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Finally, my Top 10 for 2020, all Roman Republican
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<p>[QUOTE="DonnaML, post: 5202843, member: 110350"]I decided it was time to make my final decisions after dithering for a while, and post my top 10. From the poll i posted a while ago (see <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/please-help-me-choose-the-last-three-for-my-top-10.371022/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/please-help-me-choose-the-last-three-for-my-top-10.371022/">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/please-help-me-choose-the-last-three-for-my-top-10.371022/</a>), I ended up choosing the top three as of today, plus a fourth. Not the actual fourth place coin, but close! I just liked this one a tiny bit better. </p><p><br /></p><p>Once again, the ones I picked are in chronological order. I'm not even going to try to rank them, because I am equally fond of all of them. </p><p><br /></p><p>I'm including at least portions of the footnotes I originally posted with the coin descriptions, because they may help explain the coins' appeal to me. I especially like that a number of the coins are thematically related to each other, specifically 4, 5, 6, and 7 -- all issued within a couple of years of each other, and all referring, symbolically at least, to the triumphs of Sulla (whether past or anticipated).</p><p><br /></p><p>Finally, I'm posting one of the coins here for the first time, since it arrived quite recently after a lengthy and confusing voyage from Spain, crossing the Atlantic three times. I didn't see much point posting it and then posting it again right away as part of my top 10.</p><p><br /></p><p>1. Roman Republic, C. Servilius M.f., AR Denarius 136 BCE. Obv. Head of Roma right wearing winged helmet, wreath behind neck, ROMA beneath with <b>*</b> [XVI monogram] to left / Rev. Dioscuri on horseback galloping in opposite directions, heads turned back to face each other, both twins holding their spears downwards behind horses, C. SERVEILI M F in exergue. RSC I Servilia 1, Crawford 239/1, Sydenham 525, Sear RCV I 116 (ill.), BMCRR Italy 540. 19.35 mm., 3.89 g. [<i>Sear says that this is the first Republican denarius with “ROMA” legend on obverse, and the second to use the monogram </i><b>* </b><i>for XVI .</i>]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1215008[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>2. Roman Republic, C. Fonteius, AR Denarius, 114-113 BCE. Obv. Laureate, Janiform head of the Dioscuri, control mark N under left chin [<i>mark of value * (= 16) under right chin is worn off</i>], one dot beneath head / Rev. Galley left with three rowers, <i>gubernator </i>(pilot) at stern, rudder beneath stern, apotropaic eye on side, three-pronged ram with wolf’s head above extending from prow, banners/streamers extending from stern, C • FONT above (N and T in monogram), ROMA below.* Crawford 290/1, RSC I Fonteia 1 (ill.), Sear RCV I 167 (ill.), Sydenham 555. 20 mm., 3.90 g. <i>Ex: Auctiones GmbH, eAuction 67, Lot 55, 15 March 2020; Ex: CNG Auction May 2012, Lot 293; Ex: Bruce R. Brace Collection.</i>** </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1215010[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>*According to H.A. Seaby in RSC I (at p. 48), the Janiform head on the obverse relates to the origins of the Fonteia <i>gens</i> -- which claimed as its founder Fons or Fontus, supposedly the son of Janus -- and the galley on the reverse relates to the naval exploits of the moneyer’s ancestor P. Fonteius Capito, who was praetor in Sardinia in 169 BCE. Crawford disagrees. (See Vol. I at p. 305.) He states that there is no good evidence for the existence of Fontus, and that the Janiform head should instead be regarded as that of the Dioscuri, because the <i>gens</i> Fonteia came from Tusculum, the chief cult-center of the Dioscuri in Latium. Crawford also states that the reverse is “doubtless” an allusion to the transmarine origin of Telegonus (the son of Ulysses and Circe), who was the legendary founder of Tusculum. Sear agrees with Crawford.