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Remarkable Quality Silver Denarius of Cassius
428
C. Cassius Longinus. Silver Denarius (3.87 g), 42 BC. Military mint, probably at Smyrna. P. Lentulus Spin-
ther, legate. C CASSI IMP behind, LEIBERTAS before, diademed, weiled and draped bust of Libertas
right. Rev. LENTVLVS/SPINT in two lines below, jug and lituus. Crawford 500/5; HCRI 223; Sydenham
1305; RSC 6. A magnificent example struck in high relief and attractively toned.
One of the finest we have
seen.
NGC grade AU*; Strike: 5/5, Surface: 5/5.
$2,500
From the Dr. Patrick Tan Collection.
Libertas’s portrait on this coin is quite lovely, showing a certain graciousness and competent ability not evident on the parallel
issues with an unveiled Libertas where the goddess is depicted with a rather large jowl and chin more in line with a caricature
portrait. In instances such as this, we must wonder if the engraver was simply more skilled or if perhaps he had a local beauty
sit for him whose likeness he skillfully copied.
ROMAN IMPERIAL COINAGE
429
Augustus. Silver Denarius (3.98 g), 27 BC-AD 14. Rome, 13 BC. C. Antistius Reginus, moneyer. CAESAR
AVGVSTVS, bare head of Augustus right. Rev. C ANTISTIVS REGINVS around, III VIR in exergue,
sacrificial implements: simpulum and lituus above tripod and patera. RIC 410; BN 542-7; BMCR 119-20;
RSC 347. Attractive dark toning. NGC grade Ch XF*; Strike: 5/5, Surface: 5/5.
$700
From the Dr. Patrick Tan Collection
Ex Archer M. Huntington Collection, ANS 1001.1.10519 (Triton XVII, 7 January 2014), 634.
The host of religious implements depicted on the reverse of this denarius advertise the religious authority of Augustus, who
took great pains to restore (sometimes going so far as to reinvent) the cults of Rome as a means of maintaining the
pax deorum
(“peace of the gods”) or harmony between mankind and the gods. The simpulum was a type of ladle used to pour libations
and frequently served as a symbol of the pontifices, the highest Roman priestly college with fifteen priests; the lituus was a
wand used by the augurs, the college of priests charged with interpreting omens, while the tripod and patera are more general
sacrificial emblems. Together they represent the emperor’s preeminent position as Pontifex Maximus, the supreme priest of
Rome.