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Crawford 422/1, ROMAN REPUBLIC, M. Aemilius Scaurus and Pub. Plautius Hypsaeus, AR Denarius
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Rome, The Republic.
M. Aemilius Scaurus and Pub. Plautius Hypsaeus, 58 BCE.
AR Denarius (3.87g; 19mm).
Rome mint.
Obverse: King Aretas kneeling right and extending olive branch in right hand and holding reins of camel in left hand; M SCAVR/AED CVR above; EX-SC on side; REX ARETAS in exergue.
Rev: Jupiter in fast quadriga galloping left; scorpion below horses’ feet; P HVPSAEVS/AED CVR, above; CAPTV on right; C HVPSAE COS PREIVER in exergue.
References: Crawford 422/1b; BMCRR 3879; Sydenham 913; Aemilia 8; Plautia 8-9.
Provenance: Ex SC Collection; Stack's Auction (14-15 Jun 1971), Lot 240.
Scaurus and Hypsaeus struck these coins as curule aediles, by Senatorial decree. Grueber states that lavish public games were the reason for the special issue, while Crawford suggests the corn dole and/or Caesar’s agrarian law were the more likely reasons. Scaurus, as governor of Syria, was victorious against the Nabataean king Aretas who surrendered and paid a fine of 300 talents to Pompey. It was this event that he chose to depict on the obverse of the coin. On the reverse, Hypsaeus refers to the capture of the Volscian town of Privernum by his ancestor, C. Plautius Decianus, consul in 329 BCE. Hypsaeus chose to repeat this reverse type on a denarius he struck as moneyer in ca. 57 BCE (Crawford 420). This issue has a large number of legend varieties and the scorpion is missing from some dies.
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