31
Incredible Quality ‘Musa’ Denarius
3042
Q. Pomponius Musa. Silver Denarius (4.01 g), 65 BC.
Rome. Q POMPONI MVSA, laureate head of Apollo right.
Reverse:
HERCVLES
MVSA RVM, Hercules Musagetes standing right, draped with lion’s skin, playing lyre, club resting against leg. Crawford 410/1; Sydenham
810; Pomponia 8. An incredible example! Struck on a broad flan, well centered and of artistic style.
Superb Extremely Fine.
Hersh and Walker date Q. Pomponius Musa’s coins to 56 BC based on the fact that none of his coins appeared in the Mesagne
hoard, which they dated to 58 BC. However, Musa’s coins are uncommon, with Crawford estimating that no type had more than ten
reverse dies. The period 57-54 BC saw massive outputs by the moneyers in Rome, and additionally even Hersh and Walker recog-
nized there was difficulty with their arrangement in squeezing in an additional twenty-three moneyers during the period from 58-51
BC. Thus it appears illogical that we should be looking in the mid 50s for an unnecessary and rare issue of coins; a date in the mid
60s would be more appropriate. While the date is not secure, there is one additional piece of evidence that suggests an earlier date
for Musa’s coins. This is the appearance of the apex, an accent mark above the V in MVSA, indicating a long vowel. The only other
instance of its use during the Republic is on the coins of L. Furius Cn.f. Brocchus, whom Harlan dates to 64 BC (see M. Harlan, Roman
Republican Moneyers and Their Coins, 81 BCE-64 BCE, 2012, pp. 206-208; in his earlier study Harlan had dated Brocchus to 63 BC).
Estimated Value.............................................................................................................................................................................. $5,000 - 6,000
3043
C. Hosidius C.f. Geta. Silver Denarius
(3.85 g), 64 BC.
Rome. GETA before, III
VIR behind, diademed and draped bust of
Diana right, bow and quiver at shoulder.
Reverse:
C HOSIDI C F, the wild board of
Calydon charging right, side pierced by
arrow, harried by hound below. Crawford
407/2; Sydenham 903; Hosidia 1. Boldly
struck in high relief with attractive irides-
cent toning.
Superb Extremely Fine.
The classical myth of the Calydonian
boar served to illustrate the need for pay-
ing proper respect to the gods and the
consequences for not doing so. King Oe-
neus of Aetolia had forgotten to accord
proper rites to the goddess Diana (Arte-
mis), and for this sacrilege she sent a ch-
thonic beast, the wild boar of Calydon, to
ravage the Aetolian hinterland. The boar
was the bane of the people, destroying
vineyards and crops and forcing every-
one to take shelter behind their city walls.
With starvation ensuing, a hunt was orga-
nized, and most of the illustrious heroes of
Greece’s heroic age took part (with the
exception of Hercules who fought his own
chthonic beast, the Erymanthean boar).
Amongst all these male heroes was one
female, the heroine Atalanta, and she
won the signal honor of being the first to
wound the boar, having pierced its side
with an arrow. For this she was awarded
its hide. Although the precise meaning
is lost to us, it can be assumed that Ho-
sidius employed the type of the Cale-
donian boar to illustrate a claimed de-
scent from one of the heroes involved in
the hunt, perhaps from Atalanta herself.
Estimated Value ....................$900 - 1,100
Ex Meister & Sonntag 6 (1 October 2008),
201.
