42
3063
Q. Sicinius and C. Coponius. Silver Denarius (3.70 g), 49 BC.
Military
mint traveling in the East with Pompey, perhaps at Ephesus. Q SICINIVS
III VIR, diademed head of Apollo right; below, star.
Reverse:
C COPONIVS
PR S C, club of Hercules draped with lion’s skin; in left field, arrow; in right
field, bow. Crawford 444/1a; HCRI 3; Sydenham 939; Sicinia 1. Well struck
and well centered. The surfaces are lustrous with a touch of light tone.
Nearly Mint State.
Here again we see the moneyer Q. Sicinius, this time paired with the
praetor C. Coponius. Unlike the previous issue of Sicinius which was
struck while he was still at Rome, this type was struck somewhere in
the East after he fled along with the rest of the Pompeian senators. The
club and lion’s skin on the reverse resembles half- and quarter-cistoph-
ori that were struck in a number of eastern cities, including Apamea,
Ephesus, Pergamum, Sardes and Tralles. The Roman proconsul held resi-
dence at Ephesus, and it was perhaps there that this issue was struck.
Estimated Value ...................................................................... $1,400 - 1,600
Ex NAC 59 (4-5 April 2011), 814.
3064
L. Cornelius Lentulus and C. Claudius Marcellus. Silver Denarius (4.00 g), 49 BC.
Military mint traveling in the East. Triskeles, with
winged head of Medusa facing at center and ear of grain between each leg.
Reverse:
[L]E(NT) (MAR) COS, Jupiter standing facing, head
right, holding thunderbolt and eagle; in right field, harpa. Crawford 445/1a; HCRI 4; Sydenham 1029a; Cornelia 64. Rare. Well struck
with lustrous surfaces and delicately toned.
Superb Extremely Fine.
Struck under the exiled consuls, Lentulus and Marcellus, the types reference both family history and Roman power. The issue has tra-
ditionally been assigned to a mint operating in Sicily, but the hurried nature of the Pompeian withdrawal from Brundisium to Greece
suggests it was struck somewhere in the East. The obverse recalls that it was M. Claudius Marcellus, the ancestor of the current consul,
who conquered Syracuse in 211 BC. The reverse depicts Jupiter, the chief deity of the Roman pantheon and thus a symbol of unity,
and may copy the famous statue of Zeus Eleutherius by Myron. Jupiter appears on all the joint issues of the Lentulus and Marcellus.
Estimated Value................................................................................................................................................................................. $2,500 - 3,000
Ex Elsen 97 (13 September 2008), 201; Crédit Suisse 3 (19 April 1985), 419.
