37
Exceptional Quality Sulla Denarius
3055
Faustus Cornelius Sulla. Silver Denarius (4.05 g), 56 BC.
Rome. FAVSTVS, diademed and draped bust of Diana right; above, crescent;
behind, lituus.
Reverse:
FELIX, Sulla seated left on raised platform between King Bocchus of Mauretania on left, presenting him with
wreath, and King Jugurta of Numidia on right, hands bound behind him, both kneeling. Crawford 426/1; Sydenham 879; Cornelia 59. A
superb example of this very rare issue. Struck on an exceptionally broad flan. Lovely old cabinet toning.
Extremely Fine.
The moneyer of this coin was the son of the dictator Sulla. The reverse commemorates one of the most important events of his
father’s early career: the capture of Jugurtha. Jugurtha was a Numidian prince who had served in the Roman auxiliary cavalry,
but who had come to blows with the Romans. Metellus Numidicus was given command to defeat Jugurtha, but Jugurtha was
proving a wily adversary and through several campaigning seasons Numidicus was unable to defeat him. In 107 BC one of his
legates, Marius, who disagreed with Numidicus’ strategy for prosecuting the war, gained the consulship and also command in
Numidia. However, Jugurtha was proving just as slippery for Marius as he had been for Numidicus. One of Marius’ junior officers
was Sulla, and he managed to capture Jugurtha through a ruse. He invited both Jugurtha and Bocchus, the King of Mauretania
and Jugurtha’s father-in-law, to a meeting. In advance of the meeting he had convinced Bocchus to betray Jugurtha, and when
Jugurtha arrived unarmed his attendants were ambushed and Jugurtha was captured. Bocchus immediately handed him over to
Sulla. Sulla had a signet ring engraved showing the event, and the reverse of this coin may be a direct copy of that signet ring.
Estimated Value .............................................................................................................................................................................. $3,000 - 3,500
Ex NAC 73 (18 November 2013), 166; Sternberg XIX (18 November 1987), 417.
