L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi - new RR denarius

Hi CT friends

Although Roman republican coinage isn't a main focus of mine, I find myself with a growing interest in them, and probably a third of my 20 last entries are republican.

That said, sometimes a coin type is so common that one always thinks time will come when they'll find the right one.... but time flies and they still don't have it.

The L Calpurnius Piso Frugi Apollo/horseman is one of those. Although I've been collecting ancient for 40 years, I never found myself ready for one until a few weeks ago


L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi, Denarius Rome mint, 90 BC
Laureate head of Apollo right, Δ below chin
Naked horseman galloping right, holding whip; above swan. L.PISO.FRUGI / ROMA at exergue
3,93 gr - 18,8 mm
Ref : RCV # 235, RSC # 12b, RRC # 340/1-Calpurnia 12b-symbol 166
Ex. Naville Numismatics

What really drove me to bidding on that one are the swan in the reverse field, above the horseman, and the slight off-center giving a feeling the rider and his horse are going to jump out of the flan just as they would in a rush (a tiny off-center sometimes gives a dynamic to the reverse scene). In hand the toning isn't bad either (yes I'm pretty happy with it as you might guess)

Quotie from a comment in RCV, millenium edition, p.117 : "this extraordinarily large and complex issuerepresents one of the principal war-coinages of the Romans during the conflict with the Marsic confederation. The control marks are legions and consist of letters, numerals and symbols in a multitude of combinations on obv. and rev."

Comments are welcome, and please post anything you find relevant, RR denarii, Gens Calpurnia, horsemen, Apollo, birds (chicken, even cooked chicken with bacon included) or whatever you like

Cheers
Q

 

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Fantastic coin! Well worth the wait.

 

Nice example! Here are the two I have in my collection:

L CALPURNIUS PISO FRUGI ROMAN REPUBLIC
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Laureate head of Apollo right, number LV behind
REVERSE: Horseman galloping right, holding palm L PISO FRVGI below, ROMA monogram, number LXXII above
Struck at Rome 90 BC
3.75g, 18.4mm
Cr340/1, Calpurnia 12

L CALPURNIUS PISO FRUGI ROMAN REPUBLIC
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Laureate head of Apollo r., behind, point control, front, check letter
REVERSE: Horseman galloping towards r., holding a palm branch, above, symbol, and below Piso Frvgi / check letter
Struck at Rome 90 BC
4.0g, 18mm
Cr340/1, Sydenham 670d. bb/Calpurnia 11
Ex Timeline Originals

 

Here's a comment for you....I'm green with envy.. Such a beautiful specimen of the type. Congratulations.

I have one, though mine isn't as special as the OP. Mine had a rusty die when struck, which makes the obverse figure look like he has a goatee...or even a zombie (depending on how the light hits the coin). I suppose the control marks are kinda neat.

 

I have nothing sensible to add other than my own Calpurnia....

Obv:– Laureate head of Apollo right, Fractional mark (two vertical pellets) behind bust and (four pellets) in front?
Rev:– Horseman galloping right, holding palm; L PISO FRVGI below, N Pellet above
Minted in Rome 90-89 B.C.
Reference(s) – Crawford 340/1, RSC I Calpurnia 11

 

o wow!..nice friggy!!...i've been bidding on many but alas, my total rings with the sound of a Mother Superior..."Nun"...

 

Here's one:



Phil Davis

 

Great coin. Symbols sometimes entice me to buy a second (or third) coin from a moneyer I already have. I like anchors.

Roman Republican Denarius, L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi, 90 BC, Rome

Obv – head of Apollo R, before letter, behind anchor

Rev – galloping horseman R, holding palm branch, above V (Q), below L.PISO.FRVGI

Cr 340/1

 

Amazing example!

L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi, 90 BC, AR Denarius
Obv: Laureate head of Apollo right; * to left, P to right
Rev: Horseman galloping right, carrying palm; D/• above
Size: 17.5mm, 4.06g
Ref: Crawford 340/1; Sydenham 671; Calpurnia 11a

 

Great coin! Here's mine from a similar but later issue in 67bc.

C. Calpurnius L.f. Frugi.
Ob: Head of Apollo r., hair bound with fillet; behind, club.
Rev. Horseman galloping r., wearing conical cap and holding palm branch; above, T. Below, C·PISO·L·F·FRVGI.
B. Calpurnia 24. Sydenham 865c. Crawford 408/1a.

 

Wow, that's a fantastic example, Q. And that you picked up one with that particular control symbol just shows what great taste you have, too. Here's, ahem, mine, albeit not as nice as yours.


