TheNewYorkSaleauctionXL

1179

Julius Caesar. Silver Denarius (3.53 g), 40 BC. Rome. Q. Voconius Vitulus, moneyer. Laureate head of Julius

Caesar right. Rev. Q VOCONIVS above, VITVLVS Q/DESIGN in two lines in exergue, S C across field,

bull-calf walking left. (Crawford 526/4; HCRI 331; Sydenham 1133; RSC 45). Excellent portrait and a

broad flan. Choice very fine.

$ 5,000

The coins of Q. Voconius Vitulus and his colleague, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, in 40 BC present us with the last moneyer

issues of the Capitoline mint at Rome with the exception of a small group produced more than two decades later during Augustus’

principate.

1180

Brutus. Silver Denarius (3.64 g), 42 BC. Military mint, probably at Smyrna. P. Lentulus Spinther, legate.

BRVTVS below, simpulus between sacrificial axe and knife. Rev. LENTVLVS/SPINT in two lines below,

jug and lituus. (Crawford 500/7; HCRI 198; Sydenham 1310; RSC 6). Extremely fine.

$ 1,500

The types chosen for this issue indicate both Brutus’ membership in the college of pontifices and the legate’s, P. Lentulus Spinther,

membership in the augurate. The pontificate and augurate were Rome’s foremost priestly colleges, the former supervising all of the

other priestly colleges, and the later being responsible for reading the signs of the gods to determine whether or not an anticipated

undertaking would be divinely supported or opposed. The priestly symbols on this issue, which was struck to pay the military

expenses of the tyrannicides while preparing for the expected showdown with the Triumvirs, suggests divine support and the just

nature of their cause.

1181

Mark Antony & Octavian. Silver Denarius (3.78 g), 41 BC. Ephesus. M. Barbatius Pollio, quaestor pro

praetore. M ANT I(MP) (AV)G III VIR R P C M BARBAT Q P, bare head of Mark Antony right. Rev.

CAESAR IMP PONT III VIR R P C, bare head of Octavian right, with slight beard. (Crawford 517/2;

HCRI 243; Sydenham 1181; RSC 8). Dark toning. Extremely fine.

$ 2,250

Mark Antony is reported to have lived extravagantly while in the East, exacting large sums from the cities of Asia Minor to finance

this lavishness. It is certainly from these funds where he obtained the bullion to produce this extensive and handsome coinage, struck

with the name of his lieutenant M. Barbatius Pollio. Pollio’s colleagues, M. Cocceius Nerva (a distant ancestor of the future emperor

Nerva) and L. Gellius Poplicola, also struck similar types honoring both Antony’s fellow triumvir, Octavian, as well as his brother,

Lucius Antony, but the majority are of a different style and are believed to have been struck after Antony’s departure from Ephesus.