Cnaeus Cornelius Blasio, silver denarius, 3.85 g.
Title
Cnaeus Cornelius Blasio, silver denarius, 3.85 g.
Creator
Cnaeus Cornelius Blasio
Date
112-111 BCE
Description
Obverse: Male head (Mars?) wearing Corinthian helmet right; [to left, caduceus]; above, star; to right, [CN BLASIO] CN F. Border of dots.
Reverse: Jupiter, holding scepter in right hand and thunderbolt in left hand, standing facing between Juno and Minerva, each holding scepter; Minerva crowns Jupiter with wreath in right hand; in exergue, ROMA; in field, Π. Border of dots.
Style/Period: Roman Republic
Cnaeus Cornelius Blasio on this coin honors the Capitoline triad of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. The Greek letter Π on the reverse was copied from the silver coins of Agathocles, king of Syracuse. According to Greuber, the male head on the obverse could be either Mars or a portrait of the Roman general Scipio Africanus.
-- Bradford W. Wendel, LU '96
Bibliography: E. Babelon, Description historique et chronologique des monnaies de la republique romaine (Paris and London 1885-1886) Cornelia, 19; H. A. Grueber, Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum (London 1910), II, 294-296, no. 628; T. R. S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, II (New York 1952) 436; E. A. Sydenham, The Coinage of the Roman Republic (London 1952) 75, no. 561b; H. M.-L. Vollenweider, "Das Bildnis des Scipio Africanus," Museum Helveticum 15 (1958) 38-42; H. H. Scullard, Scipio Africanus: Soldier and Politician (London 1970) 249-251; M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage (London 1974) 309-310, no. 296/1d; R. A. G. Carson, Principal Coins of the Romans, I (London 1978) 37, no. 107.
-- Bradford W. Wendel, LU '96
Bibliography: E. Babelon, Description historique et chronologique des monnaies de la republique romaine (Paris and London 1885-1886) Cornelia, 19; H. A. Grueber, Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum (London 1910), II, 294-296, no. 628; T. R. S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, II (New York 1952) 436; E. A. Sydenham, The Coinage of the Roman Republic (London 1952) 75, no. 561b; H. M.-L. Vollenweider, "Das Bildnis des Scipio Africanus," Museum Helveticum 15 (1958) 38-42; H. H. Scullard, Scipio Africanus: Soldier and Politician (London 1970) 249-251; M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage (London 1974) 309-310, no. 296/1d; R. A. G. Carson, Principal Coins of the Romans, I (London 1978) 37, no. 107.
Source
Classics Department Collection
Identifier
C025
Rights
Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890
Files
Citation
Cnaeus Cornelius Blasio, “Cnaeus Cornelius Blasio, silver denarius, 3.85 g.,” Lawrence University Classics Department & Ottilia Buerger Coin Collections, accessed November 5, 2026, https://thor.lawrence.edu/omeka/buerger/items/show/386.