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Crawford 463/2, ROMAN IMPERATORIAL, M. Cordius Rufus, AR Denarius
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Rome, Moneyer Issues of the Imperatorial Period.
M. Cordius Rufus, 46 BCE.
AR Denarius (3.55g; 18mm).
Rome Mint.
Obverse: Crested Corinthian helmet facing right, with owl perched on crest; RVFVS behind.
Reverse: MN·CORDIVS; aegis with head of Medusa.
Reference: Crawford 463/2; HCRI 64; Sydenham 978; BMCRR 4042; Cordia 4.
Provenance: Ex Jack Frazer Collection [Triton XXIII (14 Jan 2020) Lot 603]; CNG 64 (24 Sep 2003) Lot 827.
Caesar celebrated multiple triumphs in 46 BCE, and the large output by the moneyers Carisius and M. Cordius Rufus may have been to pay the largesse owed to the legionaries. The coinage of this year often alludes to Caesar, rather than the moneyer’s family. On this coin, we see references to Minerva (the helmet, owl and aegis being among her attributes), the Roman goddess of strategic warfare, which likely related to Caesar’s military triumphs.
M. Cordius Rufus is not generally known beyond his coinage. However, his name appears on an inscription found at Tusculum, identifying Manius Cordius Rufus as praetor, proconsul, aedilis lustrando Monti Sacro. It is possible that his family originated in Tusculum, a city in the Alban Hills, sixteen miles southeast of Rome.
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