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<p>[QUOTE="DonnaML, post: 6245666, member: 110350"]I think this is only the second Roman Republican denarius I've bought this year. At this rate, I'll end up with only about one-third as many purchases as in 2020. As I mentioned elsewhere earlier today, I'm finding it more and more difficult to find Republican types I want in decent condition at an affordable price.</p><p><br /></p><p>To the coin -- plus, as usual, a lengthy explanatory footnote for anyone interested in that level of detail.</p><p><br /></p><p>Roman Republic, L. Cassius Longinus, AR Denarius, 63 or 60 BCE, Rome Mint. Obv. Veiled and diademed head of Vesta left, control-letter “A” before her, kylix (two-handled cup) behind her / Rev. Togate figure standing left, dropping a voting tablet favorable to proposed legislation, inscribed “V” (V<i>ti Rogas [= “as you propose”]</i>) into a cista before him, LONGIN III•V downwards behind him. Crawford 413/1, RSC I Cassia 10 (ill.), Sear RCV I 364 (ill.), Sydenham 935, Harlan, RRM II Ch. 6 at pp.49-53, BMCRR 3929 (control-letter “A”); see also id. 3930-3936 (other control letters). 3.96 g., 19 mm., 6 h. <i> Formerly in NGC slab, Cert. No.4280866-009, Graded Ch. XF, Strike: 4/5, Surface 4/5.</i>)*</p><p><br /></p><p>Dealer's photo:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1247293[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>I think this photo of the obverse shows the folds in Vesta's veil a little better than the dealer's photo:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1247294[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Here's a photo of the NGC slab. I'm glad I didn't have to take the coin out myself!</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1247295[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>*Crawford & RSC date the coin to 63 BCE, Harlan dates it to 60 BCE based on hoard evidence (see Ch. 6 at p. 49), and Sear notes the different dates but offers no opinion (see Sear RCV I at p. 141).</p><p><br /></p><p>Crawford identifies the moneyer as the L. [Lucius] Cassius Longinus who was proconsul in 48 BCE (see Vol. I p. 440), and was the brother of Gaius Cassius Longinus, Caesar’s assassin. Harlan argues against this identification on the ground that the assassin’s brother would have been too young (in his early 20s) to be the moneyer of this coin, and concludes that the moneyer was someone otherwise unknown. (See pp. 50-51.) Regardless of the specific identity of the moneyer, all authorities note that he omitted express mention of his nomen, Cassius (from the <i>gens </i>Cassia), and his praenomen, L. (for Lucius) from the coin, mentioning only his cognomen, Longinus, on the reverse. He was the only Republican moneyer from the <i>gens</i> Cassia to do so. Instead, he disclosed his praenomen and nomen by means of the control-letters on the obverse: the only control-letters used spell out his praenomen and nomen, as L CASSI (with one S reversed). See Sear RCV I at p. 141, Crawford at p. 440, Harlan at pp. 49-50. (See Crawford 362/1 at p. 377 for a discussion of the other known example of a moneyer spelling out his name via control-letters, the denarius of C. Mamilius Limetanus). Harlan suggests that this moneyer’s reason for omitting his praenomen and nomen from the coin may have been to avoid confusion with another Lucius Cassius Longinus, praetor in 66 BCE, who had been condemned as a participant in the so-called Catiline conspiracy, exposed in 63 BCE, only two years earlier (according to Harlan’s dating of the coin). See Harlan at p. 50.</p><p><br /></p><p>The “III•V” at the end of the reverse inscription stands for “IIIVIR” or triumvir. See the Numiswiki entry for IIIVIR, at <a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=IIIVIR" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=IIIVIR" rel="nofollow">https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=IIIVIR</a>: “On coins of the Roman Republic IIIVIR is used as a shortened abbreviation for IIIVIR AAAFF, which abbreviates "<i>III viri aere argento auro flando feiundo</i>" or "Three men for the casting and striking of bronze, silver and gold," a moneyer or mint magistrate.”</p><p><br /></p><p>The veiled depiction on the obverse of this coin is generally taken to be a portrayal of Vesta despite the absence of an inscription to that effect. Note the kylix cup behind her head, similar to the bowl in Vesta’s hands on Crawford 512/2, as well as the similarity of the portrait to the specifically identified portrait of a veiled Vesta on Crawford 428/1, issued by Quintus Cassius Longinus in 53 BCE -- also with a voting scene on the reverse. (But see the equally similar veiled portrait specifically identified as Concordia on a denarius issued by Lepidus Paullus in 62 BCE, Crawford 415/1.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Crawford assumes without discussion that the obverse portrait depicts Vesta, and concludes that her portrayal on the obverse, taken together with the voting scene on the reverse, constitute a reference to the election in 113 BCE of another member of the Cassius <i>gens</i>, Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla, as a special prosecutor to retry two acquitted Vestal Virgins (one of the three originally charged was convicted the first time) on allegations of breaking their vows. They were convicted on retrial and buried alive as punishment. See Crawford p. 440; Harlan at p. 182-183 (discussing the voting scene on the reverse of Crawford 428/1).