</p><p><br /></p><p>**Bruce R. Brace "was a scholar and by many considered to be a dean of Roman Numismatics in Canada. Coins from his extensive collection were sold by CNG in 2012 and 2013." <a href="https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/an..._ex_bruce_r_brace_library/630746/Default.aspx" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/an..._ex_bruce_r_brace_library/630746/Default.aspx" rel="nofollow">https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/an..._ex_bruce_r_brace_library/630746/Default.aspx</a> . According to Google, he was the former General Chairman of the Canadian Numismatic Association, the recipient of their J.D. Ferguson Award in 1984, and the former honorary curator of the McMaster University Museum of Art coin collection, at least a portion of which is now known as the Bruce R. Brace Coin Collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>3. Roman Republic, C. Mamilius Limetanus, AR Serrate Denarius, 82 BCE Rome Mint. Obv. Draped bust of Mercury right, wearing petasus with two wings, caduceus over left shoulder, control letter “F” behind* / Rev. Ulysses walking right, wearing mariner’s clothing and pileus, holding staff in left hand and extending right hand towards his dog, Argus, who stands left at Ulysses’ feet with his head raised towards him; C•MAMIL downwards in left field, LIMETAN [TA ligate] upwards in right field. Crawford 362/1. RSC I Mamilia 6, Sear RCV I 282 (ill.), BMCRR 2717 and 2720-2721 [two examples of control letter “F”]. 21 mm., 4.04 g., 9 h.**</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1215011[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>*The only known control-letters for this issue are the 11 letters of the alphabet necessary to spell out a version of the moneyer’s name, C LIMETANVS C.F. See Crawford p. 377. (There is apparently also a control-mark in the form of the ligate TA, although I've never seen one. Id. That must have been a clue in discovering the "code.") There are 100 different obverse dies known for this issue (id. p. 375), meaning that there should be approximately 9 different dies per control-letter, assuming that they were distributed equally.</p><p><br /></p><p>**The reverse design alludes to the moneyer’s claim to descent from Telegonus, son of Ulysses and Circe. See Crawford p. 377. See also id. p. 220 (noting in connection with Crawford 149 that the Mamilii were a Tusculan family and claimed descent from Telegonus, Tusculum’s founder, through his daughter Mamilia). The family’s descent from Ulysses through Telegonus also explains the depiction of Mercury -- in legend, the great-grandfather of Ulysses -- on the obverse. Id. p. 377. For the tale of Ulysses’ encounter with his old dog Argus [Argos in Greek] upon his return to Ithaca, see Homer’s <i>Odyssey</i>, Book 17, lines 290-327.</p><p><br /></p><p>4. Roman Republic, A. Postumius A.f. Sp.n. Albinus (Aulus Postumius Albinus, son of Aulus [mint magistrate ca. 96 BCE], and grandson of Spurius [Consul 110 BCE]), AR Serrate Denarius, 81 BCE. Obv. Draped bust of Diana right, with bow and quiver over shoulder, bucranium above [<i>off flan</i>] / Rev. Roman priest standing facing on rocky ground (on Aventine Hill), head left, with right arm extended holding aspergillum, sprinkling heifer [see Harlan, Michael, <i>Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins</i>, 81 BCE-64 BCE (2012) ("RRM I<i>"</i>)], bull [<i>Crawford & Sear</i>], or ox [<i>RSC</i>] which he is about to sacrifice, a lighted altar between them, A POST - AF - SN • ALBIN [<i>AL in monogram</i>] around. RSC I Postumia 7, Crawford 372/1, Sydenham 745, Sear RCV I 296 (ill.), Harlan, RRM I Ch. 1 at pp. 1-7, BMCRR 2836. 18.54 mm., 3.85 g. <i>Ex. Spink & Sons Ltd. </i>(<i>before 2000 because of address on Spink coin tag; probably before 1974 given citation to Sydenham but not Crawford.