Publius Licinius Nerva, silver denarius, 3.93 g.
Title
Publius Licinius Nerva, silver denarius, 3.93 g.
Creator
Publius Licinius Nerva
Date
113 - 112 BCE
Description
Obverse: Helmeted bust of Roma left, holding spear in right hand over right shoulder and with shield ornamented with galloping horseman; to left, star; to right, ROMA. Border of dots.
Reverse: Voting scene in interior of comitium. In foreground on pons, one figure on left receives tabella from rogator and second drops tabella into box; above, three parallel lines; above, scabellum [with tabella inscribed P (provoco)]; in field, P NERVA.
Style/Period: Roman Republic
Publius Licinius Nerva was praetor of Sicily in 104 BCE. On this coin, he depicts a typical arrangement for a voting session in the comitium. The rogator is the polling-clerk who hands out tabellae to the voters. The votes, usually one or two words indicating a postive or negative vote (see coin C038), are placed into urns or boxes (see coin C041). The three parallel lines above the figures represent a division between the saepta or enclosures allotted to the different tribes which were voting. On the chair (unfortunately not legible on this coin) is a tabella with a positive vote (provoco) inscribed onto it. The use of this coin type by Publius Licinius Nerva could be similar to that of coins C038 and C041. In 137 BCE, the Lex Cassia tabellaria was passed, allowing citizens in the comitium to vote with a ballot. This coin type may commemorate that decision.
-- Bradford W. Wendel, LU '96
Bibliography: E. Babelon, Description historique et chronologique des monnaies de la republique romaine (Paris and London 1885-1886) Licinia, 7; H. A. Grueber, Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum (London 1910), II, 274, no. 526; T. R. S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, II (New York 1952) 581; E. A. Sydenham, The Coinage of the Roman Republic (London 1952) 72, no. 548; L. R. Taylor, Roman Voting Assemblies from the Hannibalic War to the Dictatorship of Caesar (Jerome Lectures, 8, Ann Arbor 1966) 39; M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage (London 1974) 306-307, no. 292/1; R. A. G. Carson, Principal Coins of the Romans, I (London 1978) 37, no. 110; C. Foss, Roman Historical Coins (London 1990) 3, no. 3.
-- Bradford W. Wendel, LU '96
Bibliography: E. Babelon, Description historique et chronologique des monnaies de la republique romaine (Paris and London 1885-1886) Licinia, 7; H. A. Grueber, Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum (London 1910), II, 274, no. 526; T. R. S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, II (New York 1952) 581; E. A. Sydenham, The Coinage of the Roman Republic (London 1952) 72, no. 548; L. R. Taylor, Roman Voting Assemblies from the Hannibalic War to the Dictatorship of Caesar (Jerome Lectures, 8, Ann Arbor 1966) 39; M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage (London 1974) 306-307, no. 292/1; R. A. G. Carson, Principal Coins of the Romans, I (London 1978) 37, no. 110; C. Foss, Roman Historical Coins (London 1990) 3, no. 3.
Source
Classics Department Collection
Identifier
C016
Rights
Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890
Files
Citation
Publius Licinius Nerva, “Publius Licinius Nerva, silver denarius, 3.93 g.,” Lawrence University Classics Department & Ottilia Buerger Coin Collections, accessed November 5, 2026, https://thor.lawrence.edu/omeka/buerger/items/show/376.