</p><p><br /></p><p>In BMCRR, on the other hand, Grueber concluded that the reverse type commemorated the passage in 137 BCE of the <i>Lex Cassia tabelleria</i>, proposed by the same Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla, as tribune of the plebs, to curb the power of the nobility by expanding the recently-instituted secret ballot law to trials held before the people. (See BMCRR Vol. I p. 494.) If one thing is clear, it is that unlike Crawford 328/1, the reverse of this coin cannot refer to the retrial of the Vestal Virgins itself, since the scene on this reverse depicts a legislative vote (determined by votes of <u>V</u>ti Rogas [= “as you propose”] or <u>A</u>ntiquo [= “I vote against it”]), rather than a trial, as depicted on the reverse of Crawford 328/1 (determined by votes of <u>A</u>bsolvo [= “I absolve”] or <u>C</u>ondemno [= “I acquit”]).</p><p><br /></p><p>Harlan adopts neither view, arguing as follows (see pp. 52-53):</p><p><br /></p><p>“We should ask if we want to assign this depiction of voting to the passage of one specific law. By the time this coin was minted it was not the specifics of Longinus’ law that people recalled, but that voting tablet laws represented the liberation of the people from the oppression of the nobility [Quotation from Cicero’s speech <i>Pro Sestio</i>, concerning the voting tablet law of 137 BCE, omitted.] . . . . Our moneyer’s coin reminded the people how his family had traditionally championed the people’s interests over the nobility’s and how their interests have been furthered through constitutional means rather than violent revolution which threatens the interest of all citizens. The recent involvement of a Cassius Longinus in Cataline’s attempt to effect change through violent revolution was not representative of the true values of the Cassii Longini.”</p><p><br /></p><p>***</p><p><br /></p><p>I had been looking for an example of this coin for a long time, but I wanted one on which Vesta's face was in reasonably good condition, the "V" on the voting tablet was visible, and the togate citizen had at least a vaguely human-looking face and body. I thought that this coin met all those standards, and the price was affordable to me, so I bought it as soon as I saw it. Although I do have to ask: is the togate man wearing a hoodie, or is that supposed to be his hair?</p><p><br /></p><p>Please post your own coins with voting scenes, your coins issued by members of the gens <i>Cassia</i>, and/or your coins with a portrait of someone wearing a veil -- whether Vesta, Concordia, or anyone else.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="DonnaML, post: 6245666, member: 110350"]I think this is only the second Roman Republican denarius I've bought this year. At this rate, I'll end up with only about one-third as many purchases as in 2020. As I mentioned elsewhere earlier today, I'm finding it more and more difficult to find Republican types I want in decent condition at an affordable price. To the coin -- plus, as usual, a lengthy explanatory footnote for anyone interested in that level of detail. Roman Republic, L. Cassius Longinus, AR Denarius, 63 or 60 BCE, Rome Mint. Obv. Veiled and diademed head of Vesta left, control-letter “A” before her, kylix (two-handled cup) behind her / Rev. Togate figure standing left, dropping a voting tablet favorable to proposed legislation, inscribed “V” (V[I]ti Rogas [= “as you propose”][/I]) into a cista before him, LONGIN III•V downwards behind him. Crawford 413/1, RSC I Cassia 10 (ill.), Sear RCV I 364 (ill.), Sydenham 935, Harlan, RRM II Ch. 6 at pp.49-53, BMCRR 3929 (control-letter “A”); see also id. 3930-3936 (other control letters). 3.96 g., 19 mm., 6 h. [I] Formerly in NGC slab, Cert. No.4280866-009, Graded Ch. XF, Strike: 4/5, Surface 4/5.[/I])* Dealer's photo: [ATTACH=full]1247293[/ATTACH] I think this photo of the obverse shows the folds in Vesta's veil a little better than the dealer's photo: [ATTACH=full]1247294[/ATTACH] Here's a photo of the NGC slab. I'm glad I didn't have to take the coin out myself! [ATTACH=full]1247295[/ATTACH] *Crawford & RSC date the coin to 63 BCE, Harlan dates it to 60 BCE based on hoard evidence (see Ch. 6 at p. 49), and Sear notes the different dates but offers no opinion (see Sear RCV I at p. 141). Crawford identifies the moneyer as the L. [Lucius] Cassius Longinus who was proconsul in 48 BCE (see Vol. I p. 440), and was the brother of Gaius Cassius Longinus, Caesar’s assassin. Harlan argues against this identification on the ground that the assassin’s brother would have been too young (in his early 20s) to be the moneyer of this coin, and concludes that the moneyer was someone otherwise unknown. (See pp. 50-51.) Regardless of the specific identity of the moneyer, all authorities note that he omitted express mention of his nomen, Cassius (from the [I]gens [/I]Cassia), and his