Description
| Roman Republic. Q. Antonius Balbus. Denarius, 83-82 BC, Rome mint. | |
| Obverse: | Laureate head of Jupiter right, behind S C. |
| Reverse: | Victory, holding a wreath in her right hand, reins and a palm branch in her left hand, riding a quadriga right, below P, in exergue Q ANTO BALB / PR (ligated). |
| Dimensions: | AR, 3.90 g, 19 mm, 5h. |
| References: | Crawford 364/1d; Sydenham 742b; BMCRR Rome 2763. |
| Condition: | Stunning dark cabinet tone, slightly off center, minted from fresh dies. Extremely fine. |
| Provenance: | From a private German Collection, acquired from an old South German Collection (with collector’s tag). |
| Comment: | The S C on the obverse of the coin is the abbreviation of senatus consulto „by the authority of the Senate“. This means the coin is a special issue, for which the senate had to authorize the silver. Therefore, the metal probably came from the inventory of a Roman temple. Unusually the moneyer Q. Antonius Balbus, followers of Marius, was a Praetor, who was allowed to mint coins to pay the soldiers in Sardinia to resist Sulla. The army was defeated in Sardinia by Sulla’s legate, L. Philippus.
The moneyer |
