06/05/2025 General, Coins, Bank Notes & Postage Stamps
My interest in coinage began at an early age. My grandfather, Herbert Percy Russell, impressed upon me the importance of collecting, of saving, of analyzing, and of recording. As a small child, straight blond hair reflecting its home-styled bowl cut and a large stiff bow perched atop my head, I sat next to his thin, upright figure and awaited with great anticipation the opening of the box that he carefully would carry to the sofa. Inside rested the familiar faded navy cardboard book. He unfolded the tripartite pages and before me was exposed his collection of pennies, each one resting in its own circle with one year marching after another. 1895, 1896, 1897... There was the image of that familiar Indian, facing left, with nine distinct feathers on her headdress and "LIBERTY" inscribed on the band, surrounded by the legend "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA". 1909, 1910, 1911... His collection moved on to the Lincoln Head set. Now I saw Abraham Lincoln, facing right, the legend "IN GOD WE TRUST" appeared at the top of the coin, "LIBERTY" moved to the left side, and "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" was relegated to the back. I learned to examine the coins carefully; to search for the initials of Victor D. Brenner, the designer of this new coin, on the back of the 1909 issues; to identify the mint by locating the letter below the date. There was S for San Francisco, D for Denver, and no letter for Philadelphia -- 'why?' I wondered. Some of the coins had crisp details and even surfaces, others showed the signs of wear or of overzealous polishing. Some coins were bathed in golden red with fiery sunset hues, others were dull and chocolate brown. In 1943, for one year, the coins changed to a lustrous steel-gray.
In 1910 Philadelphia minted 146 million pennies, San Francisco 6 million. In 1942 Philadelphia minted 657.8 million, San Francisco 85.6 million, and Denver 206.7 million!
Over time I combined my childhood curiosity and excitement with my love for Roman history, and grew to appreciate the power of images. And so, I evolved into a collector of coins.
Coins provide a vivid and coherent picture of the development of Classical civilization. Lumps or bars of silver and bronze were used as money as early as the 2nd millennium B.C., and Herodotus reported that the Lydians, as well as being the first shopkeepers, were the first to introduce the use of gold and silver coins. In this statement Herodotus is approximately correct, for the earliest known coins were struck in Lydia (central part of Western Asia Minor) in the latter part of the 7th century B.C. They were struck in electrum, an alloy of gold and silver, which occurs naturally in that region. The 7th century B.C. was a period of increasing prosperity, movement, and trade throughout the Mediterranean, and the age-old system of barter was no longer sufficient for many transactions. The use of un-coined bullion became more and more inconvenient since it involved constant weighing and checking. The introduction of coinage solved those problems admirably. It provided pieces of metal of a calculated weight and fineness guaranteed by the Lydian kings.
In fact, Croesus, the king of Lydia from 561 to 547 B.C., was the first known ruler to issue small coins in gold and silver whose purity and, therefore, reliable value were guaranteed by the government, a prerequisite for anxiety-free trade. His name became synonymous with enormous wealth, and it is against his wealth that the wealth of all others was measured.
The advantages of coinage were obvious, and its use soon spread to Greece where silver was preferred since it was available locally. The technology for the production of these coins was simple: a die-cutter engraved a chosen design on a thick iron or bronze peg that was set into an anvil. The reverse design was at first only the mark of the rough punch used to drive the hot metal against the die, but soon it was supplanted by a figured design engraved on the end of the punch.
Aggressive local pride of the multitudinous Greek city-states fostered the adoption of individual coinages as symbols of their independence. Soon the fronts of Greek coins were adorned with the badge of the state, a local myth, the special produce of the town or region, or the symbol of a local deity under whose auspices the currency was issued. You are probably all familiar with the owl, a reference to the wisdom of Athena, on the coinage of her city, Athens; with the bull and labyrinth of a meander pattern on the coins of Crete, home of the Minotaur; with the selinon leaf (parsley) on the coins of the city of Selinus which abounds with this plant; with the dolphins of Syracuse; and with the tunny fish of Cyzicus, an important commercial city in Asia Minor on the Propontis. Perhaps less familiar but more fascinating is the sea turtle that appears on the coinage of Aegina, a prosperous island republic situated near Athens. This is a clear ideogram of the maritime activity of this early mercantile state. Interestingly enough, the sea turtle was replaced in 457 B.C. by a representation of a land tortoise after Athens stripped the island of its fleet and imposed a new coin type as a symbol of Aegina's altered state.
