Crawford 496/1, ROMAN IMPERATORIAL, Marc Antony, AR Denarius

Rome. The Imperators.
Marc Antony, 44-31 BCE.
AR Denarius (3.95g; 18mm).
Military mint travelling with Antony, 42BCE.

Obverse: Antony's bearded head right; M ANTONI - IMP (ligate).

Reverse: Facing bust of Sol within distyle temple; III - VIR - R·P·C, around.

References: Crawford 496/1; HCRI 128; Sydenham 1168; BMCRR (Gaul) 62; Antonia 34.

Provenance: Italian export permit No. 13168 of 2018; ex Nomisma 32 (2006), Lot 129.

This coin was likely struck shortly after Brutus’s and Cassius’s defeat at Philippi in 42 BCE. Antony is still shown with his beard of mourning (he and Octavian would not shave until Caesar’s assassination was avenged), and it’s likely that the die engravers had not yet been instructed to remove the beard following Philippi. This is the last bearded image of Antony to appear on his coinage. There were two versions of this coin type: one with IMP spelled the standard way; the other with IMP ligate, as on this example. The ligate version is the scarcer version of the two. The reverse type emphasizing Sol was a common theme on Antony’s eastern coinage, perhaps reflecting his growing enchantment with eastern Hellenistic culture.