A Different Frugi

Another Republican from last night's CrackOut party . I'm thrilled with this purchase and love the youthful and sweet portrait of Mercury. Its scarcity and shockingly low hammer are nice bonuses


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

The Frugi most of us have seen is L. Capurnius Piso Frugi, who issued an extensive series of denarii with Apollo/horseman galloping. That's a fun and important series although I still don't have any from him

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 trust 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.

...

"Terminal bust of Mercury"-- the coin represents an apparently common statue of Mercury. From A Description of the Collection of Ancient Marbles in the British Museum, W. Bulmer and Company, and sold at the British museum, 1845:



...

In researching comparisons prior to bidding, there weren't many data points. There was another example in the NAC auction which closed just a couple of days after I bought mine. I like mine better than the NAC coin shown below and I bought it for ~18% of the NAC coin's price . It all evens out though... I've been known to overpay for a coin or two .



...

As usual, please post anything remotely related: Roman Republican coins from the time of the First Triumvirate, coins of Frugi (any Frugi ), Mercury, etc

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Awesome TIF.

 

You were right. I'm dying with jealousy. A real beauty.

 

Wow, beautiful coin!

 

I wish I had Tiff's budget. Maybe if I stopped having so many hobbies and devoted myself strictly to coin collecting...

Anyway, Tiff, you have excellent tastes in coins and coin-inspired clothing.

I love your new coin.

 

By the way, my real name isn't Tiffany. TIF is an acronym of the first coin forum user name I had, "ThisIsFun". Because this (coin collecting, looking at coins, talking about coins, learning about coins, researching coins, buying coins, and occasionally... making coins) is fun .

 

Wow, an outstanding coin @TIF, truly awesome!

 

The partner to TIF's OP coin:

 

I do see an appeal to the NAC coin's style on the Mercury. Overall I might agree with liking TIF's coin better but I like the NAC enough for that face that I can understand someone paying more. Over 5x more, no.

May I point out that TIF is also an acronym for "This Is Frustrating" and will coint out that that meaning is often accompanied in her posts by mention of being Clioed.

I'll pick as a remotely related tack-a-long a more obvious terminal bust. The idea of a term is to support a head without making an effort to replicate shoulders. The post like extension on TIF's Mercury and my Jupiter for Pompey have a square peg or something which I read as normal for terms but can not explain properly. Part of me wants to see the possibility of such a bust being combined with a body in another medium. Terms used as posts are appropriate with head of Hermes/Mercury who was the god of boundaries but there are enough other persons on terms that I'm failing to understand that link. I know who to ask.

Volodya's coin shows a different take on the term with the head expanded to a half length bust but still TERMinating in a post. Cool.



Of course my Pompey is a fourree ex Grant Edwards collection (I got a lot of his fourrees because demand for them in 1990 was low). Genuine solid ones of this style are not cheap but there are currently many coins on the market from dies with no stylistic relation to mine or the normal, solid coins. Some dealers are marketing them as barbarous or a branch mint but claim they are ancient. I do not accept them as any older than I am. Hopefully time will tell. If you buy a Pompey term, buy from a dealer with a lifetime guarantee.

 

That is a beautiful coin, @TIF, and a beautiful price, to boot.

 

Is that when you graduate to being a "real" ancients collector, when you get Clioed for the first time?

 

Gorgeous coin TIF! Well done!

 

Thanks for posting that! I was unaware of either of these Frugi coins until I saw one like yours at CICF this year. I strongly considered buying it but the price was pretty high. Hmm, I wonder if Bill still has that one...

Sometimes I'm Clioed, sometime I'm the Clioer

Perhaps . However, in stalking carefully studying Clio's CNG purchases immediately post-auction while the bidder names are still visible on all lots, it is apparent that his tastes cut a wide swath through numismatics. No coin is safe. I've seen him buy very low-priced scuffed up corroded bronze provincials that no one else bid on.

 

sweet coin Tif

 

@Sallent Her real name is Tificus Valerianus Coinicus

 

I'm a man?

Tificia Valeria Coinicia

 

Eh, I would like it more if it had a nice Calix....Crap
What I mean is I would like it more if it were at least XF...Crap
Maybe if it were not in a slab it would be awesome...Crap

Ok fine...its stupendous...but it would be better if it were mine.

...I also don't have Frugi to show...

 

Oh I thought it was Tificia VESTA Coincia...

 

....it would be awesome if were better than the NAC coin....crap.

 

Totally laughed out loud at this bit

Vesta... hmm, yes, I can see that. Hearth and home, etc. I'd rather be Minerva/Athena though