411, Lot: 374. Estimate $750. Sold for $600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

The Triumvirs. Mark Antony and Lucius Antony. Summer 41 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.36 g, 12h). Ephesus mint; M. Cocceius Nerva, proquaestor. Bare head of Mark Antony right / Bare head of Lucius Antony right. Crawford 517/5a; CRI 246; Sydenham 1185; RSC 2; Type as RBW 1799. VF, toned, flan crack, a few areas of light corrosion/roughness. Rare.

From the Andrew McCabe Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 41 (19 March 1997), lot 1705; Classical Numismatic Group 35 (20 September 1995), lot 670.

Coincident with the 40th anniversary of the publication of Michael Crawford's Roman Republican Coinage, a conference was held at Dresden in 2014 on Roman Republican numismatics. A main theme of the conference was what we can learn from die axis. The RRC 517 series was a principle example. Die axis studies show that it should be divided into two issues: one always with 12pm die axis and on round, neat, evenly made flans and central strikes, as this coin; and the others with random die axis and on spread thin flans that are often struck off center, as in the the other Lucius Antonius denarius issue RRC 517/5b. The die axis controlled issues were likely struck in Asia Minor according to local customs, and the non die axis controlled (and much rarer issues) further west. This coin epitomizes the careful manufacturing standards of the die axis controlled issue. [Andrew McCabe]