</i>)* </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1215013[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>*See Harlan, RRM I (using this coin-type as the cover illustration for his book). At pp. 3-4, Harlan argues that in the legend which, as Crawford acknowledges, is the basis for the reverse of this coin -- namely, the sacrifice to Diana on the Aventine Hill founding her temple there ca. 500 BCE, establishing Rome as the <i>caput rerum</i> for all of Italy [and symbolizing the victory of Sulla over the rebel Italians in 82 BCE] -- the sacrificed animal was a heifer with wondrous horns, not a bull or an ox. (Citing Livy, <i>The History of Rome</i>, Book 1, ch. 45 [available at <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0145%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D45" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0145%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D45" rel="nofollow">http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0145:book=1:chapter=45</a>].) </p><p><br /></p><p>5. Roman Republic, Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius, AR Denarius, 81 BCE. Obv. Head of Pietas right, wearing diadem; below chin, stork standing right / Rev. Elephant standing left, wearing bell around neck; in exergue, Q•C•M•P•I [Q. Caecilius Metellus Imperator]. Crawford 374/1, RSC I Caecilia 43, Sear RCV I 301 (ill.), Sydenham 750, BMCRR Spain 43. 18 mm., 3.9 g.*</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1215015[/ATTACH]</p><p>*See Sear RCV I at p. 128: “The issuer strikes as imperator in Northern Italy where he was campaigning on behalf of Sulla. The following year he was to be the dictator’s colleague in the consulship.” See also Crawford Vol. I p. 390: This issue was produced by Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius, serving as a Sullan commander in the fight against Carrinas, Norbanus and Carbo. The obverse type [of Pietas] . . . alludes to his <i>cognomen</i>, acquired for his part in securing the restoration from exile of his father Q. Caecilius Metullus Numidicus.” The stork depicted in front of Pietas “is an emblem of family piety and an occasional adjunct of the goddess.” Jones, John Melville, <i>A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins</i> (London, Seaby, 1990) p. 243, under entry for Pietas. (Apparently, the Romans believed that the stork demonstrated family loyalty by returning to the same nest every year, and that it took care of its parents in old age.) </p><p><br /></p><p>Crawford also states at Vol. I p. 390 that “[t]he reverse type of an elephant recalls the capture of Hasdrubal’s elephants by L. Caecilius Metullus in 251 [BCE]” (also commemorated by an elephant denarius of C. Caecilius Metullus Caprarius in 125 BCE; Crawford 269/1, RSC I Caecilia 14). The elephant continued to be associated thereafter with the family (see the elephant denarius of Q. Caecilius Metullus Pius Scipio issued in 47-46 BCE; Crawford 459/1, RSC I Caecilia 47). The family was known for its opposition to Caesar.</p><p><br /></p><p>Nos. 6-10 to come soon.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="DonnaML, post: 5202843, member: 110350"]I decided it was time to make my final decisions after dithering for a while, and post my top 10. From the poll i posted a while ago (see [URL]https://www.cointalk.com/threads/please-help-me-choose-the-last-three-for-my-top-10.371022/[/URL]), I ended up choosing the top three as of today, plus a fourth. Not the actual fourth place coin, but close! I just liked this one a tiny bit better. Once again, the ones I picked are in chronological order. I'm not even going to try to rank them, because I am equally fond of all of them. I'm including at least portions of the footnotes I originally posted with the coin descriptions, because they may help explain the coins' appeal to me. I especially like that a number of the coins are thematically related to each other, specifically 4, 5, 6, and 7 -- all issued within a couple of years of each other, and all referring, symbolically at least, to the triumphs of Sulla (whether past or anticipated). Finally, I'm posting one of the coins here for the first time, since it arrived quite recently after a lengthy and confusing voyage from Spain, crossing the Atlantic three times. I didn't see much point posting it and then posting it again right away as part of my top 10. 