The Republicans. Cn. Domitius L.f. Ahenobarbus. 41-40 BC. AR Denarius (19.5mm, 3.75 g, 8h). Uncertain mint in the region of the Adriatic or Ionian Sea. Near EF.

Triton XXVII
Lot: 624. Estimated: $ 5 000

Roman Republican, Coin-in-Hand Video, Silver

Sold For $ 5 500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Go to Live

The Republicans. Cn. Domitius L.f. Ahenobarbus. 41-40 BC. AR Denarius (19.5mm, 3.75 g, 8h). Uncertain mint in the region of the Adriatic or Ionian Sea. Bare head of Ahenobarbus right, wearing short beard; AHENOBAR upward to right / Prow right surmounted by a military trophy; CN • DOMITIVS • IMP around from lower left. Crawford 519/2; CRI 339; Sydenham 1177; Domitia 21; BMCRR East 94-7; Kestner 3801-2; RBW 1803. Toned with areas of iridescence, minor lacquer deposit on reverse. Near EF.

Ex Classical Numismatic Group Review XLVI.1 (Winter 2021), no. 561917; Numismatica Ars Classica 120 (6 October 2020), lot 654; Nomisma 59 (14 May 2019), lot 139; Hans Schulman (14 February 1958), lot 1958.

Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus commanded a fleet against the Triumvirs, achieving a minor victory in September of 42 BC. But that very day, the Triumvirs won the battle of Philippi, and Ahenobarbus found himself fighting for a lost cause. He became a piratical rogue, terrorizing the ports of the Adriatic like his western counterpart, Sextus Pompey, until he signed the Pact of Brundisium in 40 BC, which reconciled him to Mark Antony. His great-grandson would become the Emperor Nero (AD 54-68). The rare coinage of Ahenobarbus belongs to his stint as a “pirate king” 42-40 BC. This silver denarius bears an appropriately nautical reverse celebrating his victories at sea. The balding, bearded portrait on the obverse remains enigmatic; it may represent Gnaeus himself, or one of his ancestors.

The final winners of all Triton XXVII lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 9-10 January 2024.

Triton XXVII – Session Two – Lot 338–647 will be held Tuesday afternoon, 9 January 2024 beginning at 2:00 PM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

We recognize that our users may have various Internet Browsers and Operating Systems. We like our visitors to have the best possible experience when using our bidding platform. However, we do recognize that it is impossible to develop applications that work identically, efficiently and effectively on all web browsers. The CNG bidding platform supports the latest stable major version and stable previous version of Chrome and Firefox.