Mark Antony

RARE MARC ANTONY & OCTAVIA FLEET COINAGE, AE16 'Fleet Coinage', RPC 1470.

 

Jugate heads of Marc Antony and Octavia/Roman war galley.

 

This unusual coin is an example of Mark Anthony's "fleet coinage," a series of bronzes in multiple, clearly marked denominations issued shortly after Antony's marriage alliance with Octavian, the nephew of Julius Caesar. The exact dates, the nature and purpose of the series have been the subject of much debate. David Sear in his superb book "History and Coinage of the Roman Imperators 49-27 BC," places the commencement of the series in the summer of 38 BC at a still unidentified Eastern mint.

 

Most of the coins depict overlapping, confronting or Janiform portraits of Antony and Octavia, his wife and Octavian's sister. Reverses almost all feature nautical themes--galleys under full sail, or figures in chariots drawn by hippocampus. The admiral's names, themes, and the combination of Greek and Latin letters indicate the coins may have been used to pay sailors in Antony's fleet, and were intended for circulation in his Eastern realm.

 

This experimental coinage was short-lived and is very rare today, it is interesting to note that the great currency reform started by Octavian, after he had taken the name Augustus and become the first Emperor of Rome, resulted in a bronze coinage using exactly the same denominations as Anthony's fleet issues.