Product Details

Rome mint. 18mm; 4.00g. Obverse: laureate head of Jupiter right, SC behind, control mark below chin. Reverse: Q ANTO BAB PR, Victory driving galloping quadriga right, holding wreath, reins & palm branch. Struck during the height of the civil war between Sulla and the Marian faction, this serrate denarius was issued under the authority of the Senate (SC – Senatus Consulto) to fund the desperate military efforts of the period. The moneyer, Q. Antonius Balbus, served as praetor & struck this issue to help finance the Marian war chest against Sulla’s advancing legions coinage minted quite literally under the shadow of Rome’s collapse into dictatorship. Jupiter, king of the gods & guardian of the Republic, pairs fittingly with Victory in her chariot, an urgent hope for triumph that would, in this case, go unanswered. The serrated edge, a security feature meant to discourage plated forgeries, adds a distinctive tactile quality prized by collectors of the late Republican series. Crawford 364