New auction win - fantastic female head denarius.

Tomorrow I will receive my major win from one of the bigger autumn auctions. Until then, I have this wonderful coin I won at Bolaffi this morning. This is quiet a rarity within Roman Republican coinage and very difficult to find in this state of preservation. Thank's to @red_spork , additional provenance back to a Sternberg auction in 1986 has also been found for the coin (second picture).

Very happy to have landed this one



Anonymous. 206-200 BC. AR Denarius (3.65 g). Uncertain mint.

Obverse: Helmeted head of Roma right; X (mark of value) to left.

Reverse: The Dioscuri, each holding spear, on horseback right; below horses, female head right; ROMA in exergue.

Reference: Crawford 127/1

Provenance: Bolaffi Spa, Auction 35 (28 November 2019), lot 34, Ex Sternberg Auction XVII (9-10 May 1986), lot 478.

 

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I love these post reform Denarii. Very nice snare, @Michael Stolt ! Congrats!


RR Anon AR denarius Roma 211-206 BCE ROMA incus Dioscuri single horn-helmet Sear-- Craw 68-1b SICILY ISSUE R

 

Love that reverse. I wonder who the female bust represents? Any idea?

 

ROMA ?

 

When I spotted that denarius in the Sternberg catalog I knew immediately it was the one we had been discussing the day before. I'm really excited that you won it. It's really an excellent example of a type that often comes badly struck.

 

Here is a little write up from HjB about the type, and the later restored issue of the type by Trajan.

"The restoration of this type by Trajan, with the word COCLES added to the obverse, has led to its traditional assignment to the Horatia gens. (No other coins of this family are known; the alleged denarii with Roma head and COCLES on the obverse are all modern fabrications.) It's been further deduced that the female head is thus that of Horatia, the betrothed of one of the Curiatii. Crawford typically rejects this "romantic" explanation, but offers no replacement. It's been suggested that Trajan's selection of this type and that of "Decius", with shield and carnyx symbol, for restoration, was more or less random, meant to stand in for the entire range of the early denarius coinage. This would be plausible, if the two coins were in fact typical of the broader coinage. But both are rare, of anomalous (though not identical) style, struck at uncertain but non-Roman mints. It's hardly likely that a random grab from circulation by Trajan's mint officials would obtain precisely these two early types. That the prototypes were struck, by Crawford's estimation, within the same six year period, further stretches coincidence. And the addition of COCLES, and of DECIUS MUS to the shield and carnyx piece, surely demands explanation. Is it possible that the records of a particular branch mint survived the vagaries of 300+ years, and were available to Trajan's officials? That would explain the addition of the family names (listed in these hypothetical mint records) and the selection of types (far easier to copy a prototype on file than to search for extremely worn, 300 year old denarii among the millions recalled from circulation)."

 

This scarce type comes along occasionally in dreadful condition, but the reverse of this example is about as good as it gets. This coin was on my list, but I decided to stand down to save my funds for NYINC which I will be attending for the first time in January. I'm glad you got this for a good price - lower than my estimate.

 

Thank you! Very excited about this one, as you mention, they almost always turn up in rough condition. I got quiet surprised myself with the final hammer. Not the first time I see a good deal at Bolaffi though, the long wait times for export documentation for coins seem to scare off some buyers. It also helped that the Sternberg provenance was not mentioned in the auction I think.
I hope you find something nice at NYINC, I will try to attend sometime in the future, not this time around though.

 

Simply sensational coin from an amazing period in time. Not to mention the obverese flow lines making it appear Roma is radiating Big CONGRATS! Thanks much for sharing. (As you can tell by my Avatar I also like Republican Romans trampling things)
But, as @Bing said you're left wondering who and what the symbolism of the female head represents.
Here's some more RRs trampling things:
Trampling a prow

ANONYMOUS. RR Denarius (206-195 BCE). Mint: Rome.
Obv: Helmeted head of Roma right; X (mark of value) to left.
Rev: ROMA.
The Dioscuri on horses rearing right, each holding spear; prow below.
Crawford 114/1.
3.7 g. 19 mm

The letter P

P. Servilius M. f. Rullus
AR Denarius. Rome, 100 BCE. Helmeted bust of Minerva left wearing aegis, RVLLI behind / Victory, holding palm frond and reins, driving galloping bigaright, P below; SERVILI M F in exergue. Crawford 328/1; Sydenham 601; Servilia 14.

