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Auction 48 14 Jan 2020
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Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio. Silver Denarius (3.94 g), 47-46 BC. Utica. P. Licinius Crassus Junianus, legatus pro praetore. Q METEL PIVS SCIPIO IMP, The lion-headed Genius of Africa (Sekhmet) standing facing, holding ankh; above, G T-A (Genius Tutelaris Africae). Reverse: P CRASSVS IVN LEG PRO P R, Victory standing left, holding winged caduceus and small round shield. Crawford 460/4; HCRI 43; Sydenham 1050; RSC 51. Rare. Lightly toned. NGC grade Ch VF*; Strike: 4/5, Surface: 4/5. Value $7,000 - UP
After Pompey's defeat by Caesar at Pharsalus (Greece) in 48 and then his subsequent murder, his followers gathered in Africa and several of them struck coinage on their own account. One of them was Metellus Scipio who produced five issues; one alone, three others with the legate Junianus as here and the fifth with M. Eppius. It is uncertain whether his use of IMP on all of them indicated that he had actually been hailed as imperator by his troops or was meant to justify his coinage. It was Metellus Scipio who disclosed to Cicero the Cataline conspiracy, was consul with Pompey in 52, and governor of Seleucia in 49. He commanded the center line of Pompey's army at Pharsalus, after which he fled to Africa and formed an alliance with Juba, King of Numidia. Metellus Scipio was a Cornelius Scipio who was adopted into the Caecilius clan and was therefore related to Scipio Africanus who defeated Hannibal at Zama in 202 and won the Second Punic War. He appeared to believe that the cognomen Scipio (scepter) held some power. All of his coinage, filled with symbols of hoped-for victory, is pathetically true to its author's belief in the 'felix et invictum Scipionum nomen' (per Seutonius: 'the good luck and invincibility of the name Scipio'). This belief was overcome by the greater felicitas of Caesar, who defeated him at Thapsus (Tunisia) in BC 46.
Ex W. F. Stoecklin Collection, acquired from MMAG prior to 1975.
After Pompey's defeat by Caesar at Pharsalus (Greece) in 48 and then his subsequent murder, his followers gathered in Africa and several of them struck coinage on their own account. One of them was Metellus Scipio who produced five issues; one alone, three others with the legate Junianus as here and the fifth with M. Eppius. It is uncertain whether his use of IMP on all of them indicated that he had actually been hailed as imperator by his troops or was meant to justify his coinage. It was Metellus Scipio who disclosed to Cicero the Cataline conspiracy, was consul with Pompey in 52, and governor of Seleucia in 49. He commanded the center line of Pompey's army at Pharsalus, after which he fled to Africa and formed an alliance with Juba, King of Numidia. Metellus Scipio was a Cornelius Scipio who was adopted into the Caecilius clan and was therefore related to Scipio Africanus who defeated Hannibal at Zama in 202 and won the Second Punic War. He appeared to believe that the cognomen Scipio (scepter) held some power. All of his coinage, filled with symbols of hoped-for victory, is pathetically true to its author's belief in the 'felix et invictum Scipionum nomen' (per Seutonius: 'the good luck and invincibility of the name Scipio'). This belief was overcome by the greater felicitas of Caesar, who defeated him at Thapsus (Tunisia) in BC 46.
Ex W. F. Stoecklin Collection, acquired from MMAG prior to 1975.