Moneyer issues of
Imperatorial Rome. T. Carisius. 46 BC. AR
Denarius (19mm, 3.71 g, 6h).
Rome mint.
Head of
Juno Moneta right / Implements for coining
money: anvil die with garlanded punch die above, tongs and hammer on either
side; all within
laurel wreath.
Crawford 464/2; CRI 70;
Sydenham 982a;
Carisia 1a;
Type as RBW 1614. VF,
toned, small pin hole on
obverse below
Moneta’s
bust.
From the
Andrew McCabe Collection, purchased from
Peus Nachf., with old
German collection ticket.
The apparent punch die on this
type may be a
cap of
Liberty, and the lower die a generic anvil. The cap-shaped object is wreathed like a Dioscurus
cap, which is the same
cap worn by Vulcan, the god of metal-working. An analogue can be seen in the Scribonius Wellhead issue,
RRC 416, which displays four different
symbols, not three. Even rarer than the sought-after anvil is the Scribonius with a
cap of
Liberty, a variety not listed by
Crawford. The scene on this coin may thus represent Vulcan’s generic metal-making workshop, but with the placement of the
cap above the anvil, it may also be intended to allude to minting even if a punch die is not directly shown.
RRC p. 475 notes one
reverse die of this issue with
legend T. CARISIV (Amsterdam) as
per this coin. Richard Schaefer obtained a photograph of the Amsterdam example and compared it to other examples in
his Republican Die Project. In fact,
reverse die matched examples to the Amsterdam coin prove the final S of CARISIVS did exist, but the die was filled at a later state. This CARISIV variety from a different die pair seems to have been caused by the same phenomenon. There is a trace of a final letter S. [Andrew McCabe]