My collection focuses upon the coins of the Roman Republic, and particularly upon the ubiquitous silver coin, the denarius, a coin that divulges so much about the way of life of a people -- their beliefs, their habits, their wars and victories, their names and even the images of their heroes and leading personalities. The denarius is a small silver coin of about 3/4 of an inch in diameter (a little larger than our dime) that was introduced in 187 B.C. and quickly became the most popular and most important coin of the Republic and later of the Empire. It was destined to dominate the currency of the Mediterranean world for over 400 years.
In the early part of the 2nd century B.C., Rome, drawing on the Etruscan custom of using cast bronze by weight, had begun issuing large and unwieldy bronze coins, some of which weighed as much as 300 grams (over half a pound). These were big coins, the depth or thickness of the metal being almost as great as the diameter and the types of designs were fixed and unvarying. We will look at two early coins, the first being a bronze didrachm. It is immediately clear to all that Lot 3 with its double head. wreathed with a crown of laurel, represents the god Janus, who, according to Roman tradition, was an early king of the country, an immigrant from Greece who settled on the Janiculum Hill. Janus is described by Ovid (Fasti I.117) as the custodian of the universe, the opener and fastener of all things, an outward and inward-looking figure. He was endowed by Saturn with knowledge of both past and future events, and over time he became a god -- the god of beginnings and endings, the god of doorways and crossroads who looks upon both commencing and retiring events, the god who gave his name to the first month of the year. His temple, a small bronze shrine in the Forum, was fitted with double gates on its eastern and western sides that were, symbolically, closed in times of peace and left open in war. How appropriate that this was the image on the coinage that represented the end of the Etruscan/Greek style and the beginning of a new, truly Roman, form.
The reverse of this coin grounds it in Italy, not Greece. ROMA is inscribed, boldly, on the solid tablet below the picture. This coin was minted on the Capitoline Hill in the temple of Juno Moneta in the year 225 B.C. The scene represented is a picture of Jupiter in a 4-horse chariot, the Latin quadriga, driven by a winged Victory. But questions arise: How do we know that this is Jupiter? Why is victory driving the chariot? Close inspection answers the first. The scepter held in the left hand, the thunderbolt being hurled with the right, clearly identifies this as Jupiter, king of the gods. As to the second. one can surmise that Victory was heralded frequently during these last few years of the middle Republic. Indeed, Rome signed the Ebro Treaty with Hasdrubal in 226 B.C., limiting the Carthaginians’ expansion in Spain, and she turned her full attention in 225 B.C. to the last great struggle with the Gallic tribes of North Italy.
As long as the Romans did not need a currency to circulate outside their own lands, the heavy bronze coins served their purpose. But with the opening of trade with. the Greek colonies in southern Italy, they developed a silver coinage, modeled after those of the Greek city-states, supplemented by some issues of gold.
After this period no gold was used for coins until after Sulla, and there were no substantial issues until 46 B.C. Before it disappears, however, we must look at a small 60 As of 211 B.C. This coin (Lot 6, Lot 7) was minted during the Second Punic War (218-202 B.C.) when Hannibal, with his undying hatred of Rome, inflicted a series of crushing and bloody defeats on one great Roman army after another. On the front of the coin is depicted the head of Mars, facing right, wearing a crested Corinthian helmet. Mars, the god of war and the father of Romulus and Remus, promotes a strong, stalwart image for this war-tom country. A proud eagle, wings spread wide, stands on the back atop a thunderbolt. The king of birds, consecrated to Jupiter, designates the power of Rome and, if the image is not enough, ROMA itself is inscribed below. This coin is almost wholly Greek in idiom, static and militaristic in feeling, certain to receive acceptance in Greek markets, but the legend, Roma, clearly specifies the issuing authority and guarantees the value of the coin.
