One of my long time bucket list coins, a denarius featuring the voting scene. Now there are two options, one is this type and the Licinius Nerva one with the citizens voting on Comitium. I was open to either, provided they were cheap, as these coins despite being relatively common, tend to be on the pricier side. L. Cassius Longinus 3.16 g, 19 mm, 63 B.C. Obv: Head of Vesta left, wearing veil and diadem; A to left, calix to right. Rev: Citizen standing left, dropping tablet marked 'V' into cista on right; LONGIN•III•V downwards to right. Crawford 413/1 Please share your voting scenes!
Lovely example. Mine is budget too. P. Licinia Nerva (113-112 B.C.) AR Denarius O: Helmeted bust of Roma left, holding shield and spear over shoulder; crescent above, mark of value to left. R: Three citizens voting on comitium: one voter receives ballot from attendant below, another voter places ballot in cista; [P] on tablet above bar. Rome Mint 17mm 3.3g Crawford 292/1, Sydenham 548; Licinia 7
Cool! For more examples of voting scenes see the post by @Sulla80 here: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/celebrating-the-vote.411176/#post-25253204
Won one in March; it has the monogram "L" on the obverse: Rome 60 BC, moneyer L. Cassius Longinus 18.5 mm, 3.87 g, 8h Crawford 413/1; Sydenham 935; RSC Cassia 10; RBW 1493 (var., different control letter); Sear RCV I 364; BMCRR Vol. 1, Rome, 3931; Albert 1330 Have to check again the BMC not sure the number is right... Ob.: Diademed and veiled bust of Vesta to l.; letter L at left, kylix at right; border of dots Rev.: Voter standing to l., dropping a voting tablet favorable to proposed legislation, inscribed V (Vti rogas = “as you propose”) into cista before him. LONGIN III•V downwards behind him; border of dots All experts note that he omitted express mention of his nomen, Cassius, and his praenomen, L. (for Lucius), mentioning only his cognomen, Longinus, on the reverse. The moneyer's grandfather, L. Cassius Longinus Ravilla, was a respected and severe judge who presided over the re-trial of three Vestal Virgins in 113 BC on allegations of breaking their vows. Having first been acquitted by the pontifices, Ravilla, as a special prosecutor, convicted them on retrial and two of them were buried alive as punishment. The obverse of this denarius issue commemorates 50 years since those events had happened. BMCRR, on the other hand, says that the reverse cannot refer to the retrial of the Vestal Virgins itself, since the scene on this reverse depicts a legislative vote (Vti Rogas = “as you propose” or Antiquo = “I vote against it”), rather than a trial, (Absolvo = “I absolve” or Condemno = “I acquit”). Harlan's argument is as follows: “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 Pro Sestio, concerning the voting tablet law of 137 BC, 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.” Pictures courtesy CNG:
Thought I'd add my own voting denarius here. Recently acquired from Artemide Aste. I've been chasing one for a while, but thought it particularly relevant with the recent elections in the UK. I need to take a better photo, but you get the idea!
Nice coins. I like voting on coins and the books that use them on their cover. The last book is interesting. The author does a pretty good job on Roman history for a novel.
Some interesting books there - you had me investigating. Has anyone read the book below (and would you recommend it)?
It’s a good book and Mike Harlan did his research well. It covers 30 specific moneyers 63-49 BC. Not sure if that was all of them in that time span. Usually there were 3 moneyers per year, and the span is 14 years. However, it may be all of them because sometimes there were only two moneyers or one of them did not produce coins with their gens on it. I remember when the book came out a German academic numismatist criticized one of the chapters in a letter to the Celator and cited a reference which he said was more accurate. So, I looked up the reference, and sure enough, the critic had written it. Cal
I love your voting-scene coins! I wish I had one. Here's not a voting coin, but it ~does~ picture the minor god of democracy, Demos.
Thank you! I ordered it and have read a few pages (including the Cassius Longinus voting denarius chapter). It's well researched and accessible, so an enjoyable read. Making me aware of more coins I might want to purchase.
