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Home > Members' Coin Collection Galleries > Carausius > Late Republic (99-49 BCE)
Crawford 410/3, ROMAN REPUBLIC, Q. Pomponius Musa, AR Denarius
Rome, The Republic.
Q. Pomponius Musa, mid-50s BCE
AR Denarius (3.58g; 19mm).
Rome Mint.

Obverse: Laureate head of Apollo(?), hair tied-up, facing right; tied scroll behind.

Reverse: Q. POMPONI – MVSA; Clio, muse of history, facing left and leaning on column, while reading open scroll.

References: Crawford 410/3; Sydenham 813; BMCRR 3610-11; Pomponia 11.

Provenance: Ex Heritage Auction 3072 (15 Jan 2019), Lot 35407; Frederick S. Knobloch Collection [Stack's (3-4 May 1978), Lot 469]; E.J. Haeberlin Collection [Cahn-Hess (17 Jul 1933) Lot 2490].

As the muse of history, Clio is typically depicted in ancient art with an open scroll or tablet.  

Q. Pomponius Musa, who punned his name by depicting the Muses on a series of coins, is unknown except for his coins, which makes precise dating of the series difficult. For many years, scholars (including Crawford) dated the series to 66 BCE. However, the absence of any examples of the series in the large Mesagne hoard caused Hersh and Walker to bring down the date of the series to 56 BCE. Michael Harlan, retracting his reticence with the Mesagne dating, later proposed a date of 52 BCE. 

There are two varieties of Musa denarii: the first depicts Apollo/Hercules Musarum (see my gallery example); the second, of which there are nine sub-varieties, depict Apollo and a Muse. The above coin is of the second variety.

Apollo is often depicted androgynously on ancient coins. The standard references consistently attribute the obverse heads on both varieties of Musa’s coins as Apollo; but the depictions are notably different between the Hercules and Muse varieties. On the Hercules variety, the deity’s hair is down and tied, and generally consistent with many depictions of Apollo on other Roman Republican coins (see, e.g., denarii of L. Calpurnius Piso and C. Calpurnius Piso). Comparatively, the head on the above Muse variety is considerably more feminine in appearance and laureate, though lacking earrings, necklaces or other feminine accents. Admittedly, this more feminine type head has also been attributed by scholars as Apollo on other coin types (see, e.g., denarii of P. Clodius and C. Considius). However, within the same series the different styled heads appear to depict different deities. Given the Muse emblems behind each head on the nine Muse types, it’s possible that the feminine heads do not represent Apollo, but the Muses themselves. Michael Harlan agrees with this interpretation in both editions of "Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins." More research on this issue is needed.

Crawford 410/3, ROMAN REPUBLIC, Q. Pomponius Musa, AR Denarius

Rome, The Republic.
Q. Pomponius Musa, mid-50s BCE
AR Denarius (3.58g; 19mm).
Rome Mint.

Obverse: Laureate head of Apollo(?), hair tied-up, facing right; tied scroll behind.

Reverse: Q. POMPONI – MVSA; Clio, muse of history, facing left and leaning on column, while reading open scroll.

References: Crawford 410/3; Sydenham 813; BMCRR 3610-11; Pomponia 11.

Provenance: Ex Heritage Auction 3072 (15 Jan 2019), Lot 35407; Frederick S. Knobloch Collection [Stack's (3-4 May 1978), Lot 469]; E.J. Haeberlin Collection [Cahn-Hess (17 Jul 1933) Lot 2490].

As the muse of history, Clio is typically depicted in ancient art with an open scroll or tablet.

Q. Pomponius Musa, who punned his name by depicting the Muses on a series of coins, is unknown except for his coins, which makes precise dating of the series difficult. For many years, scholars (including Crawford) dated the series to 66 BCE. However, the absence of any examples of the series in the large Mesagne hoard caused Hersh and Walker to bring down the date of the series to 56 BCE. Michael Harlan, retracting his reticence with the Mesagne dating, later proposed a date of 52 BCE.

There are two varieties of Musa denarii: the first depicts Apollo/Hercules Musarum (see my gallery example); the second, of which there are nine sub-varieties, depict Apollo and a Muse. The above coin is of the second variety.

Apollo is often depicted androgynously on ancient coins. The standard references consistently attribute the obverse heads on both varieties of Musa’s coins as Apollo; but the depictions are notably different between the Hercules and Muse varieties. On the Hercules variety, the deity’s hair is down and tied, and generally consistent with many depictions of Apollo on other Roman Republican coins (see, e.g., denarii of L. Calpurnius Piso and C. Calpurnius Piso). Comparatively, the head on the above Muse variety is considerably more feminine in appearance and laureate, though lacking earrings, necklaces or other feminine accents. Admittedly, this more feminine type head has also been attributed by scholars as Apollo on other coin types (see, e.g., denarii of P. Clodius and C. Considius). However, within the same series the different styled heads appear to depict different deities. Given the Muse emblems behind each head on the nine Muse types, it’s possible that the feminine heads do not represent Apollo, but the Muses themselves. Michael Harlan agrees with this interpretation in both editions of "Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins." More research on this issue is needed.

File information
Filename:MusaClioCombined.jpg
Album name:Carausius / Late Republic (99-49 BCE)
Filesize:891 KiB
Date added:Mar 31, 2019
Dimensions:2437 x 1184 pixels
Displayed:48 times
URL:https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=154328
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Comment 1 to 3 of 3
Page: 1

Jay GT4   [Mar 31, 2019 at 04:10 AM]
Really nice. Congrats
Steve B5   [Apr 25, 2019 at 11:56 PM]
Carausius, I admire your collection and visit it often. Keep posing!
paul1888   [May 11, 2019 at 07:18 PM]
Beautiful coin with a nicely centered reverse.

Comment 1 to 3 of 3
Page: 1

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