Short video featuring some of Mark Antony's fleet coinage.

I had the fleet at home yesterday, so it gave me the opportunity to shoot a short video with the coins I have so far that were struck under his admiral - M. Oppius Capito, who most likely was stationed at Piraeus in Achaea.



References to coins in the video: RPC I 1470 - RPC I 1465 - RPC I 1469 - RPC I 1463 - RPC I 1462.

I am now missing four coins to complete Oppius Capito's part of the coinage - the heavy series dupondius, the light series sestertius, the semis and the quadrans.

"These unusual coins are examples of Mark Anthony's "fleet coinage," a series of bronzes in multiple, clearly marked denominations issued shortly after Antony's marriage alliance with Octavian, the nephew of Julius Caesar. The exact dates, the nature and purpose of the series have been the subject of much debate. David Sear places the commencement of the series in the summer of 38 BC at a still unidentified Eastern mint. The coins were struck in the names of Antony and three of his admirals - L. Sempronius Atratinus, M. Oppius Capito, and L. Calpurnius Bibulus, and falls into two distinct series, "heavy" and "light." Most of the coins depict overlapping, confronting or Janiform portraits of Antony and Octavia, his wife and Octavian's sister.

A few also show Octavian, in a clearly subsidiary position. Reverses almost all feature nautical themes--galleys under full sail, or figures in chariots drawn by hippocamps. The admiral's names, themes, and the combination of Greek and Latin letters indicate the coins may have been used to pay sailors in Antony's fleet, and were intended for circulation in his Eastern realm. An intriguing feature of the series is the range of denominations, all Roman, all clearly marked in Greek letters.

They range from a large bronze sestertius, previously a small silver coin, marked HS in Latin and the Greek letter-numeral D, or four, indicating a value of four asses. Next comes an unusual denomination, the tressis, or three asses, marked G; then the dupondius, two asses, marked B; and the as, marked A. The series is completed by two fractions, a semis and quadrans, marked S and with three dots (three unciae) respectively. "

M. Oppius Capito was Antony’s senior naval officer, stationed at the main naval base at Piraeus. His coins are found distributed around central Greece, and were most likely struck at Piraeus. His coins are found in two series, a heavy and a light and it has been suggested that some were struck at Tarentum where part of Antony’s fleet was based during the joint action against Sextus Pompey in 37-36 BC"

 

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That's a great series and video @Michael Stolt

 

no audio?

 

Thank you!

 

You wouldn't want to hear a sleeping girlfriend in the background