Arriving today alongside and from the same John Anthony auction as the Decius double sestertius I showed in another thread is this wonderful denarius of M. Aemilius Scaurus and P. Plautius Hypsaeus. The issue is notorious for its busy design and inscriptions that almost never get captured entirely on-flan. While this one isn't 100% in that regard, it is certainly exceptional for having King Aretas's full name as well as the every part of the camel from snout to tail showing. Also, it's just an all-round lovely coin! ROMAN REPUBLIC. M. Aemilius Scaurus and P. Plautius Hypsaeus AR Denarius. 3.76g, 18.5mm. Rome mint, 58 BC. Crawford 422/1b; Sydenham 913. O: Nabatean king Aretas III kneeling to right, holding reins and olive branch before camel standing right; M SCAVR / AED CVR above, EX - SC across field, REX ARETAS in exergue. R: Jupiter driving quadriga left, holding reins and hurling thunderbolt; scorpion below horses, P HVPSAES / AED CVR above, CAPTV upward to right, C HVPSAE COS / PREIVE in exergue. Ex DePew Collection Coincidentally, like the Decius double sestertius, it also duplicates another coin in my collection. Again, I won't be disposing of the old one. Though it's many grades lower, it's special in one way the new one isn't. See if you can spot what makes it a keeper: Also, please feel free to show your own examples, or any with designs that typically fail to fit the flans used.
Great capture, @zumbly ! I agree, keep ‘em both! Both are nice. such busy coins… Roman Republic Aemilius Scaurus and Plautius Hypsaeus 58 BCE AR Denarius camel scorpion quadriga 4.1g 19mm Rome Craw 422-1b
Very fine coin Zumbly! Can't see why you would keep the old one. You can send it to me. M Aemilius Scarus & Pub Plautius Hypsaeus Denarius. 58 BC. Obv: M SCAVR AED CVR EX S C, Nabatean king Aretas kneeling before camel, REX ARETAS beneath camel. Rev: P HVPSAEVS AED CVR CAPTV C HVPSAE COS PREIVER, Jupiter in quadriga right; scorpion to left.
Here's my example of the type, which I wrote about a while ago: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/who-defeated-nabataea-this-guy-thats-who.357248/#post-4285580
That's a truly beautiful example, with the design and legends more complete than 90+% of the other examples I've seen. I can't figure out what's special about your old example that makes you want to keep it, except that the second line of the legend in the reverse exergue is visible, which is not the case for your new example. I decided some time ago to abandon any idea of trying to buy an example of this type -- I admit that I'm not crazy about the "busy" design, and it's just too difficult to find one without substantial missing portions. Instead, I'm content with my example of a different type, issued three years after yours with a reverse design that's clearly modeled directly after the obverse of yours, but isn't as cluttered. Making it much easier to find a decent specimen! (Even though Cybele has an unfortunate skin condition.) Roman Republic, Aulus Plautius, AR Denarius, 55 BCE, Rome mint. Obv. Turreted head of Cybele right, A. PLAVTIVS before, AE[D CVR S C] behind [portion in brackets off flan] / Rev. “Bacchius the Jew” [ = Aristobulus II of Judaea?],* in attitude of supplication, kneeling beside saddled camel (dromedary - one hump) standing right, extending olive-branch with right hand and holding camel’s bridle with left hand, his cape flowing behind him; BACCHIVS in exergue, IVDAEVS on right. RSC I Plautia 13, Crawford 431/1, Sydenham 932, Sear RCV I 395 (ill.), Harlan, RRM II Ch. 18 at pp. 145-149, BMCRR 3916. 18x20 mm., 4.25 g. (Purchased from Harlan J. Berk, Ltd., 211th Buy or Bid Sale, May 2020, Lot 183.) * See Sear RCV I at p. 148: “Aulus Plautius strikes as curule aedile. The problematic interpretation of the reverse type appears to have been most successfully resolved by [Michael] Harlan in RRM [see Roman Republican Moneyers and Their Coins 63 BCE-49 BCE (2nd Revised Edition 2015), Ch. 18 at pp. 146-148] . . . who identifies the kneeling figure as Aristobulus [= Judah Aristobulus II of the Hasmonean Dynasty, d. ca. 49 BCE], the Jewish high priest, then held captive by Pompey in Rome.”
I upgraded mine to include more of the legend than my first but forgot who got the old one. You still need CAPTV but your new one has a great REX ARETAS. Mine is a bit tight obverse upper left and has lousy style for these very varied coins. I consider this a 'must have' RR type because the obverse type celebrates the surrender of Aretas to the moneyer himself rather than to some old relative. I thought blowing your own horn was a good way to get stabbed back then.
That is an impressively compete example! If I were guessing what's making you keep the old one, I'd say the really great scorpion on that one. Mine does fairly well on the legends, but the camel's head and the quadriga driver's head both got the chop. But I really liked the style and detail on Aretas, so I went for it.
That's a strong example of another interesting type, @DonnaML. On my want list! @Severus Alexander, I love your example! The toning is gorgeous, it has the king's full name, and I couldn't agree more about the excellent style. @dougsmit... yeah, there's always something. It's a small thing, and easy to miss, but on the obverse the AED CVR is misspelled AED CRV. I've yet to come across another example from this die in acsearch or Richard Schaefer's binders, but it's possible I may have overlooked it.
zumbly said: "" any with designs that typically fail to fit the flans used "" The Tets from Athens are usually struck on small flans, the crest on Athena's helmet is mostly missing or only a small part is there, on mine only the lower part is there:
Great pick @zumbly ! And the AED CRV variant isn’t in Crawford, so it’s well worth keeping the old one…
Here's mine - it mostly fits. Moneyer: M. Aemilius Scaurus Obv.: M. SCAVR / AED CVR / EX S C; REX ARETAS in exergue - King Aretas kneeling beside a camel right Rev.: P. HYPSAEVS / AED CVR ; CAPT - Jupiter in quadriga left, scorpion below horses Exergue: C. HYPSAEVS COS Mint: Rome (58 BC) Wt./Size/Axis: 3.84g / 17mm / 0h References: RSC 8 (Aemilia) Sydenham 913 Crawford 422/1b Provenances: NFA Dec 1989 Kirby Brown Collection Acquisition: JHE Auctions Online auction A12 #72 13-Aug-2013 ATB, Aidan.
I've had three over the years--two I got in a large lot and neither had the camel's head. They are long gone, replaced by this one, which is not complete but closer. 18 mm. 3.88 grams. The surrender is in Josephus, Ant. xiv 80-81. Sear I 379. Crawford 422/1b. I just looked at a number of NAC catalogs with high-quality collections of Republican coins and none of them had a piece of this type without crowding of one part or another.
