A special example of a very common coin

[Phil Davis]

Rarity's in the eye of the beholder. Something like that. One of the most ubiquitous denarii of the late Republic was struck by  P. Clodius M.f. Turrinus in 42 BC, Crawford 494/23. As far as I‘m aware, we know pretty much nothing about the career or family connections of the moneyer. (Maybe he was one of the upstarts Cicero whined about, who adopted famous family names they weren’t “entitled” to, because who could call them on it really?) The details:

Obverse: Head of Apollo laureate right, lyre behind his head.  
Reverse: Diana standing facing, head right, bow and quiver over her shoulder, each hand holding a lighted torch; .M•F• downward on the left, P•CLODIVS downward on the right.  

My collection has contained a very nice example for a long time, a lovely coin with a first rate pedigree, ex Santamaria, 1952, lot 912 (Signorelli Collection;) Banti 24/4 (this coin,) struck on a characteristically broad flan. Here it is:

I was (and still am) entirely satisfied with that piece and wasn't looking to "improve" it. But... There does exist a minor variety of the type, unmentioned by Crawford but noted by Banti: on some examples, P•CLODIVS on the reverse displays a distinct curvature, as on the above coin, whereas on the majority the same legend falls on a straight vertical line. That distinction intrigued me; it seemed likely it must signify something, a different engraver if nothing else. It just doesn't seem like the kind of change a single engraver would make on a whim. So I had in the back of my mind I'd like to illustrate both varieties in my collection, if the right example of the vertical variety came along.

And now it has!

When I saw the next coin in the just-concluded Leu sale, it was love at first sight. Certainly the quality fits my collection and I could "justify" going after it as a variety, but what enraptured me was the obverse style. Apollo on the first coin is "typical" of the type; technically quite proficient but somehow not stylistically original or innovative. We've seen this "pretty" Apollo before! (Over and over, if the truth be known.) Apollo on the new coin is utterly different, a genuinely new creation. I'm still captivated by his knowing smirk, his eyes peeking out at me right this minute, like he's just returned from carousing with his half-brother Bacchus, or he knows a universal secret but he'll never tell...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2023 by Phil Davis

[CPK]

That is indeed a distinctive looking Apollo. And an impressively large flan, too!

[Al Kowsky]

3 hours ago, Phil Davis said:

Rarity's in the eye of the beholder. Something like that. One of the most ubiquitous denarii of the late Republic was struck by  P. Clodius M.f. Turrinus in 42 BC, Crawford 494/23. As far as I‘m aware, we know pretty much nothing about the career or family connections of the moneyer. (Maybe he was one of the upstarts Cicero whined about, who adopted famous family names they weren’t “entitled” to, because who could call them on it really?) The details:

Obverse: Head of Apollo laureate right, lyre behind his head.  
Reverse: Diana standing facing, head right, bow and quiver over her shoulder, each hand holding a lighted torch; .M•F• downward on the left, P•CLODIVS downward on the right.  

My collection has contained a very nice example for a long time, a lovely coin with a first rate pedigree, ex Santamaria, 1952, lot 912 (Signorelli Collection;) Banti 24/4 (this coin,) struck on a characteristically broad flan. Here it is:

I was (and still am) entirely satisfied with that piece and wasn't looking to "improve" it. But... There does exist a minor variety of the type, unmentioned by Crawford but noted by Banti: on some examples, P•CLODIVS on the reverse displays a distinct curvature, as on the above coin, whereas on the majority the same legend falls on a straight vertical line. That distinction intrigued me; it seemed likely it must signify something, a different engraver if nothing else. It just doesn't seem like the kind of change a single engraver would make on a whim. So I had in the back of my mind I'd like to illustrate both varieties in my collection, if the right example of the vertical variety came along.

And now it has!

When I saw the next coin in the just-concluded Leu sale, it was love at first sight. Certainly the quality fits my collection and I could "justify" going after it as a variety, but what enraptured me was the obverse style. Apollo on the first coin is "typical" of the type; technically quite proficient but somehow not stylistically original or innovative. We've seen this "pretty" Apollo before! (Over and over, if the truth be known.) Apollo on the new coin is utterly different, a genuinely new creation. I'm still captivated by his knowing smirk, his eyes peeking out at me right this minute, like he's just returned from carousing with his half-brother Bacchus, or he knows a universal secret but he'll never tell...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's great to have both coins struck on planchets with an oversized diameter sporting a complete image of obverse & reverse ☺️. The top coin has finer engraving in a Hellenistic style, but the bottom coin has a portrait infused with a comical personality, making an interesting comparison. Is Apollo wearing an earing in the form of a clump of grapes 🤔?

