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Roma Numismatics Ltd
E-Sale 41  2 Dec 2017
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Lot 631

Estimate: 175 GBP
Price realized: 260 GBP
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C. Antius C. f. Restio AR Denarius. Rome, 47 BC. Bare head of the tribune Antius Restio right; RESTIO behind / Hercules Triumphalis nude, walking right, head left, holding club and trophy, with cloak over left arm; C•ANTIVS•C•F• downwards before. Crawford 455/1a; RSC Antia 1. 3.81g, 18mm, 3h.

Good Very Fine. Struck in good style, with an attractive, deep old collection tone.

From the Andrew McCabe Collection;
Ex Classical Numismatic Group 37, 20 March 1996, lot 1318.

In 'Roman Historical Portraits' (1978), J.M.C. Toynbee writes that "the coin portrait of Caius Antius Restio, tribune of the plebs in c.72 BC which appears on the obverses of the denarii struck by the moneyer C.Antius Restio in 47 BC, represents the acme of the Roman veristic portrait style. The head facing right is round, the hair lank, the long narrow face is almost grotesque, with its prominent cheekbones, two deeply cut vertical folds of flesh on the cheeks, long pointed thin nose thickening at the tip, thick lips, protruding chin and a scraggy neck with 'Adam's Apple'. The origin of this portrait must have been a portrait made during Restio's lifetime".
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