Featured Roman Republic denarii with reverses showing animals (other than horses)

L. THORIUS BALBUS ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS THORIA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Head of Juno Sospita wearing goat-skin headdress, acronym I. S. M. R. behind.
REVERSE: Bull charging right, E above, L THORIVS below, BALBVS in exergue
Struck at Rome 105 BC
3.75g, 20mm
Cr 316/1, Sydenham 598, Thoria 1

L POMPONIUS MOLO ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS POMPONIA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Laureate head of Apollo right; L POMPON MOLO around
REVERSE: Numa Pompilius standing right before altar preparing to sacrifice a goat which is being held by a youth; NVMA POMPIL in exergue
Struck at Rome 97 BC
3.7g, 18mm
Crawford 334/1; Pomponia 6

Q. CAECILIUS METELLUS PIUS ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS CAECILIA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Diademed head of Pietas right; stork standing right before
REVERSE: Q C M P I beneath elephant walking left w/bell hanging from neck
Northern Italy, 79 BC-77 BC
3.75g; 18mm
Caecilia 43; Crawford 374/1; Syd 750; Sear 301

M. VOLTEIUS M.F. ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS VOLTEIA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Head of young Hercules right, wearing lion skin
REVERSE: Erymathian Boar right, M VOLTEI M F in ex
Rome 78BC
3.76g, 18mm
Syd 775, Cr385/2, Volteia 2

CN. PLANCIVS ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS PLANCIA
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: CN.[PLANCIVS] AED.CVR.S.C. around Diana Planciana right, wearing petasus, earring, and necklace
REVERSE: Cretan goat right; bow and quiver behind
Rome 55 BC
18mm, 3.6g
Cr 432/1

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

I think a snake counts as an animal, so I have a new addition to my Republican zoo:

Roman Republic, L. Roscius Fabatus, AR Serrate Denarius, 64 BCE, Rome Mint. Obv. Head of Juno Sospita right, wearing goat's skin, control-symbol to left, L. ROSCI in exergue/ Rev. Maiden standing right with basket over shoulder, feeding serpent erect before her, control-symbol to left, FABATI in exergue. RSC I Roscia 3, Crawford 412/1 (see also Crawford Vol. II Plate LXVIII, control-symbol 106 & pp. 790-792), Sear RCV I 363 (ill.). 16mm, 3.93g., 3h. (Depicts annual ceremony at Juno Sospita festival in Lanuvium, in grotto under temple; see RSC I at p. 85.)



Perhaps because of the big scratch (or small crack) on the obverse, and the absence of a readable legend in the exergue on that side, this example was less expensive than most. And I like it anyway because both sides are reasonably well-centered (which isn't always true of this type) -- and don't have a great deal of wear -- and because the snake on the reverse seems actually to be feeding on whatever the maiden brought for it in her basket (bag?).

If I post closeups of the control-symbols, I wonder if anyone might have any ideas on what they're supposed to represent.




Here's a copy of Crawford Vol. II Plate LXVIII; I think these symbols most closely match no. 106 -- in the bottom row, the 6th pair from the left. (There's one more Plate depicting the control-symbols for this type, but none of them looks anything like the ones on my coin.)


In the key to this plate in Crawford, no. 106 is described as "?/?." But to me, the one on the reverse looks like some kind of candle-holder or lamp with a flame lit inside, and I think the one on the obverse could also be a lamp with a flame. (The drawing makes it look like a shoe!) Does anyone else have any thoughts?

 

So, is anyone willing to offer an opinion on what these symbols represent? Or should I just assume that everyone agrees with mine?

 

Just “ shootin’ in the dark”, Donna...

Prow obv
Bidet rev

 

I don't know about that, @Alegandron. Have you ever seen a bidet with a lit flame in the middle of it?

 

Yeah, at a party at my home... It is amazing that you can light Everclear ‘shine anywhere!

(and, yeah, we had 2 bidets in that home.)

 

I see no reason to doubt your ID. It is correct for the two symbols to be related in some way so a hand lamp and a table model makes sense.

 

Thank you. I can understand why Crawford wasn't able to make an identification if he based his identifications, at least in part, on those drawings -- which I don't think were his -- rather than on an examination of the actual coins.

 

This is always a problem. It would be nice to know how much of any work is based on original research/experience and how much is repeating of 'traditional wisdom'. Does anyone have further information on Crawford?

 

I looked into your question a little, and have some answers, although they're not entirely conclusive. According to Crawford's preface, he reviewed every single type he lists in his catalogue. But he doesn't say he personally reviewed an example of every single control-mark he lists, or every single die. On the other hand, how could he have known to state that there are 240 different obverse dies of the Roscius Fabatus denarius and 241 different reverse dies (see Crawford 412/1, Vol. I at p. 439), or have listed 241 different pairs of control-marks for that denarius (Vol. II at pp. 790-794), without personally reviewing examples of all of them, or at least photos of all of them? Perhaps by basing his list of pairs of control-marks on earlier lists compiled by Grueber (author of the 3-volume work Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum from 1914), and by Babelon in his 1885 catalogue? (The numbers on Crawford's list are keyed to those on Grueber's and Babelon's lists.) But his list is not exactly the same as the earlier ones, and he states that his list and illustrative plates of Roscius Fabatus control-marks "illustrate all combinations of control-marks known to me; I do not think that the list is as complete as for L. Papius" (id. at p. 790) -- which certainly suggests personal review.

