Stack's Bowers & Ponterio
January 2023 NYINC Auction 13-16 Jan 2023
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L. SERVIUS RUFUS. AR Denarius (3.82 gms), Rome Mint, 43 B.C. NGC Ch F★, Strike: 5/5 Surface: 5/5.
Cr-515/2; CRI-324; Syd-1082. Obverse: Bare head (of Brutus?) right; Reverse: The Dioscuri standing facing, each holding spear and with sword hanging from waist. A RARE type from just after the assassination of Julius Caesar, this series was traditionally thought to convey the portrait of Servius Sulpicius Rufus, who had been responsible for raising the siege of Tusculum in 377 B.C. Given that the moneyer was a Servius and not a Sulpicius, however, this attribution now seems apocryphal, with a more likely attribution being that of a portrait of Brutus, with the moneyer adding his support for the republican cause. Pleasingly toned and rather well centered, with the typical striking weakness not at all interfering with the elegant eye appeal.
Ex: Stack's (4/2009) Lot # 1316. Ex: Karl Sifferman Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 76 - 9/2007) Lot # 1302.
Cr-515/2; CRI-324; Syd-1082. Obverse: Bare head (of Brutus?) right; Reverse: The Dioscuri standing facing, each holding spear and with sword hanging from waist. A RARE type from just after the assassination of Julius Caesar, this series was traditionally thought to convey the portrait of Servius Sulpicius Rufus, who had been responsible for raising the siege of Tusculum in 377 B.C. Given that the moneyer was a Servius and not a Sulpicius, however, this attribution now seems apocryphal, with a more likely attribution being that of a portrait of Brutus, with the moneyer adding his support for the republican cause. Pleasingly toned and rather well centered, with the typical striking weakness not at all interfering with the elegant eye appeal.
Ex: Stack's (4/2009) Lot # 1316. Ex: Karl Sifferman Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 76 - 9/2007) Lot # 1302.
Estimate: $3000 - $5000