21
3024
Mn. Fonteius C.f. Silver Denarius
(4.20 g), 85 BC.
Rome. (MN) FO(NT)
EI behind, C F below chin, laureate head
of Vejovis right; below, thunderbolt.
Re-
verse:
Infant Genius seated on goat right;
above, pilei of the Dioscuri; in exergue,
filleted thyrsus; all within laurel wreath.
Crawford 353/1c; Sydenham 724a;
Fonteia 10. Lustrous and lightly toned.
Nearly Mint State.
The moneyer is perhaps the broth-
er of the moneyer M. Fonteius (see
Crawford 347) and not inconceiv-
ably the tribune featured on the re-
verse of Crawford 429/1 (see the
coin of P. Fonteius P.f. Capito below).
The reverse recalls that the god Ju-
piter was suckled by the she-goat
Amaltheia on Mt. Ida during his in-
fancy, and depicts a statue that was
within the Temple of Vejovis in Rome.
Estimated Value .............$1,000 - 1,200
Ex Tkalec (29 February 2008), 106.
3025
Q. Antonius Balbus. Silver Denarius (4.01 g), 83-82 BC.
Rome. S C behind, laureate head of Jupiter right; below A
and pellet.
Reverse:
Q (ANT)O B(AL)B / PR in two lines
in exergue, Victory, holding wreath and palm, driving gal-
loping quadriga right. Crawford 364/1c; Sydenham 742b;
Antonia 1. A boldly struck example, perfectly centered.
Lustrous and lightly toned.
Nearly Mint State.
Q. Antonius Balbus was a Marian loyalist who was ap-
pointed praetor in Sardinia in 82 B.C. The obverse mark-
ing S C shows the issue was struck ex senatus consulto,
that is, by special decree of the Senate, and presumably
forms part of the preparations to resist the return of Sulla.
Balbus was subsequently defeated at his post in Sardin-
ia by Sulla’s legate, L. Philippus, and died in the battle.
Estimated Value................................................... $700 - 800
Ex Elsen 106 (11 September 2010), 301.