As in this aureus, thematically, the denarius was a rather monotonous issue initially. The front often depicted the helmeted head of the goddess Roma, which was to become the model for Adolph Weinman's design for our "Mercury'' dime. The goddess, represented the city in the same manner as Athena on the coins of Athens, and she symbolized the power and importance of Rome throughout Italy. On the reverse were the protectors of Rome -- the Dioscuri or Heavenly Twins, Castor and Pollux (who can be seen as stars in the constellation Gemini on a clear night). However, after about 30 years, the minters began to change the symbolic images on the denarii: at first the reverse and then later the front, creating highly interesting, imaginative, and diverse figurations.
One of the reasons for the great variety of depictions on this coinage was the administrative and political organization of Rome. Rome was a Republic under the leadership of two consuls, elected annually, and a very powerful senate that was made up of the landed and moneyed aristocracy. The production of coins was in the care of three moneyers (l/lVIRI aere argento auro jl.ando feriundo) who were elected every year.
These moneyers were young men from patrician families who aspired to higher status through the cursus honorum, i.e., a series of responsible positions within the government. They were charged with assuring that the coins were of good weight and quality. With the expanding volume of coins year after year, it became necessary to distinguish the issues of one moneyer from another (better for the assigning of blame). Thereby, the denarius developed into an important and powerful tool with which each moneyer extolled the virtues, deeds, and accomplishments of his ancestors and family and thus himself. Art became a path to power, and a carefully staged campaign of visual propaganda began.
At first, in various subtle ways, the moneyers made additions to the reverse of the static coins. There started to appear small symbols -- perhaps an ear of com, a spearhead, a caduceus. Soon the name of the moneyer became a regular feature on reverse types and the legend ROMA was moved up to become an element of the design itself. The reverse picture changed from the Dioscuri to other deities or heroes with their traditional attributes, sometimes reminiscent of the early scenes.
An example of this new profusion of deities and heroic traditions is Lot 18, a serrated denarius depicting a bust of Diana on the front with bow and quiver on her shoulder and the head of a stag above. Diana, sister of Apollo, was goddess of the chase, of the moon, of women and of childbirth. For poet Ben Jonson she was "Queen and huntress, chaste and fair," as well as a "Goddess excellently bright." Here she radiates youth, beauty, and strength. The reverse shows a figure clad in a toga who stands before an altar and sprinkles a fine fat ox that is about to be sacrificed. This coin is said to be commemorative of the battle of Lake Regillus in 496 B.C. at which the Roman army, commanded by Postumius Albus, soundly trounced the enemy Latins. (There is a legend that the Dioscuri showed up in time to help the Romans whip the Latins. How appropriate that this scene should replace their customary appearance!) The bust of Diana recalls that, prior to the battle, a special sacrifice was made at the Temple of Diana on the Aventine, one of the seven hills on which Rome was built. The reverse carries this sacrificial scene in detail. It also carries the name of the moneyer, Aulus Postumius Albinus, descendant of that famous Roman general. [A POST AF/ S N ALBIN]
Next the representations of deities were replaced by mythological or historical themes. This was made possible by the emergence of noble families to a position of almost unchallenged eminence and the love that these families had for antiquarianism. The past was viewed in a golden light and its great men were deified. The moneyers now glorified themselves by selecting a type that glorified the legendary achievements of a famous ancestor in the service or advancement of the Roman state and then added their own signatures to the coin.
The legend of this coin would be as familiar to the Romans as the story about George Washington and the cherry tree is to American school children. Tarpeia was the daughter of the commander of the Capitoline Hill who betrayed the entrance to Rome's citadel to the Sabines in exchange "for what they had on their left arms." Of course, she was thinking of their flashing gold torques, or bracelets. The Sabines rewarded Tarpeia, however, by throwing their shields on her and killing her. Here on the reverse, we see her facing us, buried to her waist and sinking amid an overwhelming heap of shields, trying to thrust away with her raised arms two soldiers who are about to cast their shields at her. Above her is the moon and a six-pointed star -- emblems of the night that serve to point out the time when this act of treachery was perpetrated. The front of the coin shows a rough, bearded head, facing right. This is Titus Tatius, king or general of the Sabines, who, according to tradition, because of Tarpeia's treason penetrated the walls of infant Rome. Thanks to the intervention of the Sabine women, whom the Romans had carried off sometime before, peace was achieved between these two peoples, and the Romans and Sabines formed a single community under the joint rule of Romulus and Titus Tatius. This coin was struck by Lucius Titurius Sabinus in Rome in 89 BC -- a fitting tribute to his illustrious ancestry.
