Bellum Sociale (Social War) Denarius from NY to 1903 and Beyond

This is one of my treasures that I bought in NY at the NYINC show earlier this month.


Photo from NAC 83, May 20, 2015

The Social War. Coinage of the Marsic Confederation. 90-88 BC. AR Denarius (20mm, 4.08 g, 3h). Mint moving in Campania. Struck 88 BC. Bust of Italia right, wearing crested helmet and aegis to left, Victory crowning Italia with wreath / Two male figures in military dress; on left, standing right, holding a spear in left hand and the one on right, standing left, holding a round object in his left, grasping each others’ right hand; on right, prow of ship from which one of them has disembarked; ΙΙΙΛ in exergue. Campana Series 14 example 181 (D130/R152 – this coin); Sydenham 632a; HN Italy 416; BMCRR Social War 49 var. (number on reverse in exergue); Kestner –; RBW 1221; Sambon "Les Monnies Antiques de L'Italie" n. 239 (this coin illustrated in plates, possibly from the Sambon collection).

Provenance:

• Nomos AG Auction 11 October 9, 2015, Lot 151;
• The Collection of Roman Republican Coins of a Student and his Mentor Part III NAC 83, May 20, 2015 Lot 316;
• Numismatic Fine Arts Auction V February, 23 1978, lot 355;
• Münzen und Medaillen AG Auction 52 June 19-20, 1975, lot 329;
• Santamaria Collection Prof. Angelo Signorelli Collection Part I, October 25, 1951, lot 70;
• Schulman Auction 204, May 31, 1938 Lot 192;
• Illustrated in A. Sambon "Les Monnies Antiques de L'Italie" n. 239, published 1903. Noted in NFA sale as part of the Sambon collection.

Historical Background:

The Italian Social Wars (approximately 91BC to 88 BC, also known as Bellum Sociale in Latin), was a conflict between Rome and her surrounding Italian allies. The main driver of the war was the desire of the Allies to be granted Roman citizenship and the benefits that come along with it including a voice in the government which they had to support and defend as part of their alliance. It was a devastating war that took a tremendous toll on all sides, eventually pitted Romans against each other, and saw the self installation of Lucius Cornelius Sulla as dictator which created the working model for Julius Caesar to do the same just a few decades later.

The Italian Allied Confederacy issued denarii under their own authority during the war with intriguing military themes and several with interesting Oscan lettering. It's a fascinating run of coinage, many of which have been posted on CoinTalk in the past. While the Social War coinages is not covered in Crawford's work on the Roman Republic, it is in Sydenham's book, BMCRR and a dedicated work done by Alberto Campana (La monetazione degli insorti italici durante la guerra sociale (91- 87 a.C.) - 1987) which serves as the authoritative guide to the series.

Likely issued in the later part of the war, this coin is believe to illustrate the promise of help to the Allies by Mithridates VI of Pontus, one of Rome's major enemies. The reverse may allude to Mithridates himself being greeted by the Allied Confederacy as he arrives with assistance to their cause. Unfortunately for the Italian Allies, that assistance never materialized and they were eventually defeated by Rome. The interesting outcome of this war, however, is that the Italian allies eventually did receive citizenship even though they were defeated.

Interesting notes on the Provenance and finding them:

While the coin is of fascinating historical significance, it also has an interesting journey it has made to my trays. I find researching the provenances of my coins as enjoyable, if not more enjoyable, as finding the coins themselves.

I knew of the 1951 Santamaria Signorelli, MuM and NFA provenances upon purchase in NY. Further research quickly uncovered recent sales in NAC and Nomos which weren't disclosed by the dealer who I bought the coin from in NY. It is typical of dealers not to disclose where they got the coin themselves or disclose recent sales, especially when are charging you more. Still, I want to know everywhere my coin has been because each of those stopping points can give a clue to additional owners or sales of the coin.

I found the 1938 Schulman provenance doing independent research at the American Numismatic Society while I was in NY. Good, that took it back another 13 years.

I have all of the catalogues listed except Schulman in my personal library. Upon reviewing the NFA catalogue, it was noted in that sale that this coin came from the Sambon collection. Interesting. I have a book written by Arthur Sambon in 1903 on Italian Coinage, "Les Monnies Antiques de L'Italie" so could this provide a lead? I pulled the book from the shelf and looked at the handful of plates in the back of the book only to BEHOLD, my coin is in them! So, I added another 37 years to the provenance, clearly putting this coin back to the 19th century and perhaps in the collection of Aurther Sambon himself, which would be very significant. I need to research that further.

