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Coin Detail
Click here to see enlarged image.
ID:
79001040
[UNVERIFIED]
Type:
Roman Republican
Issuer:
C. Numonius Vaala
Date Ruled:
41 BC
Metal:
Silver
Denomination:
Denarius
Struck / Cast:
struck
Weight:
3.90 g
Die Axis:
4 h
Obverse Legend:
C·NVMONIVS – VAALA
Obverse Description:
Bare head of Numonius Vaala right
Reverse Legend:
VAALA
Reverse Description:
Soldier advancing left, holding sword and shield, attacking a vallum defended by two soldiers
Mint:
Rome
Primary Reference:
Crawford 514/2
Reference2:
Sydenham 1087
Reference3:
Numonia 2
Reference4:
CRI 322
Photograph Credit:
Classical Numismatic Group
Source:
http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=127551
Grade:
EF, handsome gray cabinet toning
Notes:
Sale: CNG 79, Lot: 1040 Bold portrait on a broad flan Ex L.A. Lawrence Collection (Glendining, 7 December 1950), lot 270; Clarence S. Bement Collection (Naville VIII, 25 June 1924), lot 261.The unusual spelling of his cognomen aside, it is quite possible that this moneyer is the Numonius Vala whom Horace mentions in Epistle 1.15.1-6. As Horace’s Vala was apparently familiar with the countryside of southern Italy, particularly Velia and Salernum, it seems probable that the gens Numonia derived its origin from Campania, and, as novi homines, acquired Roman citizenship as a result of the Social War (91-88 BC). As with many of the moneyers' types of the late 1st century BC, C. Numonius Vaala's reverse type refers to an historic event in his family's past. We do not know which specific ancestor is referred to, but the scene depicts military action that brought a specific honor to the soldier involved. During the siege of a city or an enemy camp, the first soldier to breach the walls was awarded the corona vallaris, or "wall crown.” The cognomen Vaala became a hereditary title among the Numonii, to be displayed proudly by the first member of the family to achieve the office of moneyer. A later Numonius Vala was not so courageous, for while serving as a legate of Quinctilius Varus and commanding his cavalry during the disaster at the Teutoburger Forest, he was killed while attempting to flee the battle (Vell. Pat. 2.119.4).
Created and Managed by Alfredo De La Fe
