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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;zumbly, post: 2157751, member: 57495&quot;]My collection has been going so Greek lately that it was only when I was recording this new pickup that I realized it was my very first Roman Republic coin purchased this year.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The Some-Dude-Running reverse seems a little mundane at first, but it drew my attention because it wasn&#039;t an RR type I&#039;d seen&nbsp; before.&nbsp; The athletic motif may allude to a sporty ancestor of the moneyer, or perhaps to public games being held at the time.&nbsp; The athlete is shown running his victory lap, holding in one hand the palm branch given to a victor of the games while wearing in the other a cestus, marking him as a boxer.&nbsp; The cestus, a gladiatorial battle glove, is a play on the cognomen <i>Cestianus</i>, making this one of the punning types popular with the wittier moneyers of the Republic.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>There are a few different control marks seen on this series (torch, discus, strigil), but all varieties appear to be quite rare.&nbsp; A bonus discovery made when doing online research was that my coin illustrates the type for <a href="http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sear5/s0332.html#plaetoria2" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/sear5/s0332.html#plaetoria2" rel="nofollow">Plaetoria 2</a> on Wildwinds.&nbsp; What really surprised me, though, was the $660 hammer price recorded for its previous auction outing (Freeman &amp; Sear Mail Bid Sale 12, 28 October 2005)... surprising because I paid about $500 less than that for it.&nbsp; It may be a cheap thrill, but I think I&#039;m going to go wave a palm branch and do a little victory lap now <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Do share any coins you have that refer to athletic games or if you have any of the RR punning types. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]414948[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>ROMAN REPUBLIC</b></p><p><b>L. Plaetorius L. f. Cestianus </b></p><p>AR Denarius</p><p>3.9g, 17.3mm</p><p>Rome mint, 67 BC</p><p>Crawford 396/1b; Sydenham 792a; Plaetoria 2</p><p>O: Diademed and draped bust of Juno Moneta right; MONETA downwards behind, [SC below chin].&nbsp; </p><p>R: Victorious boxer running right, one hand holding a palm branch and the other wearing a cestus and trailing ribbons; L PLAETORI downwards behind, L F Q S C upwards before, torch below. </p><p><i>Ex Andrew McCabe Collection</i></p><p><i>Ex Freeman &amp; Sear Mail Bid Sale 12, 28 October 2005</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><b>Notes:</b> Here&#039;s what a Roman cestus (circa 1st - 2nd centuries AD) would have looked like worn on the hand of a gladiatorial combatant. Vicious!</p><p>[ATTACH=full]414950[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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