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Crawford 340/1, ROMAN REPUBLIC, L. Piso Frugi, AR Denarius
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Rome, The Republic
L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi, 90 BCE.
AR Denarius (3.78g; 19mm)
Rome mint.
Obv: Laureate head of Apollo facing right; N (control mark) below chin.
Rev: Horseman galloping to right, holding whip; dolphin above; L·PISO·FRVG and ROMA below.
References: Crawford 340/1; Sydenham 658a; Hersh Class IV, Series 20.
Provenance: Ex Spink & Son Ltd; Mario Ratto Fixed Price List (Feb 1966) Lot 297.
Apparently overstruck with remnants of undertype visible on reverse.
L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi was moneyer in 90 BCE, during the time of the Social War. He later attained the office of Praetor in 74 BCE, but did not appear to distinguish himself further.
The Social War was a civil war between Rome and her Italian allies who had broken-away in a demand for citizenship rights. It was a time of massive coinage output by the Rome mints, likely to pay the costs associated with the conflict. As a result, Frugi’s coins are among the most common in the entire Roman Republican series. Crawford estimates 864 obverse and 1080 reverse dies were used to produce Frugi’s denarii. Both obverse and reverse dies bear control marks of varying complexity, and no control mark has more than one die. The earlier dies in the series which bear ROMA, either spelled-out (as on this coin) or in monogram, in the reverse exergue, are typically of finer style than the later dies without ROMA or monogram. For another fine-style example with ROMA in monogram form, see my gallery coin at: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-146453
This type alludes to the annual celebration of the Ludi Apollinares instituted by Frugi’s ancestor during the Second Punic War. These games were held at the Circus Maximus in July of each year and lasted 8 or 9 days, consisting of horse racing and performances.
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