ROMAN REPUBLIC
T. Carisius, 46 BC
AR Denarius. 3.66g, 17mm
MINTED: Rome mint, 46 BC
REF: Crawford 464/1; Sydenham 983
OBVERSE: Female head (Sibyl Herophile or Sphinx) right, hair elaborately decorated with jewels and enclosed in a sling and tied with bands.REVERSE: T.CARISIVS, Sphinx seated right; III.VIR in exergue.
Notes:
Lightly toned. Ancient banker's mark on obverse.
Historical Notes:
This intriguing coin, minted by the moneyer T. Carisius in 46 BC, features a distinctive female portrait on its obverse and a seated Sphinx on the reverse. As the types bear a similarity to those struck on coins of the Greek city of Gergis in Troas in 4th century BC, some numismatists identify the portrait as that of the Sibyl Herophile, as on the coins of Gergis, and believes that Carisius had intentionally referenced Julius Caesar's supposed Trojan ancestry. On the other hand, others have suggested that it is more likely that the head on the reverse is simply that of the Sphinx depicted on the reverse, and that Carisius, like other Republican moneyers of the time, was making a punning allusion to his own name, which in this case may have been Balbus (meaning 'he who stammers, or speaks obscurely').
ROMAN REPUBLIC . T. Carisius, 46 BC . AR Denarius . The enigmatic Sphinx
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