385, Lot: 466. Estimate $1000. Sold for $2700. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Moneyer issues of Imperatorial Rome. L. Mussidius Longus. 42 BC. AR Denarius (20mm, 3.77 g, 12h). Rome mint. Winged and draped bust of Victory right, her hair drawn back and collected into a knot behind, one long plait arranged in a loop along the top of her head / Victory driving galloping biga right, holding goad in right hand and reins in left; L•MVSSIDIVS above; [L]ONGVS below. Crawford 494/40; CRI 186; Sydenham 1095; Mussidia 4; Type as RBW 1743, but this coin with a sui generis portrait. VF, toned, areas of flat strike.

From the Andrew McCabe Collection. Ex Stack’s (14 June 1971), lot 280; Mario Ratto Auction 5 (6 December 1933), lot 59.

This rare type is understood to depict Fulvia, the then-wife of Mark Antony. It is less well-known that only this one die has an obverse representation that closely matches the coins of Eumeneia (Fulvianon) in Phrygia, RPC 3139, and thus can be considered an authentic portrait. Other dies, typically with a larger head, are significantly less artistically engraved, in some cases seeming mere caricatures. Although not documented in numismatic books, the market has long recognized and put a premium on coins with this style obverse die: if one wants a portrait of Fulvia then it’s best that it looks like she looked! [A. McCabe]