Product Details

Roman Republic. AR Denarius (20mm, 3.91g, 5h). Mint: Rome. Obv: Laureate head of Apollo to right; behind, grasshopper; below chin, A Rev: L PISO FRVGI Jockey riding galloping horse to right, holding palm branch; above, C; in the field below, star Ref: Crawford 340/1; RRSC D136.1a (C) EF. Well-struck, Well-centered, iridescent Ex Captain G. DeSoto (Purchase 1953, Old Tag Included) L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi issued this denarius during the Social War, when Rome's Italian allies revolted after being denied citizenship. The Ludi Apollinares, games his ancestor founded in 212 BC, appear here through the horse-race imagery, linking his family's civic legacy to a coin that helped fund a war that would transform Roman citizenship forever. All coins guaranteed for life. (301) 542-4840