Agora Auctions, LLC
Numismatic Auction 60 9 August 2016
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Q. Pomponius Musa. 56 B.C. AR denarius (18.5 mm, 3.58 g, 1 h). Laureate head of Apollo right; scroll behind / Q·POMPONI MVSA, Clio, the Muse of History, standing left, left elbow on pedestal, holding an open scroll. Crawford 410/3; Sydenham 813; RSC Pomponia 22/11. aVF, banker's mark on obverse.
Ex D. Thomas collection.
The different reverse types in this series represent the statues of the Muses in the Aedes Herclius Musarum, a temple located near the Circus Flaminius in Rome. The series is a play on the moneyer's name. Clio, the Muse of history, is one of nine Muses who inhabited Mt. Olympus. However, the number of Muses varies depending on who you read; Homer refers to them as one Muse and as many Muses living on Mt. Olympus, Plato lists eight Muses connected with eight mythical spheres, and Hesiod refers to them as nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, each with different artistic attributes.
Ex D. Thomas collection.
The different reverse types in this series represent the statues of the Muses in the Aedes Herclius Musarum, a temple located near the Circus Flaminius in Rome. The series is a play on the moneyer's name. Clio, the Muse of history, is one of nine Muses who inhabited Mt. Olympus. However, the number of Muses varies depending on who you read; Homer refers to them as one Muse and as many Muses living on Mt. Olympus, Plato lists eight Muses connected with eight mythical spheres, and Hesiod refers to them as nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, each with different artistic attributes.