Roman Republic Coin. Denarius of C. Fonteius. 114-113 BC.
Production date
00114 BCE-0113 BCE
Country
Italy
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Object detail
Description
Obv: Laureate, janiform head of the Dioscuri; X to right of neck, mark of value to left / Rev: Galley with pilot and three rowers to left; C·FONT above, ROMA below (RRC 290/1)
Classification
NUMISMATICS (COINS AND TOKENS) Roman Coins
Production date
00114 BCE-0113 BCE
Production place
Measurements
19mm (diameter)
2mm (thickness)
4gm (weight)
2mm (thickness)
4gm (weight)
Media/Materials description
silver
Signature/Marks
ROMA
X
C·FONT
X
C·FONT
History and use
This denarius was minted by Roman moneyer Gaius Fonteius, the son of the distinguished plebian Fonteii. The obverse depicts a janiform head of the Dioscuri, twins who had especial honours as household deities in Tusculum (where the Fonteii originally came from). The reverse features a galley with a pilot and three rowers, with C·FONT above and ROMA below; an allusion to Telegonus (son of Odysseus and Circe), who founded Tusculum twenty years after Troy fell to the Greeks.
History is contained in the designs and the imagery on coins were used as an opportunity to send messages concerning power, ideology, commemoration, and to bestow honour. Yet, more than that, coins are also dynamic items of material culture. They are small, portable and durable, and have been used for millennia to enable the transaction of goods and services. Coins are also part of everyday life, and unlike other items of material culture, tend not to have one owner; indeed, each coin has been passed through multiple people’s hands through time.
History is contained in the designs and the imagery on coins were used as an opportunity to send messages concerning power, ideology, commemoration, and to bestow honour. Yet, more than that, coins are also dynamic items of material culture. They are small, portable and durable, and have been used for millennia to enable the transaction of goods and services. Coins are also part of everyday life, and unlike other items of material culture, tend not to have one owner; indeed, each coin has been passed through multiple people’s hands through time.
Registration number
N2376
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