praenomen, L. (for Lucius) from the coin, mentioning only his cognomen, Longinus, on the reverse. He was the only Republican moneyer from the [I]gens[/I] Cassia to do so. Instead, he disclosed his praenomen and nomen by means of the control-letters on the obverse: the only control-letters used spell out his praenomen and nomen, as L CASSI (with one S reversed). See Sear RCV I at p. 141, Crawford at p. 440, Harlan at pp. 49-50. (See Crawford 362/1 at p. 377 for a discussion of the other known example of a moneyer spelling out his name via control-letters, the denarius of C. Mamilius Limetanus). Harlan suggests that this moneyer’s reason for omitting his praenomen and nomen from the coin may have been to avoid confusion with another Lucius Cassius Longinus, praetor in 66 BCE, who had been condemned as a participant in the so-called Catiline conspiracy, exposed in 63 BCE, only two years earlier (according to Harlan’s dating of the coin). See Harlan at p. 50. The “III•V” at the end of the reverse inscription stands for “IIIVIR” or triumvir. See the Numiswiki entry for IIIVIR, at [URL]https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=IIIVIR[/URL]: “On coins of the Roman Republic IIIVIR is used as a shortened abbreviation for IIIVIR AAAFF, which abbreviates "[I]III viri aere argento auro flando feiundo[/I]" or "Three men for the casting and striking of bronze, silver and gold," a moneyer or mint magistrate.” The veiled depiction on the obverse of this coin is generally taken to be a portrayal of Vesta despite the absence of an inscription to that effect. Note the kylix cup behind her head, similar to the bowl in Vesta’s hands on Crawford 512/2, as well as the similarity of the portrait to the specifically identified portrait of a veiled Vesta on Crawford 428/1, issued by Quintus Cassius Longinus in 53 BCE -- also with a voting scene on the reverse. (But see the equally similar veiled portrait specifically identified as Concordia on a denarius issued by Lepidus Paullus in 62 BCE, Crawford 415/1.) Crawford assumes without discussion that the obverse portrait depicts Vesta, and concludes that her portrayal on the obverse, taken together with the voting scene on the reverse, constitute a reference to the election in 113 BCE of another member of the Cassius [I]gens[/I], Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla, as a special prosecutor to retry two acquitted Vestal Virgins (one of the three originally charged was convicted the first time) on allegations of breaking their vows. They were convicted on retrial and buried alive as punishment. See Crawford p. 440; Harlan at p. 182-183 (discussing the voting scene on the reverse of Crawford 428/1). In BMCRR, on the other hand, Grueber concluded that the reverse type commemorated the passage in 137 BCE of the [I]Lex Cassia tabelleria[/I], proposed by the same Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla, as tribune of the plebs, to curb the power of the nobility by expanding the recently-instituted secret ballot law to trials held before the people. (See BMCRR Vol. I p. 494.) If one thing is clear, it is that unlike Crawford 328/1, the reverse of this coin cannot refer to the retrial of the Vestal Virgins itself, since the scene on this reverse depicts a legislative vote (determined by votes of [U]V[/U]ti Rogas [= “as you propose”] or [U]A[/U]ntiquo [= “I vote against it”]), rather than a trial, as depicted on the reverse of Crawford 328/1 (determined by votes of [U]A[/U]bsolvo [= “I absolve”] or [U]C[/U]ondemno [= “I acquit”]). Harlan adopts neither view, arguing as follows (see pp. 52-53): “We should ask if we want to assign this depiction of voting to the passage of one specific law. By the time this coin was minted it was not the specifics of Longinus’ law that people recalled, but that voting tablet laws represented the liberation of the people from the oppression of the nobility [Quotation from Cicero’s speech [I]Pro Sestio[/I], concerning the voting tablet law of 137 BCE, omitted.] . . . . Our moneyer’s coin reminded the people how his family had traditionally championed the people’s interests over the nobility’s and how their interests have been furthered through constitutional means rather than violent revolution which threatens the interest of all citizens. The recent involvement of a Cassius Longinus in Cataline’s attempt to effect change through violent revolution was not representative of the true values of the Cassii Longini.” *** I had been looking for an example of this coin for a long time, but I wanted one on which Vesta's face was in reasonably good condition, the "V" on the voting tablet was visible, and the togate citizen had at least a vaguely human-looking face and body. I thought that this coin met all those standards, and the price was affordable to me, so I bought it as soon as I saw it. Although I do have to ask: is the togate man wearing a hoodie, or is that supposed to be his hair? Please post your own coins with voting scenes, your coins issued by members of the gens [I]Cassia[/I], and/or your coins with a portrait of someone wearing a veil -- whether Vesta, Concordia, or anyone else.[/QUOTE]
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