Coin types were becoming more and more flexible. The major deities continued to appear on the front of many issues, but a whole host of lesser 'virtues' to which the Romans were particularly sensitive began to appear as well. These powers affected most fields of human conduct and were consequently capable of being worshipped. Here we see Fortuna, Pax, Pietas, Concordia, Libertas..., assigned with their traditional attributes (the rudder for Fortuna, the olive branch for Pax, a sacrificial dish for Pietas...) Now there was not only a religious content to these coins, but also a moral one, and the moneyers were able to bridge the gap between mythological representations with their implied analogy between past and present and historical types with explicit reference to contemporary events.
A coin (Lot 9) struck by Marcus Herennius illustrates this new trend. Here we see the personification of Piety, facing right, and duly named. Her head is ornamented with a fillet and her countenance is appropriately serene. This was the quality so often represented by the hero Aeneas that implied not only the worship and reverence due toward the gods, but also in a more extended sense the love and charity borne towards parents, children, friends, neighbors, and country. The Herennia family used this image frequently on their coins (as did the Emperor Tiberius) and presented on the reverse the picture of filial love often in the form of Aeneas in the act of carrying on his shoulders his aged father Anchises and fleeing the city of Troy. The reverse picture harkens back to that image, but truly reflects a more recent event. This is the story of the pious brothers (Pii Fratres) of Catania in Sicily, Amphinomus and Anapis who, during a destructive eruption of Mt. Etna, were content to lose all their property in order to secure the safety of their father and mother. Who this Herennius was and what occasion led to the adoption of this type is uncertain, but the message is obvious.
While coins did begin to refer to more contemporary events, the Romans continued to shy away from the representation of famous statesmen in their lifetime. Perhaps they were reminded that those whose heads were depicted on Hellenistic coins in their own lifetime were kings. The Romans still hesitated to revive the corpse of the Kingship after the expulsion of the notorious Tarquins. Even though the Romans were willing to accumulate extensive personal power, seemed ready to destroy the constitution, were quick to resort to bribery in the law courts, and frequently rigged elections, they did not want to be seen on their coins as kings.
Instead, the military generals found a way to make their coinage personal. In Lot 15, Lot 16 we see a coin struck in 82 B.C. at the moving mint of Sulla in Greece during the Mithridatic War. Note that it was minted by Lucius Manlius Torquatus, a proquaestor (pay-master general) to Sulla, who placed his name prominently on the front, surrounding Roma in all of her glory -- helmeted and authoritative. The back shows a Triumphator in a quadriga being crowned by Victory who is flying above, and it bears the name of the great general (L.SULLA IMP). Thus, Sulla, essentially, is seen riding aloft with the symbol of peace and concord (the caduceus which Mercury received from Apollo in return for the lyre), indicating his prominence, importance, and power.
Similarly, Pompey advertised his brilliant military successes by means of special coinage. Lot 34, which was struck by Faustus Cornelius Sulla (Pompey's son-in-law) in 56 B.C., shows the conquering Venus on the front with her head crowned and laureated and a scepter on her shoulder. On the reverse, three military trophies are placed between the praefericulum (vase for libations) and the lituus (staff used to describe and measure the different regions of the sky). These symbols denote Pompey's augural dignity while the trophies refer directly to his amazing military conquests in Africa and commemorate the three triumphs he celebrated between 79 and 61 B.C. -- ex Africa, ex Europa, ex Asia.
According to the historian Dio, the design is a reproduction of the signet ring that Pompey was accustomed to wearing.