1. Roman Republic, C. Servilius M.f., AR Denarius 136 BCE. Obv. Head of Roma right wearing winged helmet, wreath behind neck, ROMA beneath with [B]*[/B] [XVI monogram] to left / Rev. Dioscuri on horseback galloping in opposite directions, heads turned back to face each other, both twins holding their spears downwards behind horses, C. SERVEILI M F in exergue. RSC I Servilia 1, Crawford 239/1, Sydenham 525, Sear RCV I 116 (ill.), BMCRR Italy 540. 19.35 mm., 3.89 g. [[I]Sear says that this is the first Republican denarius with “ROMA” legend on obverse, and the second to use the monogram [/I][B]* [/B][I]for XVI .[/I]] [ATTACH=full]1215008[/ATTACH] 2. Roman Republic, C. Fonteius, AR Denarius, 114-113 BCE. Obv. Laureate, Janiform head of the Dioscuri, control mark N under left chin [[I]mark of value * (= 16) under right chin is worn off[/I]], one dot beneath head / Rev. Galley left with three rowers, [I]gubernator [/I](pilot) at stern, rudder beneath stern, apotropaic eye on side, three-pronged ram with wolf’s head above extending from prow, banners/streamers extending from stern, C • FONT above (N and T in monogram), ROMA below.* Crawford 290/1, RSC I Fonteia 1 (ill.), Sear RCV I 167 (ill.), Sydenham 555. 20 mm., 3.90 g. [I]Ex: Auctiones GmbH, eAuction 67, Lot 55, 15 March 2020; Ex: CNG Auction May 2012, Lot 293; Ex: Bruce R. Brace Collection.[/I]** [ATTACH=full]1215010[/ATTACH] *According to H.A. Seaby in RSC I (at p. 48), the Janiform head on the obverse relates to the origins of the Fonteia [I]gens[/I] -- which claimed as its founder Fons or Fontus, supposedly the son of Janus -- and the galley on the reverse relates to the naval exploits of the moneyer’s ancestor P. Fonteius Capito, who was praetor in Sardinia in 169 BCE. Crawford disagrees. (See Vol. I at p. 305.) He states that there is no good evidence for the existence of Fontus, and that the Janiform head should instead be regarded as that of the Dioscuri, because the [I]gens[/I] Fonteia came from Tusculum, the chief cult-center of the Dioscuri in Latium. Crawford also states that the reverse is “doubtless” an allusion to the transmarine origin of Telegonus (the son of Ulysses and Circe), who was the legendary founder of Tusculum. Sear agrees with Crawford. **Bruce R. Brace "was a scholar and by many considered to be a dean of Roman Numismatics in Canada. Coins from his extensive collection were sold by CNG in 2012 and 2013." [URL]https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/an..._ex_bruce_r_brace_library/630746/Default.aspx[/URL] . According to Google, he was the former General Chairman of the Canadian Numismatic Association, the recipient of their J.D. Ferguson Award in 1984, and the former honorary curator of the McMaster University Museum of Art coin collection, at least a portion of which is now known as the Bruce R. Brace Coin Collection. 3. Roman Republic, C. Mamilius Limetanus, AR Serrate Denarius, 82 BCE Rome Mint. Obv. Draped bust of Mercury right, wearing petasus with two wings, caduceus over left shoulder, control letter “F” behind* / Rev. Ulysses walking right, wearing mariner’s clothing and pileus, holding staff in left hand and extending right hand towards his dog, Argus, who stands left at Ulysses’ feet with his head raised towards him; C•MAMIL downwards in left field, LIMETAN [TA ligate] upwards in right field. Crawford 362/1. RSC I Mamilia 6, Sear RCV I 282 (ill.), BMCRR 2717 and 2720-2721 [two examples of control letter “F”]. 21 mm., 4.04 g., 9 h.** [ATTACH=full]1215011[/ATTACH] *The only known control-letters for this issue are the 11 letters of the alphabet necessary to spell out a version of the moneyer’s name, C LIMETANVS C.F. See Crawford p. 377. (There is apparently also a control-mark in the form of the ligate TA, although I've never seen one. Id. That must have been a clue in discovering the "code.") There are 100 different obverse dies known for this issue (id. p. 375), meaning that there should be approximately 9 different dies per control-letter, assuming that they were distributed equally. **The reverse design alludes to the moneyer’s claim to descent from Telegonus, son of Ulysses and Circe. See Crawford p. 377. See also id. p. 220 (noting in connection with Crawford 149 that the Mamilii were a Tusculan family and claimed descent from Telegonus, Tusculum’s founder, through his daughter Mamilia). The family’s descent from Ulysses through Telegonus also explains the depiction of Mercury -- in legend, the great-grandfather of Ulysses -- on the obverse. Id. p. 377. For the tale of Ulysses’ encounter with his old dog Argus [Argos in Greek] upon his return to Ithaca, see Homer’s [I]Odyssey[/I], Book 17, lines 290-327. 