Received something very nice from CNG the other day. A fantastic Mark Antony desultor type. I posted this a while back in my "pending arrivals thread" so some of you have already seen it, but here it is with my own photos. This has been high on my list for quite some time so I'm extremely happy to add it to the collection! Mark Antony. April-May 44 BC. AR Denarius (19.5mm, 3.87 g, 8h). Rome mint; P. Sepullius Macer, moneyer. Obverse: Veiled head right, wearing beard; capis to left, lituus to right. Reverse: Desultor (horseman who leaps from one horse to another), wearing conical cap and holding whip, right on horseback, second horse behind; palm frond and wreath to left; P SEPVLLIVS above, MACER below. Reference: Crawford 480/22. Provenance: From the John L. Cowan Collection. Ex Cederlind BBS 154 (31 March 2010), lot 213, ex Gorny & Mosch auction 180 (12 October 2009), lot 322, ex Numismatica Ars Classica auction 41 (20 November 2007), lot 17. "This is the first portrait issue of Mark Antony. Struck within a month or two of the assassination of Julius Caesar, Antony is shown bearded, clearly symbolic of one in mourning. For the next two and a half years, until after the battle of Philippi, the portraits on coins of both Mark Antony and Octavian were bearded for the same reason. The reverse depicts a rider who switches from one horse to the other while the horses are in motion, an equestrian event which was part of the Parilian games, celebrated each year on 21 April. In 44 BC, the year of Julius Caesar’s assassination, the Parilia celebrated Caesar’s victory at Munda. Including a desultor on the reverse, Mark Antony probably attempted to kindle public support of the Caesarian cause."
What an exceptional portrait! I've always found it interesting how much Antony's portrait changed on his later coinage.
A wonderful coin. I didn't realize that it was a Roman custom for men not to shave their beards while in mourning. It's true of observant Jewish men as well. I don't know if it's present in other cultures.
Wow, excellent Denarius! Would enjoy that in my collection. Well done, @Michael Stolt ... great History!
These early coins after the assassination of Julius Caesar are great. You see a similar effect on those of Octavian where he is bearded until the last of the Pompeians are defeated at which point he shaves and the portrait becomes more like those that we see to for the majority of his reign near the end of the Imperatorial period and through his reign as Emperor. Roman Imperatorial period AR Denarius(3.86g, 18mm), C Caesar Octavianus, mint with Octavian in Cisalpine Gaul, Spring-Summer 43 BC. Bare head of Octavian right, bearded; C·CAESAR·IMP around; border of dots / Equestrian statue of Octavian galloping left, his right hand extended; SC in exergue. Sear HCRI 131; Crawford 490/1; Sydenham 1318 Ex Herakles Numismatics, 27 October 2020, ex Harlan J Berk Buy or Bid sale #61, 20 March 1990, lot 305 Roman Imperatorial period AR Denarius(3.82g, 16mm), C Caesar Octavianus, mint with Octavian in Italy, 41 BC. Bare head of Octavian right, with slight beard; C·CAESAR·III·VIR·R·P·C around; border of dots / Equestrian statue of Octavian galloping left, his right hand extended; POPVL·IVSSV in exergue and on right. Sear HCRI 299; Crawford 518/2 Numismatica Ars Classica Spring Auction 2020, 25 May 2020, lot 726, ex RBW Collection, Numismatica Ars Classica 63, 17 May 2012, lot 553, ex Jesus Vico sale June 1992, lot 401
