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AR Denarius (uncertain mint, 199-170 BC)
O/ Helmeted head of Roma right; X behind head.
R/ The Dioscuri galloping right; GR below horses; ROMA in exergue.
3.17g; 18mm
Crawford 169/1 (20 obverse dies/25 reverse dies)
- Jesus Vico, Auction 152, lot 351.
Tiberius Sempronius P. f. Tib. n. Gracchus?:
Our moneyer was described as a Sempronius Gracchus by Babelon and others, but Crawford dismissed it saying that "there are no good grounds for identifying the moneyer as a Sempronius Gracchus". However it is difficult to see who else it could refer to, given the importance of this family in the second century BC. Indeed, Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, the father of the Gracchi, was Consul in 177 and 163, as well as Censor in 169. His cousin Tiberius was augur, his elder brother Publius was Tribune of the Plebs in 189, and his uncle was consul in 215 and 213.
The time frame given by Crawford makes it difficult to further identify the moneyer, but Andrew McCabe suggests that this denarius was minted in Spain (cf. CNG 385, lot 423), as it is frequently underweight and in poor shape (typical of a military mint). The father of the Gracchi was precisely in Spain between 180 and 178, first as praetor, then proconsul, in order to fight the Celtiberians, whom he defeated. He received a triumph in 178, and even founded a town named Gracchuris (now Ágreda, west of Zaragoza), which could well be where he minted his denarii. His victory and subsequent triumph doubtless helped him to win his first consulship in 177.
Collection : Roman Republic