| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 597 Price realized: Unsold | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Moneyer issues of Imperatorial Rome. L. Plautius Plancus. 47 BC. AR Denarius (17.5mm, 3.84 g, 9h). Rome mint. Facing mask of Medusa with disheveled hair; L • PLAVTIV below / Aurora, draped and winged, flying right, head facing slightly left, holding palm frond in left hand, conducting four rearing horses of the sun; PLANCVS below. Crawford 453/1e; CRI 29a; Sydenham 959b; Plautia 15c; BMCRR Rome –; Kestner –; RBW –. Lustrous with light iridescence, reverse slightly off center. EF. Ex Roma XXIII (24 March 2022), lot 753; Bertolami Fine Arts 87 (14 December 2020), lot 435. Certainly this type is one of the most attractive of all Roman Republican issues, although it is notoriously difficult to obtain an example that is well struck on both sides, as is this superb specimen. The reverse type, remarkably, can be tied to a specific ancient work of art, a painting by the 4th century BC artist Nikomachos of Thebes, apparently in the possession of the Munatii and possibly the personal property of the moneyer, L. Plautius Plancus. Plautius was the brother of Lucius Munatius Plancus, who famously survived the precarious times by constantly switching sides. When the Second Triumvirate was formed in 43 BC, he reputedly demonstrated his loyalty by offering up his brother Plautius for proscription and execution. Munatius apparently inherited the painting as it is recorded that he dedicated it to the Capitol at his Gallic Triumph of the same year, raising the question of his motivation in surrendering his brother's life. Estimate: 1000 USD |  |
