Just Arrived - Sextus Pompey - Damnatio Memoriae?

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by gsimonel, Jun 24, 2021.

  1. gsimonel

    gsimonel Well-Known Member

    I just received this coin in the mail yesterday. It's from Roma eAuction 84:
    SextusPompey.jpg
    Sextus Pompey
    AE As
    Sicilian mint, Ca. 42-38 B.C.
    Obv: MAGN (lignate) – Laurate head of Janus in the image of Pompey the Great
    Rev: PIVS - Prow of galley; IMP below
    Crawford 479/1
    RPC I 671
    31mm, 15.6g

    There are scratches on the faces on the obverse, hard to see in the photo, but clearer in hand. (Can you believe I took a photo that makes surfaces scratches harder to see? I don't think I've ever done that before.) Since the faces are assumed to depict Pompey the Great, father of Sextus Pompey, I wonder if they were a deliberate attempt to mar the image as a sort of damnatio memoriae. Perhaps they were made after Sextus was captured and executed by Aggrippa. Any thoughts?

    Feel free to post any other D.M. coins or coins from this turbulent era.
     
    Spaniard, Johndakerftw and Bing like this.
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