Furthermore, Crawford also states in his preface that the two plates of drawings of the Roscius Fabatus control-marks (as well as the two plates of drawings of the marks on the L. Papius denarius) were new, and at page xv he thanks Erica Mattingly for those drawings. (She was the wife of the numismatist Harold B. Mattingly, the son of the Harold Mattingly who wrote or co-wrote all the volumes of RIC published before his death in 1964.) Indeed, the key to the control-mark drawings in Plate LXVIII expressly states that the drawing of pair no. 106 -- the pair I identified as being the closest to the one on my example of the coin -- was "misdrawn" in Grueber. Which also strongly implies a personal review of an example of a coin with that pair of control-marks. Yet, he still has "?/?" for pair no. 106 in his list identifying the objects represented by all the different pairs (see id. at p. 792 ). So I have to conclude that if he did review such an example (in person or by review of a photograph), he either didn't use sufficient magnification to show the small flame within each of the two objects (which seems unlikely), or the example was too worn to show them.

Obviously, Crawford could not have personally reviewed as many as a few hundred different die examples for each of the 500+ Republican coins included in his catalogue, or personally calculated the number of dies used for each. See his essay in Volume II beginning at p. 640, entitled "Size of Issues of Coinage," stating at p. 641 that "to count all the dies used to strike during the Republic would be the work of several lifetimes." But he must have done so (or at least have reviewed published photographs) for certain types for which he lists all the control marks, including the Roscius Fabatus type. For the rest (see, e.g., Table L at pp. 642-671 of Vol. II), he estimates the number of obverse dies for every denarius issued from 157-31 BC -- even the ones for which moneyers did not use a numbered or lettered sequence of dies -- based on a representative sample of "24 hoards selected because of their size and because the pattern of issues in them has not been distorted by selection in modern times (as far as is known)." See id. at p. 641 and the Notes to Table L at p. 672, explaining how the numbers were estimated.

 

L. Thorius Balbus Ar Denarius 105 B.C. Obv.Head of Juno Sospita right wearing goat skin headdress. Rv. Bull charging right Cr 316/1 3.95 grms 18 mm Photo by W Hansen

 

Screw it... I love horses....


M CARBO ROMAN REPUBLIC
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Helmeted head of Roma right, laurel branch behind, X below chin
REVERSE: Jupiter driving quadriga right holding thunderbolt & eagle tipped scepter, M CARBO below horses, ROMA in ex.
Struck at Rome 122 BC

 

I do too! My attempt to exclude horses from this zoo wasn't because of any anti-equine bigotry, but because there are so very many Republican denarii with horses on the reverse that I was afraid including them would overwhelm other animals, whom I thought deserved some attention for once.

 

May we point out that those who do not like the parameters set for a thread (because they exclude their coins?) are perfectly free to start another thread and set the subject to suit their interests? There is no need for every one of us to post something from our collection to each and every thread. I know some of you are tired of seeing my 100 favorite coins because I will tend to post those same coins to threads over and over again. I have no idea and am too lazy to research every post I have made to see if and when I posted a certain coin previously either once or many times. By the time a thread reaches page three, I am not sure what I posted to a thread (or not) back on page one or two. That is why I would prefer all threads be locked after being up for a month or, better, when it has been a week since anyone posted to it.

I don't think I have a Republican animal that someone has not posted to this thread. I know some exist but I don't have them.

 

Doug, on an earlier post here, you showed a reverse that had a small figure brandishing a spear toward, you said, a lion or a dog, and asked for opinions on the animal.
My guess is a lion. Why would a soldier spear a dog?
Ummm, wolf?

 

One more for my Republican zoo. (Anyone who wants to read the saga of this gryphon's long journey from Paris to New York can find the details in the "Auction Houses and Coronavirus" thread. The journey would have been much faster had the gryphon used its own wings. But I'm very happy that it's here.)

Roman Republic, L. Papius, AR Serrate Denarius, 79 BCE. Obv. Head of Juno Sospita right, wearing goat skin; control-symbol of lyre behind/ Rev. Gryphon prancing right, control-symbol of lyre-key below, L. PAPI in exergue. Crawford 384/1 (see also Crawford Vol. II Plate LXVII, control-symbol 127 & p. 788), RSC I Papia 1, Sear RCV I 311 (ill.). 19 mm., 3.79 g., 9 h.



Is that what a "lyre-key" looks like? I suppose one fits one of the openings over a peg to adjust the strings.

 

Ae. Quadrans of Rome , c. 230 BC. dog running / wheel with spokes;

also, Semis from Tuder ( modern Todi) in Umbria ) , c. 220 - 200 BC.
obv. curled up dog; rev. Lyre.

 

Good, gosh, I REALLY like those Aes Graves, @octavius ! Those are great, and I covet them for MY collection!

Earlier in this thread, I was challenged that my posting of a Gladitorial Denarius was not a RR Non-Horse Animal Denarius. I squeeeeked through, cuz I explained that Gadiators were ANIMALS!

But yours are NOT Denarii, and you are getting a flagrant penalty of 15 yards as well as loss of down!

To satisfy your penalty, I will send you my address for you to forward those two "offending" Coins.

 

I really did not intend to exclude Republican coinage other than denarii (including pre-denarius coinage) from the scope of this thread. So I say you're overruled, and there's no penalty!

 

YEEEAAAH!!!


RR Aes Grave AE Quadrans 269-242 BCE Dog 3 pellets Six spoked wheel 59.8g Craw 24-6a Th-Vecchi 34 ex Sellwood



RR Aes Grave Anon 280-276 BCE Triens 46mm 90.3g 9.3mm thick Tbolt-Dolphin Rome Crawford 14-3 T Vecchi 3



Luceria AES Grave Anonymous 217-215 BCE Uncia 7.35g Frog-Corn Ear pellet retrograde L T-V 285