New arrival!

Received my most recent purchase yesterday. This is a type in the RRC 464 series I have been chasing for quiet some time and they are notoriously difficult to find in a condition suitable for my collection. The toning on this specimen is just sublime with blue/gold/red iridescence topped with a gorgeous old collection toning that has a slightly purple/brown tone. Did my best to capture this little colorful wonder, but as usually these are best enjoyed in hand



T. Carisius. 46 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.80 g). Rome mint.

Obverse: Head of Sibyl Herophile right, hair elaborately decorated with jewels and enclosed in a sling, tied with bands.

Reverse: Sphinx seated right; T • CARISIVS above, III • VIR in exergue.

Reference: Crawford 464/1

Provenance: Ex Aureo & Calicó Auction 319 – Alba Longa, vol. I (7 November 2018), lot 223, Ex Sotheby's "Greek and Roman coins" (28 October 1993), lot 1385.

"This evocative type demonstrates that Roman moneyers were quite familiar with the legends and coin types of obscure Greek cities. The city of Gergis in Troas, near the site of ancient Troy, was said to be the birthplace of the Sibyl Herophile, a priestess with prophetic powers. Coins of the city struck circa 350-300 BC depict a head of the Sibyl on the obverse and a seated sphinx, symbol of prophecy, on the reverse. The types are repeated here, surely intended as a nod to the Trojan origins of Julius Caesar's gens."

 

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Love it. Congrats.

My Carisius
T. CARISIUS ROMAN REPUBLIC
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Head of the Aphrodisian Sibyl right, back hair in sling
REVERSE: T. CARISIVS above sphinx sitting right; III.VIR below
Rome 46 BC
19mm, 3.49 g
Cr464/1; Syd 983a; Carisia 11
ex. Doug Smith Collection

 

Thank you

I really like the RRC 464 series. Hopefully I'll have the entire set completed soon as I have two other from the series already

 

That's a great example. I'm still on the look out for a 'tools of the trade' type.

ROMAN REPUBLIC
AR Denarius. 3.93g, 18mm. Rome mint, 46 BC. T. Carisius, moneyer. Crawford 464/1; Sydenham 983. O: Female head (Sibyl Herophile or Sphinx) right, hair elaborately decorated with jewels and enclosed in a sling and tied with bands. R: T.CARISIVS, Sphinx seated right; III.VIR in exergue.
Ex @Mikey Zee Collection

 

Nice one

I still wonder why Carisius chose all these combinations for his different types (There is also the one with Victory on the obverse, with either a biga or a quadriga on the reverse.) I Don't really see his types connected in any sort of way apart from his name on the coins.

 

Victory comes in both a biga and a quadriga for this issue - below are both types. I believe it was issued for distribution for Julius Caesar's triple Triumph of 46 B.C. This appears to have been an abundant issue, rather hastily, crudely struck.



Roman Republic Denarius
T. Carisius
(46 B.C.) - Rome Mint
Winged bust of Victory right / Victory driving biga rt., holding reins and wreath; in exergue, T. CARISI
Carisia 2; Crawford 464/4.
(3.57 grams / 20 mm)

Roman Republic Denarius
T. Carisius
(46 B.C.) - Rome Mint
Draped and winged bust of Victory right; SC behind / Victory driving quadriga right, holding reins and wreath, T CARISI in exergue.
Carisia 3; Crawford 464/5.
(3.25 grams / 19 mm)

 

What, no AR Sestertii?? You know he produced several. Quite rare of course, in any condition. I've temporarily settled for this off-struck example which is actually a very important coin for reasons I'll disclose one day (when I get around to writing it up).



AR Sesterius
Obv: [Head of Pan]; [T.]CARISI[VS].
Rev: Panther advancing right with thrysus; III VIR in exergue.
Ref: Crawford 464/7a.
Ex RBW Collection; ex Borghesi (d. 1860) Collection.

 

Yes they seem to be more common than the Juno/Roma/Sibyl and as you say they suffer even more from the already existing strike and flan issues the other types suffer from. I've also found it more difficult to find specimens from this particular series than others that have fine style dies.

 

Ah yes, had forgotten about those. There is also a quinarius.

Ill post pics of the other sestertius and the quinarius for anyone interested to see what they look like (not my coins).

