New arrival - A third Social War coin.

Picked up my Christmas present to myself that I won over at Hess Divo earlier this month. I should have gotten it before Christmas but the package was almost two weeks delayed for unknown reasons.

Anyways, I'm super happy to be able to add a third Social War coin to my collection within the span of just one year. This type is quite rare, and difficult to obtain in the first place. So the somewhat rough surfaces don't bother me too much. And the provenance can't get much better.

It is also a plate coin in Alberto Campana's work on the Social War coinage.



The Social War. Coinage of the Marsic Confederation. AR Denarius (19mm 3.72 g). Moving mint in Campania(?). Struck 88-87 BC.

Obverse: Bust of Minerva left, wearing aegis and crested helmet, crowned by Victory standing behind her.

Reverse: Soldier(or Mars?), nude to waist, standing facing, helmeted head turned right, holding lance with his right hand, sword in his lowered left hand; on left, four shields attached to a tree, on right, forepart of bull reclining right, in exergue, IIIV.

Reference: Campana 121, 170c (this specimen, illustr. on pl. 9)

Provenance: Ex Othon Leonardos collection, J. Schulman, Amsterdam (31 May 1927), lot 339. Ex Joseph Martini collection, R. Ratto, Lugano (24 February 1930), lot 247. R. Ratto, Lugano - Fixed Price List VIII (1933), lot 176. Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 70 (16 May 2013), lot 97. Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 92 (23 May 2016), lot 1787. Hess Divo, Auction 338 (3 December 2019), lot 2.

 

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Congrats again, @Michael Stolt ! Fantastic Marsic.

 

Thank you!

 

Here's a group photo of the trio:

 

What a coin and what a provenance!

 

Those are great—the portraits are beautiful!

 

Wow! That's some coin and some provenance!

 

It's always nice to be able trace ownership like this. Great coin!

 

Strange. Except for the 80 year lapse (1933-2013) it seems to have been sold every three years.

 

congrats on a great pick-up,

 

Not too strange. Remember, these coins were sold based on photos of plaster casts, which may not perfectly reflect surfaces. Early buyers may not have been thrilled with the rough surfaces on the actual coin. Eventually, the coin found a happy home. I've a rough surface coin in my collection that appears in multiple, major Ratto sales of the late 1920s, then it drops off the radar until late 1970s.

 

Those are stunners I'm dreaming about and would love to add to my plates someday. Very well done, and the pedigree is really something

Q

 

Thank you!

 

Thank's!

 

Thank you!

 

Thank you very much!

 

Plus, this was a period of difficult times in the 1930's with a terrible economic depression and war spooling up in Europe so auction results were often not great during this time.