One of my favorite RRs - recent acquisition

[ambr0zie]

Hello ladies and gentlemen,

I guess it's time for me to add a coin to the new forum.

Due to some recent bad events plus being generally busy I didn't have the time to check it properly.

Not a fabulous coin - but exactly the type of coin that ticks many boxes for me. A pleasant design and with interesting symbolism, related to mythology and affordable. Would have, of course, preferred a slightly better condition, but with the prices nowadays you can never know. I have seen way too often F coins going for decent prices (and usually I get them =)) ) and the same coin, a liiiiiiitle better, F+, going for prices I stop considering a good deal. But this is another topic.

M. Herennius. 108-107 BC. Rome

. Denarius AR

18 mm, 3,77 g

PIETAS, head of Pietas r., wearing diadem; hair twisted around lower part of diadem; single drop earring; beaded necklace; tendrils falling down the back of her neck / M·HERENNI, nude male figure bearing a man on his shoulder, r. (one of the Catanaean brothers, Amphinomus, carrying his father Nisos on his shoulder); M.HERENNI downwards l.; control mark on r.; dot border

RRC 308/1b; Herennia 1a; B.M.C, 1258-85; Syd. 567a

Amphinomus or Aeneas? the best interpretation of the reverse I found is this

There are two possible interpretations of this reverse design, each with merit. The first is that the moneyer M. Herennius, who perhaps had a connection with Sicily, chose to illustrate a local example of Piety: the brothers Amphinomus and Anapias, who are supposed to have saved their parents from an eruption of Mt Etna by carrying them from danger on their shoulders. The second interpretation reaches back to the mythological founding of Rome; Aeneas, during the fall of Troy, carried his father Anchises from the burning ruins of the city. Romulus and Remus, the founders of the city of Rome, through their descendence from him, made Aeneas progenitor of the Roman people. Long before Virgil makes reference to ‘pious Aeneas’ in his Aeneid, the Roman concept of piety was threefold; duty to the gods, to one’s homeland and to one’s family, which neatly links the reverse type with the obverse on this coin.

Overall, a coin I wanted a lot and I consider it a good addition.

If you feel appropriate, please post coins with mythological scenes.

[Qcumbor]

Interesting reverse scene.

I have a later version, minted under JC himself :

Julius Caesar, Denarius minted in North Africa c.47-46 BC
No legend, Diademed head of Venus right
CAESAR, Aeneas left, bearing Anchises on his shoulder
3.91 gr
Ref : HCRI # 55, RCV #1402, Cohen #12

 

Q

[Ryro]

A classic! Mine was given to me by my pops, somewhat ironically due to the imagery on the coin:

 

[Roman Collector]

Fantastic, @ambr0zie! I was shocked at how many different control marks there are in the fields on this issue! Here's mine. I'm a subscriber to the Aeneas and Anchises theory.

M. Herennius, 108-107 BC.
Roman AR Denarius, 3.41 g, 17.4 mm, 3 h.
Rome, 108-107 BC.
Obv: PIETAS, diademed head of Pietas right.
Rev: M • HERENNI, Aeneas carrying his father Anchises, r.; Control-mark L• in lower right field.
Refs: Crawford RRC 308/1b; Sydenham CRR 567a; RSC I Herennia 1a; RCV 185; BMCRR 1272.

 

 

[Etcherdude]

I won this last week. I like the Pietas portrait.

Edited May 25, 2022 by Etcherdude

[Roman Collector]

4 minutes ago, Etcherdude said:

I won this one last week. I like the Pietas portrait.

I think that old inventory no. 37 on the reverse is interesting. Do you have any information on the provenance of that one?

[Etcherdude]

No I don’t, sorry. She was an Heritage lot and I haven’t received her yet, maybe some additional information will come with? I’ll update if I find out more about the provenance.

[Helvius Pertinax]

On 5/25/2022 at 4:49 AM, Etcherdude said:

I won this last week. I like the Pietas portrait.

Big fan of that old inventory number ngl. Being able to know that someone collected this coin a long time ago already... nice provenance!

[Etcherdude]

@Helvius Pertinax I agree. Another stamp of time on this ancient object. Gratia Helvius.

[Ursus]

I like this type a lot. A nice addition, @ambr0zie!

Roman Republic, moneyer: M. Herennius, AR denarius, 108–107 BC, Rome mint. Obv: PIETAS; head of Pietas r. Rev: M HERENNI; Aeneas or one of the Catanean brothers Amphinomos and Anapias carrying his father r. 19mm, 3.94g. Ref: RRC 308/1b.

