CRI Plate Coin

Triton XVI, Lot: 908. Estimate $2500. Sold for $2800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

The Caesarians. Julius Caesar. April-May 44 BC. AR Denarius (18mm, 3.98 g, 6h). Rome mint. P. Sepullius Macer, moneyer. Struck under Mark Antony. Tetrastyle temple with globe in pediment; C[LEMENTIAE • C]AESARIS around / Desultor (horseman who leaps from one horse to another), wearing conical cap and holding whip, right on horseback, second horse behind; palm frond and wreath to left; P • SEPVLLIVS above, MACER below. Crawford 480/21; Alföldi Type XXII, 32-40 (A2/R2); CRI 110 (this coin, illustrated); Sydenham 1076; Kestner 3692; BMCRR Rome 4177; RSC 44. EF, lightly toned, struck slightly off center, causing areas of weak strike.

From the Goldman Roman Imperatorial Collection. Ex Frank L. Kovacs Collection (Helios 1, 17 April 2008), lot 218.

The reverse depicts a rider who switches from one horse to the other while the horses are in motion, an equestrian event which was part of the Parilian games, celebrated each year on 21 April. In 44 BC, the year of Julius Caesar’s assassination, the Parilia celebrated Caesar’s victory at Munda. This combined with the obverse type, celebrating Caesar’ clemency, represent Mark Antony’s attempt to kindle public support of the Caesarian cause.