[Phil Davis]

10 hours ago, Al Kowsky said:

Is Apollo wearing an earing in the form of a clump of grapes 🤔?

That struck me too. It really does look like that. If the lyre didn't unambiguously point to Apollo as the god depicted here, we might well surmise that the subject is actually Bacchus.

[Al Kowsky]

I've seen earrings in the form of a clump of grapes used on other Roman Republican denarii, & one example that comes to mind is the coin pictured below, a coin I sold at CNG 483, lot 373. It may seem odd that Roma would wear such an earring until you know where it was struck, the island of Sicily. Sicily was well known as a major producer of wine even under Greek occupation ☺️.

Roman Republic, Anonymous. 209-208 BC. Mint in Sicily. AR Denarius Serratus: 4.19 gm, 18.5 mm, 11 h. Reverse: Dioscuri on horseback over a 6 spoked wheel. Crawford 79/1.

[antwerpen2306]

 

 

I didn't know there were two variants. Here is mine. The first time I saw the coin, I was thinking it was a women on the obverse, but then seeing the lyre, I realized it was Apollo. 

 

21 mm, 3.87 gr, 4 h.

 

 

 

[red_spork]

I've owned a curved variant before but currently only own a straight variant, also a Banti plate coin. Kinda wish I'd kept the curved variant now but I had to sell it to help fund the upgrade to the straight variant:

New, straight variant:

Roman Imperatorial period AR denarius(3.86g, 18mm), P. Clodius M.f. Turrinus, moneyer, 42 B.C., Rome mint. Laureate bust of Apollo right; lyre behind / Diana Lucifera standing facing with bow and quiver over shoulder, holding lighted torch in each hand; P•CLODIVS M•F• across fields. Crawford 494/23; Sydenham 1117; HCRI 184; Banti Claudia 23/17(this coin).

Ex Münzhandlung Ritter GMBH, 17 July 2023, ex Jacques Schulman, Amsterdam, 233, 28-31 March 1960, lot 1126

Old, now deaccessioned, curved variant:

Roman Imperatorial period AR denarius(3.92g, 20mm), P. Clodius M.f. Turrinus, moneyer, 42 B.C., Rome mint. Laureate bust of Apollo right; lyre behind / Diana Lucifera standing facing with bow and quiver over shoulder, holding lighted torch in each hand; P•CLODIVS M•F• across fields. Crawford 494/23; Sydenham 1117; HCRI 184.
 

[jdmKY]

And here’s mine, the more common vertical version (I didn’t even know there was another type). Obviously I don’t have the patience of @Phil Davis in finding those perfectly centered, full flan examples! Kudos!

 

[DonnaML]

6 hours ago, Phil Davis said:

That struck me too. It really does look like that. If the lyre didn't unambiguously point to Apollo as the god depicted here, we might well surmise that the subject is actually Bacchus.

A beautiful coin, @Phil Davis! 

On the earring question, I can't think of any Roman Republican depiction of Apollo wearing an earring, or of any other male deity doing so other than Bacchus/Liber. As on this denarius of Vibius Varus:

As for grape earrings in general, they're not uncommon in depictions of Roma, although both my examples show the bunch of grapes as conical or teardrop-shaped, rather than round as on  the Clodius Turrinus:

 

Perhaps both of these considerations explain Grueber's decision not to describe the object covering Apollo's ear on the Clodius Turrinus as an earring. See BMCRR I 4289 at p. 586 (it immediately occurred to me to check BMCRR because it almost always has by far the most detailed descriptions of Republican obverse portraits): "Head of Apollo r., laureate, hair collected into a knot, and falling in two locks down his neck; jewel near his ear; behind, lyre." (Emphasis added.) 

Query: if it is a jewel, and it's not an earring, then where is it attached? To Apollo's hair?

[ambr0zie]

Great coins. I also noticed this popular coin type having "two varieties" of Apollo portraits. First, quite normal style (like Phil's 1st example), and second, a semi-weird style, like he's just about to tell a joke or prank someone. 

I was not aware of the "rounded" or "straight" part of the legend, but I haven't studied this type too much. 

I also have an example of this, but in terms of condition, worse than others shown here. However, I like mine a lot. First reason - mine also has the "semi-weird" portrait. Now the bad news (or the good news) is that mine has a common flaw for this type - very poor strike. I can't say I collect errors/defects, but for me this was not a turn off. Upper part of the portrait - very poorly struck. "P CLODIUS" legend - basically NOT struck, 

[Qcumbor]

The type is high on my list, either straight or curved, I still have to find the right one that my wallet will like too

Exceptional examples @Phil Davis !

Q

[Octavius]

I also did not realize there were two varieties of this coin. Mine appears to have the curved inscription. These coins may be common , but to me they are very handsome.