Acquisition number: 1966.80
Other images
Obv.: Head of Apollo r., laureate, with two strands of hair hanging down neck; behind, a lyre. Border of dots.
Rev.: Diana Lucifera (Diana, Bringer of Light) standing r., draped, holding a lighted torch in each hand, with a bow and quiver on her shoulder. On right, P(ublius) CLODIVS (downwards); on left, M(arci) F(ilius) (downwards). Border of dots.
Title: Denarius of P. Clodius - 1966.80
Acquisition number: 1966.80
Culture or period: Roman Republic
Date: 42 BC
Material: Metal - Silver
Object type: Coins - Roman
Dimensions: 16mm (w)
Origin region or location: Italy
Origin city: Rome
Display case or on loan: 5
Keywords: Coin, denarius, Roman, Republic, Apollo, Diana
Sear, D.R., Roman Coins and their Values 5 vols (London, Spink, 2000-2014) 492; Crawford, M., Roman Republican Coinage 2 vols (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2011) 494/23 and pl. LIX.17; Sydenham, E. A. The Coinage of the Roman Republic (London, Spink, 1952; (Sanford J. Durst repr. 1976) 1117; Seaby, H.A., Roman Silver Coins (London, B.A. Seaby, 1967) Claudia 15; Sear, D.R., The History and Coinage of the Roman Imperators (London, Spink, 1998) 184; Grueber, H.A., Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum 3 vols (London, The Trustees of the British Museum, 1910; rev. edn London, 1970) I. 4290.
1966.80
Denarius of P. Clodius
3.391 g. 42 BC
Obv.: Head of Apollo r., laureate, with two strands of hair hanging down neck; behind, a lyre. Border of dots.
Rev.: Diana Lucifera (Diana, Bringer of Light) standing r., draped, holding a lighted torch in each hand, with a bow and quiver on her shoulder. On right, P(ublius) CLODIVS (downwards); on left, M(arci) F(ilius) (downwards). Border of dots.
P. Clodius was one of a college of four moneyers who struck gold and silver coins for the triumvirs Octavian, Antony and Lepidus. There is a gold version of this coin. Some of Clodius’ coins bear portraits of the triumvirs. His other types may have more private allusions; but Crawford (511) suggests that Sol and Luna, ‘and the cognate deities Apollo and Diana’, reflect ‘a belief in the imminence of a new age’. Crawford elsewhere (741) draws attention to the association of Apollo with Libertas (‘Freedom’): Brutus’ coins of this date often celebrate Apollo.
The head of Apollo on this coin is particularly fine.
Sear, D.R., Roman Coins and their Values 5 vols (London, Spink, 2000-2014) 492; Crawford, M., Roman Republican Coinage 2 vols (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2011) 494/23 and pl. LIX.17; Sydenham, E. A. The Coinage of the Roman Republic (London, Spink, 1952; (Sanford J. Durst repr. 1976) 1117; Seaby, H.A., Roman Silver Coins (London, B.A. Seaby, 1967) Claudia 15; Sear, D.R., The History and Coinage of the Roman Imperators (London, Spink, 1998) 184; Grueber, H.A., Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum 3 vols (London, The Trustees of the British Museum, 1910; rev. edn London, 1970) I. 4290.