Watch List notes:

JDL Collection Part II: Roman Coins
IMPERATORIAL COINAGE

MARK ANTONY, died in 30 BC.

With Marcus Barbatius Pollio. Denarius, Ephesus 41, AR 3.94 g.
Obv. M ℵ? ANT ℵ? IMP ℵ? AVG ℵ? III ℵ? VIR ℵ? R ℵ? P ℵ? C ℵ? M ℵ? BARBAT
?? Q ℵ? P Bare head of Mark Antony right.
Rev. CAESAR ℵ? IMP ℵ? PONT ℵ? III ℵ? VIR ℵ? R ℵ? P ℵ? C ℵ?
Bare head of Octavian right.
Literature
Babelon (Antonia) 51
Sydenham 1181 Crawford. 517/2 Sear Imperators 243.
R. Newman, "A Dialogue of Power in the Coinage of Anto- ny and Octavian", AJN 2, 1990, 41.2
M.-M. Bendenoun, Coins of the Ancient World, A portrait of the JDL Collection, Tradart, Genève, 2009, 45 (this coin)
Condition
Two very attractive portraits and an enchanting old cabinet tone, virtually as struck and almost Fdc.
From the outset of their acquaintance, Marc Antony and Oc- tavian were at odds. Both were ambitious, and were closely associated with Julius Caesar, yet their qualifications and tempe- raments could hardly have been less alike. Antony was then in his thirties and was an experienced soldier who had earned his reputation by serving loyally at Caesar's side. Octavian was but eighteen, an unproven student whose association with Caesar was through family, for his mother was Caesar's niece. As the years passed Octavian demonstrated that he possessed a rare capacity for good decision making and leadership, and despite his comparative youth he was able to stand his ground against Antony.
As neither man was able to best the other, Antony and Octa- vian became fairweather allies, and with the pontifex maximus Lepidus they formed the Second Triumvirate late in 43 B.C. On many occasions they cooperated out of necessity. It is impossible to say who was the more frequent aggressor, but they often found themselves on the brink of war. After several near-misses, there was a resolution in 31 B.C.: Octavian declared war on Antony's wife and ally, the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII. In September of the that year Octavian and his
general Marcus Agrippa defeated Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium, essentially ending all resistance to Octavian's ascendancy.
During their periods of cooperation Antony and Octavian issued coins for each other, including this denarius, thought to have been struck in 41 B.C., not long after they had combined their armies to defeat the Republican leaders Brutus and Cassius.
Though this coin portrays both men, it clearly gives the advan- tage to Antony, who issued the coin, perhaps at Ephesus. Not only does Antony's head occupy the obverse, but it is engraved on a larger scale than that of Octavian's. It is also clear that more effort was devoted to the production of Antony's portrait, which has highly individualized features, whereas Octavian's is little more than a stereotyped image of a young man. We might presume that the depiction of Octavian in a juvenile manner was a calculated effort by Antony to stress the difference in their age and level of experience.