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Marc Antony, Legio II
The Legio secunda Sabina which is named on the reverse had supposedly been founded by Julius Caesar in 48 BC. This coin, and the following ones, belong to the well-known series of the 'legionary coinage', issued by Marc Antony and Cleopatra VII in preparation for the war against Octavian.
Therefore, they pre-date the Battle of Actium in September 31 BC (which led to their suicides), but were used by the soldiers who fought this war. Several millions of such coins were struck, the immense majority obviously having been melted since, and their rarity varies according to each legion. The iconography is probably copied from a denarius issued in 82 BC by C. Valerius Flaccus (type Crawford 365/1), and this design would be used again multiple times during the Roman empire.
Provenance Tauler&Fau
Riferimento : Crawford 544/14; CRI 349; Sydenham 1216; RSC 27; RBW 1838
Collezione : Roman Imperatorial collection