★ A spectacular civil war denarius ★

Forces of Galba in Spain. Anonymous, 3 April-2nd half of June 68. Denarius (Silver, 17 mm, 3.66 g, 4 h), uncertain mint in Spain. Group V. LIBERTAS RESTITVTA Draped bust of Libertas to right, wearing braided hair and pearl necklace. Rev. Spanish round shield inscribed S P Q R; all within oak wreath with globe between two stars above. BMC 12. CG 120. Cohen 431. Martin 91. Nicolas 56 and pl. XIII, 56 M1 ( same dies ). RIC 27. Rare and undoubtedly among the finest known. A spectacular example, beautifully toned, very well centered and struck on excellent metal. Extremely fine.

From the collections of Dipl.-Ing. Christian Gollnow and Mike Gasvoda, Numismatica Ars Classica 86, 8 October 2015, 139, and previously privately acquired from Herb Kreindler.

As an emergency coinage, the civil war issues of 68-69 were generally produced in great haste. Therefore, carelessly crafted dies and poor metal dominate their appearance, turning the present piece with its delicate rendering of Libertas and its great condition and metal into a remarkable exception.