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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;red_spork, post: 3069811, member: 74282&quot;]My most recent pickup comes from a Naville Numismatics <a href="https://navilleauction.auctionserver.net/view-auctions/catalog/id/118/lot/22705/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://navilleauction.auctionserver.net/view-auctions/catalog/id/118/lot/22705/" rel="nofollow">group lot of 24 RR bronzes</a> that I found myself bidding on a little over a month ago. I was interested in this coin and a few others but I just couldn&#039;t bring myself to bid too high on a lot that contained several coins that I&#039;ve already got better examples of and I ended up losing the lot. Fortunately for me, the lot was purchased by a dealer and I was able to purchase this coin at what I felt was a very fair price just over a week ago on eBay. After seeing the dealer&#039;s pictures of just this coin I actually became much more interested in it in particular than I had been when it was just one of the coins in the lot.</p><p><br /></p><p>This quadrans comes from the P SVLA series, thought to have been struck by a Publius Cornelius Sulla, likely an uncle of the dictator whom most associate with the name &quot;Sulla&quot;. This denomination for this moneyer is relatively rare, missing entirely from the British Museum and represented by only two specimens in Paris but that&#039;s not what really drew me to the coin. What drew me to this particular quadrans once I saw the eBay picture is the tiny female head decorating the prow-stem. This decoration is on every one of this moneyer&#039;s bronze denominations(<a href="https://flic.kr/p/a5iZFs" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://flic.kr/p/a5iZFs" rel="nofollow">except possibly the unique sextans</a>), but on the fractional denominations it almost always disappears due to wear, bad striking or corrosion and even on the as it isn&#039;t always visible, so noticing the faint outline of the female head sealed the deal for me even though it&#039;s something most would probably completely overlook.</p><p><br /></p><p>As far as the identity of the female head on the reverse, the moneyer unfortunately didn&#039;t give many hints but based on the affinity shown for Venus in the later coinage of the Cornelii Sullae and in particular of the dictator&#039;s coinage, Crawford suggests that this should also be interpreted as Venus. I tend to agree and have seen no convincing arguments to the contrary.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]771251[/ATTACH]</p><p>Roman Republic Æ quadrans(7.29g, 21mm). &quot;P SVLA&quot; series(Publius Cornelius Sulla, moneyer), 151 B.C. Rome mint. Head of young Hercules right, wearing lion&#039;s skin headdress, ••• behind / P SVLA, prow of galley right with female head(Venus?) decorating prowstem, ••• below. ROMA below. Crawford 205/5; Sydenham 387c; Cornelia 5</p><p>Purchased from ManorCollections, eBay, 4/22/2018, ex E.E. Clain-Stefanelli Collection, Naville Numismatics Live Auction 38, 3/11/2018, lot 610(part of)</p><p><br /></p><p>For those who cannot see the female head, hopefully this picture helps a little:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]771252[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>As always, please post anything relevant[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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