A second denarius of 49 B.C. (Lot 38) that was struck by Varro when he was one of the commanders of the Pompeian army in Spain further illustrates the point of the specific personalization of coinage. On the front is the crowned bust of a mature Jupiter (a constant element, the symbol of domination, on much of Pompey's coinage) with Vano's name and title prominently displayed. On the reverse is a dolphin and an imposing eagle; separated by a scepter, with Pompey's legend (MAGNUS PRO CONSUL) on the bottom. Here we have a direct reference to Pompey's victories on land and sea (terra marique). These coins ARE Pompey, as the one before was Sulla, and the conception of Rome is totally submerged to allow the coins to comment upon the famous imperatores. But both of these generals stop short of the final step -- depicting themselves on their coins.
The traditional feeling against personal portraiture remained inviolate for a few more years.
The early coins of Julius Caesar, minted in good part by the general to pay the troops of his Roman legions, reflected the strength of Rome and her armies. On a denarius of 49 B.C. (Lot 42, Lot 43, Lot 44) that appears to have been mass produced after Caesar had crossed the Rubicon, defied the Senate, entered Rome, and established himself as dictator, he chose to mint a coin that depicted an elephant trampling a serpent. The name, CAESAR, is clear and sharp underneath. Here is victorious Caesar and his prostrate enemy -- Ariovistus and the Germans. Why an elephant? Some scholars suggest that it is a reference to Caesar through his grandfather who, according to Servius, once killed an elephant in Africa. Others mention that elephants are called Caesares by the Phoenicians and, therefore, the elephant is a pictorial representation of the family name. No matter what, elephants were considered to be a symbol of honor and arrogance and eternity, and this coin alludes doubly to Rome's military power and to Caesar himself, an association with which Caesar can hardly have been displeased.
On the reverse are sacrificial implements -- a simpulum (a ladle for pouring libations), a sprinkling brush, an axe, and a priest's hat -- a clear reminder to all Romans of Caesar's role as Pontifex Maximus (head of the Roman religion).
From 48 B.C. on, many of Caesar's coins reflect his claim to divinity as a convenient expression and justification of his power. While Sulla, Pompey, and Caesar all placed emphasis on Venus, it was Caesar who over-trumped them by honoring Venus as the mother of his family and brought out the ancestral connection by the representation on his coins of Aeneas (the son of Venus and father of Iulus-Ascanius) and the mythical descent of the Julian clan. Lot 47 presents the diademed head of Venus on a coin produced by the military mint traveling with Caesar in North Africa in 47-46 B.C. On the reverse is Aeneas, advancing to the front, holding the palladium (a statue of Athena) on his extended right hand and bearing his father, Anchises, on his left shoulder. This scene is reminiscent of a statuary group of these three figures that stood in Rome at the time. The clear theme of ancestry and the reminder of the legendary relationship between Troy and Rome are prominently and appropriately displayed during these years of the protracted campaign against the Pompeians in Africa.
In Lot 46 we see Venus again, continuing to play a prominent role. Here she wears triple-drop earrings, a necklace of pendants, and her head is wreathed with oak. Behind her is the legend LII. Perhaps this may indicate Caesar's age when the coin was struck. On the reverse is the trophy of Gallic arms with the legend CAESAR below -- a clear reference to the nine years' struggle in Gaul that culminated in the capture of Vercingetorix, the celebrated chieftain of the Arvemi. This coin turns again to the old theme of Caesar's victories in Gaul-intended, doubtlessly, to revive memories of the 'good old days' in the hearts of his veterans.
Finally, in the last years of Julius Caesar's life, amid the crumbling traditions of the Republic, he received many honors -- the supreme command for life, the title of dictator perpetuo, the privilege of wearing the laurel crown, and the right of personal portraiture on Roman coinage. The latter step was of such sufficient significance that it was done by senatorial decree (Dio XLIV, 4, 4). Thus, portraiture was introduced to coinage, the identification of a living individual portrayed the state, and it became an established feature throughout the Empire.