Quinarius. Crawford 464/6. NUMISMATICA ARS CLASSICA NAC AG, AUCTION 63, LOT 394


Sestertius. Crawford 464/8. NUMISMATICA ARS CLASSICA NAC AG, AUCTION 92, LOT 1892

 

What a jaw dropping coin. Big CONGRATS on that one @Michael Stolt!!
Here's my humble and strange addition to the thread by the same moneyer:


T. Carisius
AR Denarius. Rome, 46 BC. Head of Roma right, wearing ornate crested helmet; ROMA downwards behind / Sceptre, cornucopiae on globe, and rudder, T•CARISI below; all within laurel wreath. Crawford 464/3a; RSC Carisia 4. 2.og, 16mm, 10h.​

 

Very nice, I love that Sphinx reverse. Here’s my T. Carisius.



T. Carisius, AR Denarius, (18mm, 3.4g), 46 BC, Helmeted bust of Roma right/ Rev. Cornucopia on globe, between scepter and rudder.

 

I am extremely happy to see someone post a 'tools' type that is NOT one of the common fakes that has been plaguing the market in the last few years. It is a great type.

 

Thank you very much

I have the slightly scarcer variation of your coin with a plain crest on Roma's helmet I would almost go as far as saying that this is actually the denarius among the types that is the most difficult to find in really good condition with fine style dies.

 

Yes it seems to be a very popular type to fake cause of the "tools" of course.
I am more inclined to the theory of the "punch die" above is actually a cap of Vulcan.

Funnily enough both my "Tools" coin and my new "Sphinx" have old Spanish provenances. The series seems popular among Spanish collectors as supposedly Carisius had a connection with spain. But later research has proven it was probably another "Carisius" that was active in Spain.

"The moneyer himself is more or less unknown and the little we know from Cassius Dio may actually be wrong. According to Cassius Dio, Titus Carisius defeated the Astures in Hispania, and took their chief town, Lancia, circa 25 BC; but in consequence of his cruelty and insolence, the Astures took up arms again in 22 BC.

There are coins in which Titus Carisius is identified as triumvir monetalis, and another which mentions Publius Carisius, as legatus and propraetor, together with the word Emerita, apparently referring to the town of Augusta Emerita in Lusitania, which the emperor Augustus established for the emeriti, veterans of the war in Hispania. From this it has been conjectured that the praenomen Titus, assigned to the conqueror of the Astures by Cassius Dio, should instead be Publius. "

 

The only one I have from this group T Carisius Ar Denarius Obv Head of Juno Moneta. Rv Implements of a coiner. Craw 464/2 CRI 49 46 B.C. 3.77 grms 19 mm

 

Also, here is an angled pic, showing yet more of the amazing toning and also the high relief of the obverse bust

 

Drop-dead gorgeous picture and coin! Even better without so much background, plus you don't have to click to enlarge the area of interest .

 

Thank you very much And thank you for the quick edit I tend to post mostly on Facebook so usually wider pictures are better there. Still not super used to all the forum functions and how to best make posts yet, getting there though

I was very pleasantly surprised when I got the coin home, past two sellers haven't been able to capture the toning correctly at all (to my luck I suppose). Luxury problem with it is that it really looks different and the toning and colors shift depending on the angle. The Sibyl on the type is easily one of my favorite obverse busts on Republican coinage when engraved in fine style.

 

It really is spectacular. I'm smitten .

 

A wonderful coin, and a type that has always appealed to me.

The traditional interpretation of this type is indeed that it depicts the head of the Sibyl Herophile (said to have been born at Gergis in Troas) and a sphinx, which are the types of coins struck at Gergis circa 350-300 BC, and that this is intended to be a reference to the Trojan origins of Julius Caesar’s ancestor Aeneas. This is however a very weak argument. In a well reasoned investigation of the type, D. Woods (Carisius, Acisculus, and the Riddle of the Sphinx, American Journal of Numismatics Vol. 25, 2013) observes that the identification of the obverse portrait as that of Herophile is based on nothing more than a passing resemblance of the types to those of Gergis, an obscure city of little note, some three hundred years earlier and thus had Carisius wished to make a reference to Caesar’s Trojan origins this would be a poor and highly oblique manner of doing so. Woytek (Arma et Nummi, 2003) suggests that Atia had inherited her sphinx signet rings (famously used by Octavian) from Caesar, so that the sphinx was Caesar’s seal, and that was why Carisius chose this device. Unfortunately the only attested seal of Caesar is Venus in armour (Dio 43.43.3). Woods suggests that a more likely explanation is that the sphinx, famous for its riddle, is a punning allusion to the moneyer’s cognomen (which is not preserved), but in this hypothesis probably Balbus (‘he who stammers, or speaks obscurely’). As for the obverse bust meanwhile, lacking any identifying features (and absent the prominent SIBYLLA of M. Torquatus’ denarii, Woods argues this is probably the head of the reverse sphinx, given its decidedly un-Roman headdress.