" denarius: As it turns out, the tiny squiggle above the dioscuri is the moneyer's name - it took me a while to figure this one out! Cn. Baebius Tamphilus (194-190 B.C.) Helmeted head of Roma rt; X (mark of value) to left / The Dioscuri on horseback; TAMP monogram above. Crawford 133/2b; Sydenham 334; Babia 1; RBW 592. The later coins have a far wider range of designs - Sallent's very nice specimen with Philip V of Macedon is an example of the later types. My avatar is a very worn Roman Republican denarius of L. Censorinus (82 B.C.) which shows the satyr Marsyas, paunchy, drunk, bald, and naked with a wine bag slung over his shoulder. This is quite a departure from the earlier designs! It is a fascinating series to collect.
That's correct. Most times moneyers were appointed as mint officials for a year (usually with the rank of quaestor) and during that time they'd mint coins to Roman government standards, and chose a theme or two they wanted to depict in their coins. However, sometimes the Senate authorized other individuales to strike coins for whatever reason. Usually the themes were repetitive and highly standardized (like the Roma obverse with a biga reverse, or the Roma obverse with discouri reverse. These two themes were some of the most often repeated ever (dozens of moneyers used them over and over again). However, some moneyers got very creative and did some interesting things with their coins.
Yeah, I love collecting the Republic coins FAR more than coins from the Empire. Their use of Monograms on coins are VERY creative.
Quaestors sometimes served as moneyers in their own name, but not usually so. They were financial magistrates who as part of their duties supervised the tresviri monetalis, the three junior officials who typically served as moneyers.
Agreed. Usually Quaestors were brought in on appointment by the Senate to mint special coinage issues for emergency situations, crisis, etc. for monster coinage runs. S - C abbreviations on special issues "Senatus consultum" - by Decree of the Senate
