RPC I, 5409

 

Image of specimen #21

 

Coin type
Volume I
Number 5409
Province Uncertain
Region Uncertain
City Uncertain
Reign Augustus
Person (obv.) Augustus
Issue Coinage with Q
Obverse inscription
Obverse design bare head, right
Reverse inscription Q
Edition q(uaestor propraetore?)
Translation propraetorian quaestor (?)
Reverse design fiscus, sella quaestoria and hasta
Metal bronze
Average diameter 27 mm
Average weight 18.87 g
Axis 6, 11, 12
Reference AMNG 226–7; FITA 13–19
Specimens 79 (11 in the core collections)
Note On the identity of obv., see RPC I, p. 715. It has been thought that this issue is related to the coinage of the uncertain Cilician colony signed PRINCEPS FELIX (4082-3), as the portrait on both issues seems similar. Therefore, as the Princeps Felix portrait is considered here as Octavian/ Augustus, the same identification has been adopted for the Q coinage. These coins have in the past been considered as Macedonian, due to the reverse typology on 5409-10, which is similar to that found on the Aesillas coinage. But the hasta, which is an emblem of imperium, the money chest and the quaestor's chair of office are objects which symbolise the authority of Roman officials and they are found elsewhere, e.g., on the coinage of Pupius Rufus (919-23). They certainly denote a rank of quaestor propraetore (FITA, p. 16), as the spear could not be used normally by a quaestor who did not possess imperium. Grant assigned the Q issue to M. Acilius in 45/44 BC and supposed that he was the governor of Macedonia during the last year of Caesar's life. But that is just a guess. It should be noted that no specimen has turned up in Macedonia, but that two were bought in Beirut by H. Seyrig (5409/2-3). Therefore a Syrian origin was suggested in RPC I. Since the publication of RPC, four specimens have been recorded in Amasya Museum (S. Ireland, Greek, Roman and Byzantine Coins in the Amasya Museum (London, 2000), p. 53 nos. 2096-9). These, in addition to the two in Samsun and Amasra, indicate beyond any real doubt that the Q coins emanate from somewhere in northern Turkey. One halved piece was also found at Burgas, Bulgaria.
Correction Corrected coin-type (post publication)
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