Lot 66 presents, between laurel branch and caduceus (symbols of peace and prosperity), a fully struck Caesar portrait of extremely fine and lustrous condition, minted by Livineius Regulus. We finally see the man Suetonius described as having "a fair complexion, shapely limbs, a somewhat full face, and keen black eyes... somewhat overnice in the care of his person, being not only carefully trimmed and shaved, but even having superfluous hair plucked out... because of his baldness he used to comb forward his scanty locks from the crown of his head, and of all the honors voted him by the Senate and people there was no one which he received or made use of more gladly than the privilege of wearing a laurel wreath at all times." The charging bull on the reverse may recall a favorable omen of 47 B.C., but it certainly projects the strength and force that Caesar put forth that year. He had left Egypt and Syria, and conquered Phamaces in Zela with such rapidity that he issued his famous remark: "l came, I saw, I conquered (veni, vidi, vici). Then he headed for the province of Asia and returned to Italy by way of Athens and Petras. After almost two years' absence from Rome, he found himself beset with problems -- mutinous legions to appease, economic problems to solve, and civic order to maintain. The fire and force of a bull was required.
Caesar's enemies, as we know, conspired to murder him for being too 'ambitious', and his death on the Ides of March is familiar to everyone. Marcus Junius Brutus (son-in-law of Cato) is the best remembered of the assassins perhaps because of the words that Shakespeare attributed to the dying dictator, "et tu, Brute''. How ironic that the appearance of portraits of Caesar while alive on his coinage stirred among the Roman aristocracy their worst fears of the emergence of a king, and yet here on the gold coin in Lot 62, struck by the assassins Brutus and Casca Longus in 43 B.C. is a self-portrait of the famous conspirator. He emerges regally as lmperator, surrounding his image with the laurel wreath of Victory -- a living symbol of liberty. This coin is a public declaration of success af ter Caesar’s murder, and here is the latest candidate, presenting himself to an Empire that had grown accustomed to being ruled by a great man.
The moneyer, Publius Servilius Casca Longus (Tribune of the Plebs in 44 B.C., one of the leading conspirators against Caesar and actually the first to plunge his dagger on the Ides of March, who had fled to Greece to join Brutus) minted a reverse that depicts a trophy with a curved sword, two spears and a figure-eight shield, all of which stand upon the prows of two ships adorned with shields. The small L beneath the spears can be variously interpreted as the engraver's signature, as a reference to libertas, or as a reminder of the victory at Lycia. But the overall scene projects to the Roman world the combined land and sea power of Brutus.
From the reign of Augustus, imperial themes dominated the coinage, and I will end with a mature portrait of Augustus (Lot 82) wearing an oak wreath, clearly identified by the legend CAESAR AUGUSTUS. The portrait, though struck in low relief, is very strong and well-modeled and remarkable in what it reveals about Augustus. His wild hairstyle is almost Baroque! The oak wreath harkens back to the civic crown of oak leaves placed by the Senate over the doorway of Augustus' house in recognition of his saving the lives of his fellow citizens. The reverse of this coin is of great historical and iconographic importance. It shows Halley's comet that appeared in the sky for seven nights in July of 44 B.C., shortly after the death of Julius Caesar. Superstitious Romans said it was his spirit, finally enthroned in heaven, a confirmation of Caesar's deification and the symbolic advent of a new age. The appearance of this reverse coin type in 19-18 B.C. served to reinforce Augustus' connection with Caesar, as well as advertising the New Age, which Augustus was soon to celebrate. Here is the comet coming directly toward the viewer with the words DIVUS IULIUS emblazoned across its front.
Rome’s history is indelibly stamped on its coins, sometimes with 'warts-and-all' realism as is seen in the imperial coinage. It had a wider function than modem coinage since the types and legends were constantly changing and changing in sympathy with the movement of events. This became a wonderful instrument of publicity and propaganda, a way to spread official messages about identify and hope, as the language of pictures, while less exact than the written language, is direct in its approach and very powerful in its appeal. The man in the street certainly looked at coins, studied them, discussed them, and held them in fond regard.
Auction Thursday, June 12, 2025 at 10am
Exhibition June 7 - 9
Chris Bulfinch
Appraiser and Sale Specialist of Coins, Stamps, Currency, and Collectibles in Books and Autographs