443, Lot: 446. Estimate $200. Sold for $475. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Cn. Baebius Tamphilus. 194-190 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.88 g, 6h). Rome mint. Helmeted head of Roma right; X (mark of value) to left / The Dioscuri, each holding spear, on horseback right; below horses, (TAMP) monogram. Crawford 133/2a; Sydenham 334a; Baebia 1a; CNR Baebia 2 (this coin illustrated); Type as RBW 591. VF, toned, some light marks and deposits. Very rare variety with the monogram below the horses, struck from a single reverse die.

From the Andrew McCabe Collection. Ex RBW Collection Duplicate; G. Hirsch 155 (23 September 1987), lot 416 (450 DM); De Nicola 1969 FPL 1 (March 1969), no. 249.

Illustrated in CNR (Banti) and with a 1960s provenance, this Baebius denarius with TAMP below the Dioscuri is from a rare issue struck with only a single reverse die. Banti illustrates four examples of the type with two obverse dies but only a single reverse shared among the four. Richard Schaefer’s Republican Die Project confirms that so far only one reverse die is known. Very much rarer than the type with TAMP above the Dioscuri and in fine style. [Andrew McCabe]