LOT 3063
Furius Purpurio AR Denarius. 169-158 BC.
Rome mint. Helmeted head of Roma to right; X (mark of value) behind / Luna driving biga to right; PVR beneath horses, murex shell above, ROMA within linear frame in exergue. Crawford 187/1; BMCRR Italy 420; RSC Furia 13. Near Extremely Fine. Light cabinet tone. Flan cracks.(4.08gr, 17mm, 4h.).
ProvenanceEx Numismatica Varesi.
From the Terner collection (collector's ticket included).
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd, E-Sale 97, 26 May 2022, lot 823 (company's ticket included).
From the private collection of an Essex, UK, lady.
From Roma Numismatics' footnote: The murex shell symbol makes a punning allusion to the moneyer's name. The shells, found mainly around the southern Mediterranean coastline, were left to decompose and the purple ink which resulted was used to make purple dye. This dye was highly valued throughout the ancient world, and used in Rome to colour the senatorial togas.
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M. Cipius AR Denarius. 115-114 BC.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
Rome mint. Helmeted head of Roma to right; M • CIPI • M • F before, X (mark of value) behind / Victory driving galloping biga to right, holding reins and palm branch; rudder below, ROMA in exergue. Crawford 289/1; BMCRR Italy 522-3; RSC Cipia 1. 3.87gr, 17mm, 12h.
Very Fine. Porous surfaces.
From a private, UK, collection in the 1980s. Property of a London, UK, antiquarian. -
L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi AR Denarius. 90 BC.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £104
Rome mint. Laureate head of Apollo to right; fish (control mark) beneath chin / L PISO FRVGI CVI, nude horseman galloping to right, palm branch over shoulder in left hand, reins in right. Crawford 340/1; Sydenham 665; Calpurnia 11. 3.90gr, 17mm, 3h.
Very Fine.
Ex Michael Trenerry, Truro, UK, 1980s. Private North Country, UK, collection.
This type refers to the Ludi Apollinares games which were established in BC 212 the annual celebration of which was proposed by an ancestor of the moneyer, L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi. -
Anonymous AR Didrachm-Quadrigatus. Circa 225-212 BC.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £390
Uncertain mint. Laureate head of Janus, with slightly curved truncation / Jupiter, hurling thunderbolt and holding sceptre, in galloping quadriga driven to right by Victory; ROMA raised on solid tablet in exergue. Crawford 29/3; Sydenham 64d; BMCRR Romano-Campanian 78-99; RSC 24. 6.24gr, 22mm, 6h.
Good Very Fine. Areas of delamination.
Ex Freeman & Sear (company's ticket included). From the Terner collection. Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd, E-Sale 99, 7 July 2022, lot 891 (company's ticket included). From the private collection of an Essex, UK, lady.
According to Pliny the marks of silver money of this early Roman period were bigae and quadrigae, an hence their appellations of 'Bigati' and 'Quadrigati'.
