It seems that Norbanus is most renown as an opponent of Sulla. Despite being assisted by another Marian partisan, the general Sertorius, Norbanus was defeated by Sullan forces at the battle of Mount Tifata in 83 BC, suffering the loss of 6,000 legionaries in the process. Forced to flee to avoid the subsequent proscriptions of Sulla, Norbanus was in Rhodes by 82 BC and committed suicide in the middle of the marketplace while the leading citizens of Rhodes debated whether to turn him over to Sullan forces. The coin itself has that particular blend of devices that significantly differs from those I already own and has sufficient eye-appeal to complement its historical context. Naturally, I had to take a stab at it. Please feel free to post any coin that may in anyway relate to this example. AR denarius of Norbanus, Rome Mint 83 BC; 16 mm, 3.74 grams Diademed head of Venus right, Control CXI left, CNORBANVS below Grain ears, fasces and caduceus. Crawford 357/1b; Sydenham 739
@Mikey Zee , Fantastic coin! Just finished a book on this historical period, and starting another on it from a different perspective! I regret that I am traveling, and only have my iPad - so no coins to post... This period was so crucial and pivotal in Roman History, setting the stage for the Fall of the Republic (the Roman populace just gave up!) Love your Norbanus! Great historical write-up...fantastic.
There is always added interest when the moneyer made an appearance in history other than as a coin issuer. We always add for different types. Have you researched any reason this moneyer may have used these types?
I had a feeling one of you CT RR aficionados had their finger on trigger with that coin. I just watched it end myself. Nice going Mikey!
Despite scrolling through the internet, I have yet to find any reference to why these devices were chosen ....I was hoping someone might enlighten me.
EUREKA!!! I finally found a reference to the possible reasons for those particular devices.. A statement on Notes by Seaby states: "The reverse is probably an allusion to the moneyers father and the part he played during the Social War when he raised troops and organized a fleet and provisioned the town of Rhegium. It must have been a very large issue as the numbers of this type run from I to over CCXX" BTW: I LOVE your posts Bing!!!
cool reverse and cool history MZ! a nice auction win....i took a stab at 3 auctions this weekend, lost them all.
Nice, I really like this issue. The Norbanus here is thought to be the son of the Norbanus who opposed Sulla. The elder Norbanus was consul in 83 BC, and this issue is dated to the same year, which would make it a son's timely tribute to the earlier glories of his father. Of course, things didn't work out so well for the latter after that. Bing has shown both varieties; the one with four symbols being the scarcer of the two.
Hmmm, Once again it seems the multitude of kinsman is more than a bit confusing to me...... So this 'moneyer' was actually the son of the Norbanus who died in Rhodes and this coin was struck just before he committed suicide? Very nice four symbol example 'Z' !!!
Yes. Harold Mattingly mentions two occasions when a moneyer struck coins when his father was consul - this one, and when M. Valerius Messala issued a series in 53 BC, with a curule chair reverse and the legend PATRE COS (roughly translated, "my father is Consul, yo"). I don't have one of those to show... does anyone?
I actually do have one or two to show, but frustrated that I am traveling with no access to my files.
This was a very prolific issue -- when I bought this coin, the vendor told me there were 1-229 dies, marked by control number. Thanks @Mikey Zee for digging up the additional info! It is neat that we all have different control numbers. RSC Norbana 1
A bit late, but here goes. Nice set of coin posts. This was a large issue, but I am a bit confused by Crawford's die count of 173 reverse dies vs the largest known die of 229. A quick look at acsearch gave 186 hits for NORBANVS. Most were Cr 357s, but about a dozen were gold Cr 491s. The story about the moneyers father is interesting. Grueber states the reverse alludes the life of the moneyers father and the part he played in Sicily during the Social War. I have one and have one on the way Roman Republican Silver Denarius Mint – Rome, 83 BC C. NORBANVS - Caius Norbanus Obv - Diad. head of Venus right, with control mark behind (CLVIIII), C NORBANVS below Rev - No Legend; Grain ear with leaves on stalk (corn), fasces with axe and caduceus for 1a with a prow added to 1b. About half of the corn ears have leaves. The size of this issue is large! Crawford gives a die estimate of 156 obv and 173 rev, but then states that reverse die symbols go to CCXXVIIII, 229, for a and XXVI, 26, for b => a lot more than 173 reverse dies? Grueber lists 65 coins in the British Museum collection with the largest reverse numbers = CCXX for a and XXV for b. My coin – Weight = 3.6g; Diameter = 17.6 to 18.1 mm, or slightly oval. Orientation = 5. I found several examples on line and in books. Statistics on the weight and size: Weight; max = 4.34g / min = 3.30 / avg = 3.851 / St Dev = 0.167 Diameter; max = 20.3 / min = 17.3 / avg = 19.108 / St Dev = 0.826 Cr: 357 1b; BMCRR: 2811; Sear: 278; RSC: Norbana 2; CRR: 739 Grade VF Centering - well centered Strike - flat strike at 1:30 on obv and 4 - 7 on rev Flan flaws - edg chips 5 - 6 Style - typical Patination - none Damage - none Not mine, but I wish -
Keep in mind that Crawford didn't do a die study on all or even most of the types. For those with die counts in brackets like "Obverse dies: [173]" he used statistical formulas to estimate the number of dies based on the number of coins in his sample and the number of dies in his sample and so his estimates were inexact at best and significantly off the true number in some cases.
