Crawford 348/4, ROMAN REPUBLIC, L. Rubrius Dossenus, AR Quinarius

Rome, The Republic.
L. Rubrius Dossenus. 87 BCE.
AR Quinarius (1.82g; 15mm; 7h).
Rome Mint, 87 BCE.

Obverse: DOSSEN; Laureate head of Neptune facing right, trident over shoulder.

Reverse: L•RVBRI; Victory holding wreath and palm, standing to right before garlanded alter with snake coiled around top.

References: Crawford 348/4; Sydenham 708; BMCRR 2459-60; Rubria 4.

Provenance: Ex Artemide Auction 57 (30 Apr 2022) Lot 337; Aes Rude Titano Auction 3 (23 Jun 1979) Lot 117.

L. Rubrius Dossenus is not known except for his coins. The snake-coiled alter on the reverse may allude to prayers to Aesculapius, the Roman god of medicine and healing, as a plague had broken out among the troops fighting Marius at the time. A similar snake-coiled alter is seen on the obverse (and on certain rare reverses) of AE Asses produced by the same moneyer. A snake is an attribute of Aesculapius. During an ongoing plague, a Roman temple to Aesculapius was built from 293-290 BCE, on an island in the Tiber where a sacred snake, brought from the god’s sanctuary in Greece, had slithered after arrival in Rome. Babelon and Grueber suggest that Neptune on the obverse may refer to that maritime trip to the Aesculapian sanctuary in 293 BCE, though Crawford thinks the type generally seeks favor for naval victories (and good health) in the ongoing Marian conflict.

This quinarius type is not rare, although it rarely comes as complete as this example.