Q. CAECILIUS METELLUS PIUS SCIPIO and P. LICINIUS CRASSUS JUNIANUS. Denarius (47-46 BC). Utica.

Obv: METEL PIVS / SCIP IMP.
Bust of Jupiter right, hair tied with band; below, eagle's head left and sceptre.
Rev: CRASS IVN / LEG PRO PR.
Cornucopia, supporting scales, set on curule chair; grain ear and head of Cetus flanking chair.

Crawford 460/2; CRI 41; RBW 1602.

Very rare

A great example of a very rare denarius, struck by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio (Nasica), supreme commander of Pompey's forces, together with his lieutenant Licinius Crassus Iunianus Damasippus. Metellus Scipio was consul with Pompey in 52 and governor of Syria in 49. He took part in the Battle of Pharsalus in 48, commanding the centre of Pompey's army. After the defeat, he fled to Africa and allied himself with Juba I, king of Numidia. This denarius was struck in Utica and recalls the wealth and fertility of Africa, symbolized by the images on the reverse (cornucopia, scales, ear of corn). The portrait of Jupiter, associated with the eagle and the sceptre, recalls the bust of Jupiter Terminus depicted on a denarius of Pompey minted in Greece (Crawford 447/1), and was evidently adopted as a symbol of Pompeian propaganda. The head of Cetus, combined with the curule chair as a symbol of power, could be opposed to the depiction of the dragon crushed by the elephant on Julius Caesar's famous denarius (Crawford 443/1).

Condition: Good very fine.

Weight: 3.41 g.
Diameter: 19 mm.