Marcus Portius Cato Uticensi, silver denarius, 3.31 g.
Title
Marcus Portius Cato Uticensi, silver denarius, 3.31 g.
Creator
Marcus Portius Cato Uticensis
Date
c. 47 - 46 BCE
Description
Obverse: Draped and diademed female bust facing right, hair tied with band; to left, [RO]MA; below to right, [M CATO] PRO PR. Border of dots.
Reverse: Victory seated facing right, holding patera in extended right hand and [palm branch in left hand]; in exergue, VICTRIX. Border of dots.
Style/Period: Roman Republic
This coin of Cato the Younder was minted in Africa during his attempt to reunite with the forces of Pompey in Utica. He issued the coins to pay the troops stationed with him in Utica, to prepare his army for the upcoming battle, and to pay for provisions for the city itself. Cato is copying coin types used c. 90 BCE by his ancestor Marcus Porcius Cato (see coin C026). The female bust on the obverse could be Libertas.
-- Bradford W. Wendel, LU '96
E. Babelon, Description historique et chronologique des monnaies de la republique romaine (Paris and London 1885-1886) Porcia, 10; H. A. Grueber, Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum (London 1910), II, 574-575, no. 17; T. R. S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, II (New York 1952) 606; E. A. Sydenham, The Coinage of the Roman Republic (London 1952) 176, no. 1053; M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage (London 1974) 473, no. 462/1a, 737; J. P. C. Kent, Roman Coins (New York 1978) pl. 22, no. 83; R. A. G. Carson, Principal Coins of the Romans, I (London 1978) 62, no. 227.
-- Bradford W. Wendel, LU '96
E. Babelon, Description historique et chronologique des monnaies de la republique romaine (Paris and London 1885-1886) Porcia, 10; H. A. Grueber, Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum (London 1910), II, 574-575, no. 17; T. R. S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, II (New York 1952) 606; E. A. Sydenham, The Coinage of the Roman Republic (London 1952) 176, no. 1053; M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage (London 1974) 473, no. 462/1a, 737; J. P. C. Kent, Roman Coins (New York 1978) pl. 22, no. 83; R. A. G. Carson, Principal Coins of the Romans, I (London 1978) 62, no. 227.
Source
Classics Department Collection
Identifier
C044
Rights
Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890
Files
Citation
Marcus Portius Cato Uticensis, “Marcus Portius Cato Uticensi, silver denarius, 3.31 g.,” Lawrence University Classics Department & Ottilia Buerger Coin Collections, accessed November 5, 2026, https://thor.lawrence.edu/omeka/buerger/items/show/406.