hitahomer-07 : Marc Antony . Ancient Roman Silver Denarius .. ICG EF40

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Marc Antony .. Ancient Roman Silver Denarius .. ICG EF40

This ancient Roman silver denarius was issued by Marc Antony, one of the most famous people in all of ancient history. The
coin was minted to pay the soldiers in the massive legionary army Antony and Cleopatra commanded at the battle of Actium in 31BC.

Mark Antony (Latin name: Marcus Antonius) was a daring general in the army of Julius Caesar who rose to become one of Caesar's closest colleagues. Born in 83BC, he served bravely under Julius Caesar in Gaul for many years. In the course of the civil wars against Pompey, Antony was given several important military assignments and distinguished himself as an aggressive and courageous leader of men. After the victory of Caesar over Pompey at the famous battle of Pharsalus, Antony returned to Italy as Caesar's second in command. In 45BC Caesar designated him as consul for 44BC. He was consul at the time of the assassination of Caesar. At the funeral of Caesar he spoke out strongly against Brutus, Cassius and the other assassins -- William Shakespeare later dramatized this moment in the play Julius Caesar, with the famous oration beginning "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears."

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After the death of Caesar, Antony jumped into the struggle for control of the Roman Empire. Antony joined forces with Caesar's adopted heir Octavian to purge Rome of the assassins. They formed the so-called Second Triumvirate with general Marcus Lepidus. They assembled a massive army and defeated the army of Brutus and Cassius at Phillipi in 42BC.

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The Roman Empire was then divided amongst the Triumvirs with Antony being given control of Egypt and the east. There he met and became the lover of the legendary Egyptian Queen Cleopatra. Their meeting, with Cleopatra dressed as the love goddess Venus and arriving on a lavishly decorated barge, is a famous story recorded by Plutarch and others. Antony's relationship with Queen Cleopatra was very unpopular with the Roman citizens because it was considered unpatriotic to marry foreigners -- even a queen! In fact, Antony had divorced Octavian's sister Octavia in order to take up with Cleopatra. Octavian took this opportunity to build a great army in an attempt to defeat Antony and gain complete control of the entire Empire for himself.

The two massive armies met near Actium in Greece and prepared for conflict. The battle took place mainly at sea with many thousands of soldiers in hand to hand combat in hundreds of ships. The forces of Antony and Cleopatra were routed by those of Octavian. Cleopatra fled the scene while the battle was still underway, and Antony followed. They sailed to Egypt with the hope of making a last stand there. A year later, with Octavian's forces nearing Alexandria, Antony committed suicide by falling on his sword. Cleopatra followed suit, killing herself with the self-inflicted bite of a poisonous snake. Octavian was left in final control of Egypt and Rome. Antony's life and tragic end was immortalized by Shakespeare in his play Antony and Cleopatra.

This silver denarius is a very rare variety and is one of very few coins ever found that bear the actual portrait of Mark Antony in the guise of Jupiter Ammon. The obverse inscription is M ANTO COS III IMP IIII, which is short for "Marcus Antonius, Consul 3 times, Imperator 4 times". Consul was the highest Roman political office, similar to being President except the term was only one year and there were two consuls serving together. Imperator was a title awarded to a general that has won a great victory. The reverse features winged Victory walking right and holding wreath and palm branch. The reverse inscription reads ANTONIO AVG SCARPVS IMP, which means "Marc Antony - Augustus, Scarpus - Imperator". Scarpus was one of Antony's top generals and was also a nephew of Julius Caesar and cousin of Octavian.

The coin has been graded as Extra Fine 40 by ICG. The coin was valued in the year 2000 by esteemed expert David R. Sear at $1360 in EF40 condition in his multi-volume "Roman Coins and Their Values". Of course the values of ancient coins have nearly doubled since Sear published his valuations in 2000, so you can be sure this coin represents a great value at this price.

Examine the high-resolution pictures to appreciate the quality of this coin.

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