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C.Naevius Balbus Serratus Denarius
Rome, 79 BC
Avers: Diademed head of Venus right, behind SC, Control mark B
Revers: Victoria in Triga to the right, inscription C NAE BALB
3,78 Gramm
Sear 309, Crawford 382/1
"The moneyer Gaius Naevius Balbus is unknown. The control marks are in separate series, first Naevius used the letters of the Roman alphabeth on the obvers, some letters having more than one die. Then he put the control marks on the revers, first using Roman letters and when ran out of letters, he used Roman numerals from I to CCXXX. Crawford estimated a total of 311 reverse dies were used. The deity on Naevius' obvers is uncertain, could be probably Juno Moneta or Venus. What required such a large amount of coinage in the year 79? The most ready answer is the war with Sertorius in Spain.
The revers depicts Victory, naked to the waist, driving a Three-horse Chariot (triga), holding the reins with both hands. This is the second and last time that a triga appears on Republican coinage. The triga possibly used long ago by the Homeric heroes, was completely out of fashion with the Greeks. Its current use in Rome in the first century was only found in the celebration of the Ludi Romani, a religous and ceremonial survival of the games originally held by the dicator Aulus Postmius to commemorate the victory at Lake Regillus. Naevius imagery is intended to recall that ancient victory which established Roman imperium, echoing the caput rerum. The coin has the look of a typical military issue predicting the expected Roman victory. An interpretion would be: Victory driving the three-horse chariot shows that all efforts to dispute Roman rule were fated to end in Roman victory. The prophecy would be fulfilled and Rome would be the head of the world."
ex Diana Numismatics, Via Quattro Fontane 20/b, Rome
Collezione : Verkauft