Marcus Furius Philus, Silver Denarius

Marcus Furius Philus, Silver Denarius

Marcus Furius Philus, Silver Denarius. 119 BCE.
OBVERSE: Laureate head of Janus; M FOVRI LF (Marcus Furius) around.
REVERSE: Roma standing left erecting trophy, gallic arms around, ROMA to right, PHLI in ex.

This coin marks a radical departure from the typical Roman Republican coinage that almost always featured the head of Roma on the obverse. Janus graces the obverse of this coin, and, after this point, it becomes more and more common to put different images on the obverse of Roman coinage. Janus was not foreign to Republican coinage though he typically fronted the Roman as, not the denarius.

The reverse has Roma crowning a statue with two shields - celebrating the victory of Domitius Ahenobarbus and Q. Fabius Maximus (Allobrogicus) over the Allobroges and Arveni in Gaul, 121 BCE.

Marus Furius Philus was a Roman moneyer, or an individual tasked with minting government approved money during the republic. 

Gift of James and Aneta McIntyre, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Salem, OR. 2006.010.070

119 BCE

Hallie Ford Museum of Art

0.816 in
0.135 oz

Latin

Coin

This item is on view at Hallie Ford Museum of Art, in the Mark and Janeth Sponenburgh Gallery.