Another interesting note is that the photo in Campana's book of this coin is different from every other photo I have found. Did Campana have access to this coin for his book? I don't think so because his photo looks like an old plaster cast and not modern. Is it from another sale or collection I don't know about? Hopefully! I intend to write Alberto and find out if he remembers or has notes on it.

The story is never finished when you look beyond the dealer ticket.

Summary Thoughts:

Buy the best coins you can afford and buy the books that deal with your area of study. My library has paid for itself many times over in additional provenances, enjoyable research, and identification of some very dangerous fakes. Searching for provenances and information on your coins extends "the hunt", which is, at least for me, a huge portion of the enjoyment of this hobby.

Errata and addenda:

Some pictures of the coin as they have appeared in publications in the 20th Century.

Münzen und Medaillen AG Auction 52 June 19-20, 1975, lot 329


Santamaria Collection Prof. Angelo Signorelli Collection Part I, October 25, 1951, lot 70




Schulman Auction 204, May 31, 1938 Lot 192


Sambon Plate Coin, 1903



Campana Plate Coin, 1987. Where did this photo come from???

 

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Very nice writeup! The coin alone is fascinating and that interesting provenance chain only adds to it. Congrats!

 

What is ΙΙΙΛ in exergue?

 

It's a numbered control mark: upside down VIII = 8. According to Campana's corpus, he cites examples of I, II, III, IIII-, Λ, IΛ (ligatured in a way I can't reproduce), IIΛ, IIIΛ (mine), IIIIΛ.

 

Oh...WOW! I REALLY like that one! WELL done, congrats, and quite envious @Carthago !

This is one of the more interesting historical periods for me. Incredible war, and such a HUGE impact on Rome.

I will pile on with one of mine, to honor the gorgeous piece you captured, BUT:




The Social War, Marsic Confederation
AR Denarius. Corfinium, 89 BCE. 3.60g, 20mm, 8h.
Obv: Laureate head of Italia right, wearing pearl necklace; ITALIA behind, X (mark of value) below chin
Rev: Italia, seated left on shields, holding sceptre in right hand and sword in left, being crowned with wreath by Victory who stands behind; retrograde inverted B in exergue.
Ref: Campana 105 (same obverse die); Sear 228 w/ control mark inverted B; HN Italy 412a.
Near Very Fine. Cleaning marks to rev.
Ex: Roma

Compared to many of the Social War / Marsic Confederation issues, this is a "budget" version...

 

@Carthago A wonderful important coin with a fantastic provenance. I too enjoy tracking down the provenance of my coins. I also like buying cons with significant histories. Though not in the same league a your coin, the following coin has an interesting chain of ownership.


John (1199-1216), Penny, class VIa2, London,
Walter, walter · on · lvn, 1.40g/4h
(SCBI Mass 1755, this coin; N 974/2; S 1353).
Good fine, dark-toned
J.D. Brand Collection [from Baldwin October 1960];
J.P. Mass Collection, Part I, DNW Auction 61, 17 March 2004, lot 355 (part);
J. Sazama Collection, Part I, DNW Auction 93, 26 September 2011, lot 1140 (part)
The collection of the late ray Inder
DNW Auction Coins tokens and Historical Medals September 18-20 2018, lot 192.

J.D. Brand was a numismatist who wrote on the topic of English Medieval coins. In particular he wrote on the short cross pennies.

Brand J.D. Thompson J.D.A. A Worcestershire Hoard of Short Cross Pennies. Reprinted from The British Numismatic Journal, Vol. XXXIV, 1965.



Professor J.P. Mass was a collector and numismatist who wrote one of the most important references on short cross coins (SCBI 56). This penny of John above is from his collection and is the reference coin in SCBI 56.

As I said I enjoy coins that have interesting histories outside of themselves.

 

A wonderful coin, and congratulations on a successful pedigree hunt! As soon as I saw the FPL posted, I thought that coin had your name all over it.

 

I knew I was going to be jealous clicking on this thread. Excellent coin with an impressive pedigree!

 

That is a nice provenance history that you've got on your coin. You obviously get "it". I always find it particularly interesting to learn about the people who found my coins worthy of putting in their collection. In a way, it's a nod in your direction that you've made a wise choice on a coin that has been voted for by other collectors through the choice to put it in their collection as well.

And a neat coin as well. Thank you for posting it.

C

 

Incredible coin!

 

Nothing better than looking at your coin and reading your write up with a nice cup of tea, on a very grey sunday afternoon : fantastic

Q