| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 637 Price realized: 3,000 USD (Approx. 2,748 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: The Triumvirs. Mark Antony. Autumn 32-spring 31 BC. AR Denarius (16mm, 3.48 g, 6h). Legionary type. Patrae(?) mint. Praetorian galley right; ANT • AVG above, III • VIR • R • P • C below / Aquila between two signa; LEG VII across lower field. Crawford 544/20; CRI 357; Sydenham 1224; RSC 34; BMCRR East 198; Kestner 3849; FFC 38 (this coin); RBW 1842. Lightly toned, a couple of tiny die flaws. Choice EF. Ex Classical Numismatic Review XLVI.2 (Summer 2021), no. 576421; Alba Longa Collection (Aureo & Calico 339, 14 November 2019), lot 1109; Ponterio 80 (29 March 1996), lot 309. Antony's Legio VII was founded by Julius Caesar at the outset of his Gallic campaign, circa 58 BC, and remained loyal to him throughout the heavy fighting and civil conflict that followed. Its first cognomen, Paterna, derives from Caesar's title of Pater Patriae ("father of the fatherland"). Caesar disbanded his seventh circa 45 BC and settled them near Capua, but after the Ides of March 44 BC, it was evidently reconstituted in "split" form, as were several other Caesarian legions, with one Legio VII joining Mark Antony's force in the east and the other supporting his triumviral partner and later rival, Octavian, in Italy. Thus the civil war of 32-31 BC saw two Legio VIIs serving on opposite sides, but the failure of Antony's fleet at Actium meant they never faced each other in the field. After Actium, Antony's Legio VII was evidently disbanded entirely while Octavian's went on to become the long-serving Legio VII Claudia Pia Fidelis. Estimate: 2000 USD |  |
