Lucius Postumius Albinus, silver denarius (plated), 2.92 g.

Lucius Postumius Albinus, silver denarius (plated), 2.92 g.

Lucius Postumius Albinus

131 BCE

Obverse: Helmeted head of Roma right; behind, apex; beneath chin, star. Border of dots.

Reverse: Mars in quadriga right, holding spear, shield, and reins in left hand and trophy in right hand; below, L POST A B; [R]OMA in exergue. Border of dots.

Style/Period: Roman Republic

This coin has the usual denarius obverse of the head of Roma, but the minting magistrate here also refers to his father, L. Postumius Albinus, who was elected flamen martialis, the priest of the official state cult of Mars, in 168 BCE, by displaying an apex or priestly cap on the obverse of the coin. The reverse, in addition to depicting Mars in the quadriga, probably also refers to the ancestor's victories over the Vaccaei and the Lustani when he was consul in 173 BCE. The plated silver coin, thought by some to be counterfeit, was actually an officially sanctioned coin. Magistrates from the middle of the second century BCE through the time of Sulla minted plated coins. The plated coin has a copper core with a silver cover. Over time, the silver on these coins degrades, and the copper beneath becomes corroded. This coin has several holes and areas of blue copper corrosion. The crack on the obverse may have been deliberately made to determine whether the coin was plated.
-- Bradford W. Wendel, LU '96

Bibliography: E. Babelon, Description historique et chronologique des monnaies de la republique romaine (Paris and London 1885-1886) Postumia, 1; H. A. Grueber, Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum (London 1910), I, 171-172, no. 1130; L. A. Lawrence and E. A. Sydenham, "On Roman Plated Coins," Numismatic Chronicle 20 (1940) 190-202; T.R. S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, II (New York 1952) 450; E. A. Sydenham, The Coinage of the Roman Republic (London 1952) 56, no. 472; M. H. Crawford, "Plated Coins - False Coins," Numismatic Chronicle 8 (1968) 55-59; M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage (London 1974), 281, no. 252/1.

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