4. Roman Republic, A. Postumius A.f. Sp.n. Albinus (Aulus Postumius Albinus, son of Aulus [mint magistrate ca. 96 BCE], and grandson of Spurius [Consul 110 BCE]), AR Serrate Denarius, 81 BCE. Obv. Draped bust of Diana right, with bow and quiver over shoulder, bucranium above [[I]off flan[/I]] / Rev. Roman priest standing facing on rocky ground (on Aventine Hill), head left, with right arm extended holding aspergillum, sprinkling heifer [see Harlan, Michael, [I]Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins[/I], 81 BCE-64 BCE (2012) ("RRM I[I]"[/I])], bull [[I]Crawford & Sear[/I]], or ox [[I]RSC[/I]] which he is about to sacrifice, a lighted altar between them, A POST - AF - SN • ALBIN [[I]AL in monogram[/I]] around. RSC I Postumia 7, Crawford 372/1, Sydenham 745, Sear RCV I 296 (ill.), Harlan, RRM I Ch. 1 at pp. 1-7, BMCRR 2836. 18.54 mm., 3.85 g. [I]Ex. Spink & Sons Ltd. [/I]([I]before 2000 because of address on Spink coin tag; probably before 1974 given citation to Sydenham but not Crawford.[/I])* [ATTACH=full]1215013[/ATTACH] *See Harlan, RRM I (using this coin-type as the cover illustration for his book). At pp. 3-4, Harlan argues that in the legend which, as Crawford acknowledges, is the basis for the reverse of this coin -- namely, the sacrifice to Diana on the Aventine Hill founding her temple there ca. 500 BCE, establishing Rome as the [I]caput rerum[/I] for all of Italy [and symbolizing the victory of Sulla over the rebel Italians in 82 BCE] -- the sacrificed animal was a heifer with wondrous horns, not a bull or an ox. (Citing Livy, [I]The History of Rome[/I], Book 1, ch. 45 [available at [URL]http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0145%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D45[/URL]].) 5. Roman Republic, Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius, AR Denarius, 81 BCE. Obv. Head of Pietas right, wearing diadem; below chin, stork standing right / Rev. Elephant standing left, wearing bell around neck; in exergue, Q•C•M•P•I [Q. Caecilius Metellus Imperator]. Crawford 374/1, RSC I Caecilia 43, Sear RCV I 301 (ill.), Sydenham 750, BMCRR Spain 43. 18 mm., 3.9 g.* [ATTACH=full]1215015[/ATTACH] *See Sear RCV I at p. 128: “The issuer strikes as imperator in Northern Italy where he was campaigning on behalf of Sulla. The following year he was to be the dictator’s colleague in the consulship.” See also Crawford Vol. I p. 390: This issue was produced by Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius, serving as a Sullan commander in the fight against Carrinas, Norbanus and Carbo. The obverse type [of Pietas] . . . alludes to his [I]cognomen[/I], acquired for his part in securing the restoration from exile of his father Q. Caecilius Metullus Numidicus.” The stork depicted in front of Pietas “is an emblem of family piety and an occasional adjunct of the goddess.” Jones, John Melville, [I]A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins[/I] (London, Seaby, 1990) p. 243, under entry for Pietas. (Apparently, the Romans believed that the stork demonstrated family loyalty by returning to the same nest every year, and that it took care of its parents in old age.) Crawford also states at Vol. I p. 390 that “[t]he reverse type of an elephant recalls the capture of Hasdrubal’s elephants by L. Caecilius Metullus in 251 [BCE]” (also commemorated by an elephant denarius of C. Caecilius Metullus Caprarius in 125 BCE; Crawford 269/1, RSC I Caecilia 14). The elephant continued to be associated thereafter with the family (see the elephant denarius of Q. Caecilius Metullus Pius Scipio issued in 47-46 BCE; Crawford 459/1, RSC I Caecilia 47). The family was known for its opposition to Caesar. Nos. 6-10 to come soon.[/QUOTE]
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Finally, my Top 10 for 2020, all Roman Republican
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