Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXIII 24-25 Mar 2022
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Civil War, Galba(?) AR Denarius. Uncertain mint in Spain, AD 68. GENIO P. R., bare head of Augustus as the genius of the Roman people to right, cornucopiae over shoulder / PAX, clasped hands holding winged caduceus flanked by two cornucopiae. AM 44 (same dies); C. 391; BMCRE -, p. 290 note; RIC I 22; Nicolas 44M (same dies). 3.62g, 18mm, 7h.
Good Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; one of only three or four known examples.
Ex Long Valley River Collection, Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XX, 29 October 2020, lot 561;
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction VII, 22 March 2014, lot 1009 (hammer: £16,000).
The anonymous coins of the Civil War of AD 68-69 produced at mints in Spain, Gaul, Northern Italy and possibly North Africa and Germany are notoriously rare and difficult to obtain. They do not name their issuing authorities, but we may safely infer that they were struck in support of Vindex, Galba or Vitellius, depending on the location of their production. Until relatively recently they had largely been ignored by scholars, though in the 1970s Peter-Hugo Martin, Colin Kraay and Etienne-Paul Nicolas all published studies on this obscure series. Many of the coin types are known from only very few examples, or unique specimens, and despite the revolt being brief, a matter of just a few months, the coinage is exceptionally diverse.
In common with many of the anonymous issues, this denarius employs Augustan motifs, whose self-styled persona as the protector of the liberty of the Roman people made him an obvious choice to champion on the anti-Neronian coinage, at once recalling the great Pax inaugurated by Augustus and at the same time clamouring for a return to just and noble governance. Many of the restored types copying earlier originals are quite faithful to their original prototypes, but they are distinguishable on account of their somewhat provincial quality both in stylistic and epigraphic terms, as well as the lower weight standard employed.
The Roman equivalent of the Greek daimon, genius has been defined as 'the entirety of the traits united in a begotten being'. Utilised by Augustus, the cult of the genius of the paterfamilias, a pillar of client-patron relationships, was invoked at private banquets and alongside the genius Augusti, which linked the Roman people closely to the emperor's person. Generally represented as a togate male carrying a cornucopiae and sometimes a patera, genius became an important part of feature of Roman ruler-cult. Here however, Augustus is presented as Genius Populi Romani, an important religious figure during the time of the Republic, perhaps in contrast to the Genius Augusti issues of Nero, the tyrant against whom Galba, Vitellius and Vindex now took up arms.
Good Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; one of only three or four known examples.
Ex Long Valley River Collection, Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XX, 29 October 2020, lot 561;
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction VII, 22 March 2014, lot 1009 (hammer: £16,000).
The anonymous coins of the Civil War of AD 68-69 produced at mints in Spain, Gaul, Northern Italy and possibly North Africa and Germany are notoriously rare and difficult to obtain. They do not name their issuing authorities, but we may safely infer that they were struck in support of Vindex, Galba or Vitellius, depending on the location of their production. Until relatively recently they had largely been ignored by scholars, though in the 1970s Peter-Hugo Martin, Colin Kraay and Etienne-Paul Nicolas all published studies on this obscure series. Many of the coin types are known from only very few examples, or unique specimens, and despite the revolt being brief, a matter of just a few months, the coinage is exceptionally diverse.
In common with many of the anonymous issues, this denarius employs Augustan motifs, whose self-styled persona as the protector of the liberty of the Roman people made him an obvious choice to champion on the anti-Neronian coinage, at once recalling the great Pax inaugurated by Augustus and at the same time clamouring for a return to just and noble governance. Many of the restored types copying earlier originals are quite faithful to their original prototypes, but they are distinguishable on account of their somewhat provincial quality both in stylistic and epigraphic terms, as well as the lower weight standard employed.
The Roman equivalent of the Greek daimon, genius has been defined as 'the entirety of the traits united in a begotten being'. Utilised by Augustus, the cult of the genius of the paterfamilias, a pillar of client-patron relationships, was invoked at private banquets and alongside the genius Augusti, which linked the Roman people closely to the emperor's person. Generally represented as a togate male carrying a cornucopiae and sometimes a patera, genius became an important part of feature of Roman ruler-cult. Here however, Augustus is presented as Genius Populi Romani, an important religious figure during the time of the Republic, perhaps in contrast to the Genius Augusti issues of Nero, the tyrant against whom Galba, Vitellius and Vindex now took up arms.