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Ancient Coins
Enlargement
1971 Q. Pomponius Musa. Silver Denarius (4.00 g), 56 BC
. Rome. Laureate head of Apollo right; behind, scepter.
Reverse:
Q PO-MPON[I] MVSA,
Melpomene, the Muse of Tragedy, standing facing, head right, wearing sword, holding club and mask. Crawford 410/4; Sydenham 816; Pomponia
14. Gorgeous iridescent tone. Two fine scratches in obverse field.
Superb Extremely Fine
.
Estimate Value ............................................................................................................................................................................ $700 - 800
From The Herbert & Aphrodite Rubin Collection; Ex Birkler & Waddell II (11 December 1980), 264.
1972
Q. Pomponius Musa. Silver Denarius (3.48 g), 56 BC
.
Rome. Laureate head of Apollo right; behind, two crossed tib-
iae.
Reverse:
Q POMPON[I] MVSA, Euterpe standing right, rest-
ing elbow on column before her, and holding two tibiae.
Crawford 410/5; Sydenham 815; Pomponia 13. Old graffiti in
right obverse field. Toned.
Very Fine
.
Estimate Value ..................................................... $300 - 350
1973
Q. Pomponius Musa. Silver Denarius (3.63 g), 56 BC
.
Rome. Laureate head of Apollo right; behind, wreath tied with
fillet.
Reverse:
Q POMPONI MVSA, Polyhymnia standing facing
slightly right, wearing wreath. Crawford 410/10a; Sydenham
817; Pomponia 15. Find patina.
About Very Fine
.
Estimate Value ..................................................... $200 - 250
Enlargement
1974 C. Memmius. Silver Denarius (3.78 g), 56 BC
. Rome. C MEMMI C F, head of Ceres right, wreathed with grain ears.
Reverse:
C MEMM[IVS]
IMPERATOR, bound captive kneeling right beneath trophy. Crawford 427/1; Sydenham 920; Memmia 10. An old scrape behind the head, other-
wise attractively toned.
Extremely Fine
.
Estimate Value ............................................................................................................................................................................ $350 - 400
The moneyer of this coin, Gaius Memmius, was the nephew of Pompey the Great, the son of Pompey' s sister, Pompeia Strabonia, and C. Mem-
mius. The reverse commemorates a military victory of an ancestor with the same name who had been acclaimed imperator by his troops, but
there is debate over which C. Memmius this was. It is possible that it refers to the moneyer' s grandfather, who was tribune in 111 BC and then
proconsul of Macedonia, or perhaps more likely his father, who according to Plutarch was Pompey' s most capable general in the fight against Ser-
torius in Spain.