And the coin that trampled the republic

Julius Caesar
P. Sepullius Macer - Venus Denarius,lifetime issue Feb-March 44 BC. Moneyer P. Sepullius Macer. Obv: CAESAR DICT PERPETVO legend with laureate and veiled head of Gaius Julius Caesar right. Rev: P SEPVLLIVS MACER legend with Venus standing left, holding Victory in right hand, and sceptre set on shield in left. 20mm, 3.18 grams. Crawford 480/13; Sydenham 1074; RSC 39; Sear 1414. Fine. Scarce. Ex-Savoca

 

Thank you, and thank's for an entertaining post, "And the coin that trampled the republic" really made me laugh

 

Mine has Roma wearing a more prominent earing, but the same proud Roman nose !

 

UPDATE:

After almost one year and seven months, the coin is finally being released and shipped tomorrow. So happy, the hammer I got it for is a big big big bargain in todays market and it is an amazing specimen of this very rare type

 

Wow. That's a crazy wait time. I wonder, if that is a CoinTalk record. Why did it take so long? I'm guessing, that it's somehow because of the pandemic. And I thought my 4 month wait time, for a Justinian I follis, shipped from Norway, was long (March 30, 2020 to August 1, 2020).

 

Certainly nicer than mine! - I'm glad yours is finally going to arrive.

Did the coin from Varesi get an export licence in the end?

ATB,
Aidan.

 

Definitely a record for me, I think the longest I've had to wait for a coin requiring export papers from Italy before that - was around 4 months.

Covid did play a part as the Italian government offices where closed for about four months then opened for a month but then went on vacation for a month..

It also seems as of recent that most export paper offices have declined a lot of applications for absolutely no good reason.

In the end for my coin it seems a lawsuit against the state was reqired before it got resolved.

Varesi got a ton of coins declined in their Gorgone sale as an example, many coins had good provenances placing them outside of Italy prior to the auction even.

 

Thanks Aidan!

Sadly I had to accept a refund in the end. Three different offices declined the applications. One was gracious enough to offer export papers if a pre 1921 provenance was found for the coins (I had found one 1929 provenance but that was not good enough).

Really disappointing - so finally getting this one home feels like a victory

 

That's a pity - it seems the coin will stay in Italy.

Great that this one is on its way

ATB,
Aidan.

 

I have only been dabbling with the Roman republic coins and only have two. This one has an interesting history. Once more this is from my notebook.



Man. Acilius Balbus was a Consul in 114 B.C. A Roman coin (at right) was minted in honor of this individual or M. Acilius Balbus, Consul in 150 B.C. On the front of the coin is the head of the god Pallas with the inscription BALBVS. On the reverse is the god Jupiter and a quadriga (a four-horse chariot).

Marcus Atius Balbus was Caesar Augustus' grandfather. Julius Caesar's youngest sister Julia (101 B.C. - 51 B.C.) married Balbus, a praetor and commissioner who came from a senatorial family. They had three daughters: Atia Balba Prima, Atia Balba Caesonia and Atia Balba Tertia. Their middle daughter, Atia Balba Caesonia (85 BC-43 BC) and her husband Gaius Octavius had a son named Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, or as he later became to be known, Caesar Augustus. Since Julius Caesar did not have a son, he named his grand-nephew, Octavius as his successor. In 62 B.C. Marcus Atius Balbus was a praetor which was one of eighteen magistrates with judicial functions. He was appointed governor of Sardinia. A coin was minted in his honor. On the front is the head of Sardus, the father or mythical ancestor of the island, and on the back is the head of Balbus. In 59 B.C. Balbus was appointed one of the vigintiviri under the Julian law for the division of the land in Campania. The term vigintiviri refers to an individual who was appointed to oversee the process of founding a colony.

From Wild Winds:

ROMAN REPUBLIC. Mn. Acilius Balbus. Ca. 123 BC. AR denarius (3.96 gm). Rome. As preceding, but BALBVS (AL in monogram) downwards behind, mark of value XVI in monogram under chin, ROMA below neck, laurel wreath border / Jupiter, hurling thunderbolt and holding scepter, in quadriga driven right by Victory, holding whip, round Macedonian shield below horses, MN. ACILI (MN in monogram) in exergue. Crawford 271/1. Sydenham 498. RSC Acilia 1. RCTV

 

Congrats! That’s an awesome looking coin and I hope to have one myself one day.

I know how you feel waiting though. I’m waiting on a quadrigatus in pretty decent condition (NGC AU) & I’m thrilled it finally shipped out today.

 

All the republican denarii with roma and the horses look the same to me... but nice coin!