Moneyer: Faustus Cornelius Sulla. AR Denarius, 56 BC.
Obverse: Diademed and draped bust of Diana right; above, crescent; behind, lituus and FAVSTVS before.
Reverse: FELIX. Sulla seated left between on left, Bocchus king of Mauritania, and on right, Jugurtha king of Numidia, both kneeling.
Reference: Crawford 426/1;
Weight: 3.9 g.
Diameter: 18.5 mm.
Note: Rare and good example of this difficult but fascinating issue. Areas of weak strike, minor marks, otherwise. EF.
Provenance: From the Karl Sifferman Collection. Ex CNG 171, 2007, 220; From the Anthony DiDonato Collection. Ex CNG 430, 2018, 322.
Faustus was the son of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the famous general and dictator of Rome (138-78 BC). The coin portrays Sulla's first great victory, in which he ended the Jugurthine War. Jugurtha, grandson of Massinissa of Numidia, had claimed the entire kingdom of Numidia and divided it between several members of the royal family, in defiance of Roman decrees. Rome declared war on Jugurtha in 111 BC, but for five years the wily king frustrated all efforts to bring him to heel. Finally, in 106 the popular general Marius was assigned command, with Sulla as quaestor in charge of cavalry. Before Marius could take to the field against the enemy, however, Sulla arranged with his ally Bocchus of Mauretania to have Jugurtha ambushed and captured. Sulla was acclaimed for the bloodless end of the war, gaining his first victory and the eternal enmity of Marius.
Collection :
16 Roman Republic
