65
3085
Julius Caesar. Silver Denarius (4.10 g), 40 BC.
Rome. Q. Voconius
Vitulus, moneyer. DIVI IVLI before, laureate head of Julius Caesar
right; behind, lituus.
Reverse:
Q VOCONIVS above, VITVLVS in
exergue, bull-calf walking left. Crawford 526/2; HCRI 329; Syden-
ham 1132; RSC 46. Boldly struck and well centered on a full flan.
An
exceptional portrait of Caesar!
Lovely toned surfaces with hints of
iridescense.
Nearly Mint State.
With the exception of a short period during the principate of
Augustus, it is with the coins of Q. Voconius Vitulus and his col-
league, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, in 40 BC that the long
tradition of a college of moneyers producing currency at the
Capitoline mint ended. The year before with the outcome of the
Perusine War between Octavian and Lepidus still to be decided,
the moneyers hedged their bets by using purposefully ambigu-
ous types on their coins: M. Arrius Secundus’ denarii (Crawford
513/2 and 513/3) used an ancestor’s portrait that resembled Oc-
tavian; C. Numonius Vaala’s aurei (Crawford 514/1) employed
the head of Victory, the portrait of which is clearly Fulvia, Mark
Antony’s wife; and L. Servius Rufus’ denarii (Crawford 515/2) have
an ancestor’s portrait which is most obviously Brutus. In each
case the choice of types could be argued to favor the win-
ning side, whichever side that may be. By 40 BC, however, the
Perusine War was safely behind Octavian who was now firmly in
control of the West, and perhaps angered by these shenanigans
at the mint he decided to bring it firmly under his own authority.
Estimated Value............................................................... $50,000-UP
Ex C. K. Collection (Triton XIV, 3 January 2011), 605.
