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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;calcol, post: 2554722, member: 77639&quot;]OK, bear with me if you are familiar with Roman Republican coins already.&nbsp; In the Republic, the mint was supervised by magistrates (usually three), called moneyers, who served for one year.&nbsp; They were political appointees and usually young men of prominent families.&nbsp; Being a moneyer was often a first step toward higher office.&nbsp; The coins of a particular year are now classified by the moneyer believed to be behind the design.&nbsp; The design often depicted the moneyer&#039;s ancestor or some significant act performed by an ancestor.</p><p><br /></p><p>The coin shown below is a silver denarius minted in 103 BC by a moneyer, Quintus Thermus, of the Minucia clan:</p><p><br /></p><p>Q. Thermus, m. f., RSC-Minucia-19; Ob: head of Mars, left.&nbsp; Rv: two warriors fighting, one on left protects fallen comrade, other wears horned helmet.&nbsp; Q. THERM. MF in exergue. Q. for Quintus. M for Minucia, F for filius (son);&nbsp; Records brave deeds of moneyer&#039;s ancestor, who was consul in 193 BC.&nbsp; He was in battle with the Ligurians and was reported to have distinguished himself in battle.</p><p><br /></p><p>Mars is the god of war.&nbsp; RSC refers to Roman Silver Coins, a standard reference.&nbsp; Quintus Minucius Thermus was the name of both the moneyer and his heroic ancestor.</p><p><br /></p><p>The photos, poor by today&#039;s standards, were taken digitally in the 1980&#039;s before digital still cameras became common.&nbsp; I used my Sony Hi8 camcorder on a copy stand.&nbsp; My computer was an AT clone with a video capture board installed.&nbsp; The capture board had custom software running under DOS.&nbsp; At the time, this was considered a techno-marvel.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]549657[/ATTACH] </p><p>[ATTACH=full]549658[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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