[Etcherdude]

That’s a beauty @Ursus

[AncientNumis]

On 5/24/2022 at 8:08 AM, ambr0zie said:

Hello ladies and gentlemen,

I guess it's time for me to add a coin to the new forum.

Due to some recent bad events plus being generally busy I didn't have the time to check it properly.

Not a fabulous coin - but exactly the type of coin that ticks many boxes for me. A pleasant design and with interesting symbolism, related to mythology and affordable. Would have, of course, preferred a slightly better condition, but with the prices nowadays you can never know. I have seen way too often F coins going for decent prices (and usually I get them =)) ) and the same coin, a liiiiiiitle better, F+, going for prices I stop considering a good deal. But this is another topic.

M. Herennius. 108-107 BC. Rome

 

. Denarius AR

 

18 mm, 3,77 g

 

PIETAS, head of Pietas r., wearing diadem; hair twisted around lower part of diadem; single drop earring; beaded necklace; tendrils falling down the back of her neck / M·HERENNI, nude male figure bearing a man on his shoulder, r. (one of the Catanaean brothers, Amphinomus, carrying his father Nisos on his shoulder); M.HERENNI downwards l.; control mark on r.; dot border

 

RRC 308/1b; Herennia 1a; B.M.C, 1258-85; Syd. 567a

 

 

Amphinomus or Aeneas? the best interpretation of the reverse I found is this

There are two possible interpretations of this reverse design, each with merit. The first is that the moneyer M. Herennius, who perhaps had a connection with Sicily, chose to illustrate a local example of Piety: the brothers Amphinomus and Anapias, who are supposed to have saved their parents from an eruption of Mt Etna by carrying them from danger on their shoulders. The second interpretation reaches back to the mythological founding of Rome; Aeneas, during the fall of Troy, carried his father Anchises from the burning ruins of the city. Romulus and Remus, the founders of the city of Rome, through their descendence from him, made Aeneas progenitor of the Roman people. Long before Virgil makes reference to ‘pious Aeneas’ in his Aeneid, the Roman concept of piety was threefold; duty to the gods, to one’s homeland and to one’s family, which neatly links the reverse type with the obverse on this coin.

 

 

Overall, a coin I wanted a lot and I consider it a good addition.

If you feel appropriate, please post coins with mythological scenes.

Sadly, I don't have this type but here are 2 mythological scenes on some rather affordable ancient coins I own:
-Herakles strangling the Nemean lion
-Legendary founding of Rome, Romulus And Remus

[ambr0zie]

What is the coin with the shewolf and twins reverse? is it the Roma city commemorative from 4th century?

I know it is present on many coins (and I intend to buy more varieties).

My favorite is this Macrinus from Laodicea ad Mare.

[AncientNumis]

2 minutes ago, ambr0zie said:

What is the coin with the shewolf and twins reverse? is it the Roma city commemorative from 4th century?

I know it is present on many coins (and I intend to buy more varieties).

My favorite is this Macrinus from Laodicea ad Mare.

Yep - it is! Just a late roman bronze 😞, but I still like mine. 

It's quite amazing just how many coins feature this as the reverse - the Romans must have been really proud to commemorate their founding so much. That Macrinus looks really cool! A lot more interesting than mine 🤣. I'd like to get some other coins featuring it too - I'm thinking of getting a RR version. 

[ambr0zie]

Your coin seems in exceptional condition and very well struck.

Here are 2 of mine (that cannot be compared) but the small one is very interesting - being a barbarous imitation.

[AncientNumis]

2 minutes ago, ambr0zie said:

Your coin seems in exceptional condition and very well struck.

Here are 2 of mine (that cannot be compared) but the small one is very interesting - being a barbarous imitation.

Sadly I did overpay a lot for mine - it was one of my first ancients - but I still get enjoyment out of it! 
Yours are fun too - and I love your barbarous imitation. I quite like barbarous LRBs (because they can be so affordable) and so have a few of them, think I have the other Roma commem type but I'll check if I've got this one. 

[Alegandron]

SHE-WOLF

One of my RR favorites.

RR Anon AE Sextans 217-215 BCE She-Wolf Twins Eagle Syd 95 Cr 39-3 S 609 Scarce

Edited May 28, 2022 by Alegandron

[TheTrachyEnjoyer]

27 minutes ago, Alegandron said:

SHE-WOLF

One of my RR favorites.

RR Anon AE Sextans 217-215 BCE She-Wolf Twins Eagle Syd 95 Cr 39-3 S 609 Scarce

Early she wolf! Nice!

[Alegandron]

1 hour ago, TheTrachyEnjoyer said:

Early she wolf! Nice!

Thank you.  I focus my collection on BCE coinage, so I enjoy a lot of RR issues.

[Jeremy]

Nice example with a great story attached to it!