ROMAN REPUBLIC
AR Denarius. 3.97g, 18.8mm. Rome mint, AD 90. L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi, moneyer. Crawford 340/1. O: Laureate head of Apollo right. R: Naked horseman galloping right, holding whip; above, swan and below, L PISO FRVGI / ROMA.
Ex E.E. Clain-Stefanelli Collection

 

I do really like the swan (? is that what Banti called Ibis or a different bird?) in field an overall look of your coin. I was attracted to mine below by (in common with Bing's coin) the Roman numerals used. Obverse die 77 includes the old fashioned 'arrow' L for 50. Reverse die 94 (XCIV could be more complete) shows subtractive numerals and points out that reverse dies wore out faster than obverse.

 

You see the same with my coin. The reverse mark has a higher number than the obverse...showing that reverse dies didn't last as long as obverse.

 

Incredible coin @Cucumbor ! I felt exactly the same: cool swan, and cool centering making the scene look like they were galloping off the flan!

Social War is a favorite Roman period for me..l

My Frugi


RR Calpurnius Piso Frugi 90 BCE Social AR Den CXXXII ROM-A monogram Apollo Horseman - Marsic S 235 Cr 340-1

 

Interesting coins from my point of view, common and perhaps not all that beautiful as the mints were working hard during the Social War. This was the war coinage during the conflict with the Marsic Confederation. Lots of variations - the British Museum has >300 varieties. I'm not certain about the control mark on the coin below - I think it is "grapes with vine" on obverse. XCVIIII (99) on the reverse in a different position than other coins shown so far.
We can see 3 of the 4 major reverse varieties have already shown up in this thread: torch in OP, whip, and palm. The fourth major variety is a left facing horseman with palm.

 

Thank you all for the kind words and some great examples with various control marks

When I first saw the coin, and before doing my homework, my thought was of an ibis rather than a swan too. And even more so as I found the coin back home from a trip to South Africa two weeks ago, where I saw some nice ibis :



Q

 

It looks like you have great taste too @zumbly !
The year is 90 BC though instead of AD 90 as you have mistyped

Cheers
Q

 

Whoops. Thanks for the correction.

 

Lovely coin.

As an exigent wartime issue, these coins were produced hurriedly and were often struck with worn dies on the brink of catastrophic failure. Thus, coins with die breaks and die wear are common. The mint was clearly more concerned with numbers than quality control. Evidencing the size of the issue, Crawford estimates 864 obverse and 1080 reverse dies were used to produce Frugi’s denarii. Style also deteriorates over the life of the issue. The best style coins, like yours, tend to have ROMA, either spelled-out or in monogram, in reverse exergue. These were probably among the earliest of the series.

This type alludes to the annual celebration of the Ludi Apollinares instituted by Frugi’s ancestor during the Second Punic War. These games were held at the Circus Maximus in July of each year and lasted 8 or 9 days, consisting of horse racing and performances.

 

Way back in 1989, I bought what I thought was one of the Piso Frugi 90 B.C. horseman issues - like the OP and others posted here. The seller was a reputable dealer, still around, who issued catalogs, like they did in the old days, but he made a mistake. I was pretty new at ancients, and the Internet wasn't available to civilians, but I had access to Crawford and after a while figured out I had a later issue from c. 67 B.C., coined by a son of the OP's moneyer - here is a note I made for myself at the time:

"Moneyer is Gaius Calpurnius Piso Frugi, son-in-law to Cicero and son of Lucius Calpurnius Piso, from whom he inherited the Apollo-and-horseman types.
Sydenham dates coins in this series to c. 64 B.C."

I was actually happy about the error - the later issue is quite a bit scarcer than the Social War issue.

Finally, in 2017, I managed to get the 90 B.C. issue on the cheap on eBay. Here they both are - the reverse legends are the real giveaway here:




Roman Republic Denarius
L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi
(90 B.C.)
Laureate head of Apollo right; symbol behind (T?) / L PISO FRVGI/CXV below horseman galloping right, carrying palm T• below.
Crawford 340/1; Syd. 665a; Calpurnia 11.
(3.70 grams / 19 mm)

Roman Republic Denarius
C. Piso L.f. Frugi
(67 B.C.)
Head of Apollo right, bound with fillet; horse(?) behind / C. PISO L F FRV below, man on horse holding palm-branch galloping right; X above.
Cr. 408; Calpurnia 24 - 29a
(3.53 grams / 17 mm)