Gallic Personification or Portrait
Moneyer issues of Imperatorial Rome. L. Hostilius Saserna. 48 BC. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.87 g, 5h). Rome mint. Head of Gallic captive (Vercingetorix?) right; Gallic shield to left / Two warriors in galloping biga right: one driving, holding whip and reins, and the other, facing backward, holding shield and brandishing spear. Crawford 448/2a; CRI 18; Sydenham 952; Hostilia 2; RBW 1569. Lightly toned, reverse slightly off center. EF. Struck from fresh dies.
Ex Leu Numismatik 83 (6 May 2002), lot 685.
The portrait on the obverse has sometimes been identified as the famous chief of the Arverni, Vercingetorix, whom Julius Caesar captured in 52 BC in Alesia. It is difficult to imagine anyone placing such a dramatic portrait of a defeated foe on their coinage, but it is clear from surviving sources of the period that the Romans had a good deal of respect for the Gauls as honorable warriors. Crawford and Sear believe this identification is unlikely, but the large, distinctive, and carefully engraved head suggests the die cutter worked with an eye toward creating an individualized portrait, rather than a stylized personification of a Gaul. The reverse is also of particular historical interest, in that it depicts the manner in which chariots were used in Celtic Gaul, and perhaps in Britain as well.
