244/1. Aburia (134 BC)

AR Denarius (Rome, 134 BC)

O/ Helmeted head of Roma r.; XVI below chin; GEM behind.

R/ Mars in quadriga r., holding reins, shield, whip & trophy. C ABVRI below; ROMA in exergue.

3.58g; 19.5mm

Crawford 244/1 (47 obverse dies/59 reverse dies)

- Naville Numismatics Live Auction 38, lot 486.

Gaius Aburius M.f. Geminus:

Geminus belonged to the small plebeian gens Aburia.  His life is completely unknown.  There is however another contemporary moneyer named Marcus Aburius Geminus who minted coins two years later (RRC 250).  The cognomen Geminus ("twins") therefore implies that these two moneyers were twin brothers.  Marcus mentioned that he was the son of Marcus on his bronzes; thus, Marcus Aburius, Tribune of the Plebs in 187 and Praetor Peregrinus in 176 (Livy, XLI, 15) might have been the father of our moneyer, rather than Gaius Aburius, Legate in 171 (Livy, XLII, 35) as Crawford suggested.

Collection : Roman Republic