Cn. Egnatius Cn. f. Cn. n. Maxsumus AR Denarius. Rome, 75 BC. Diademed and draped bust of Libertas to right; pileus and MAXSVMVS downwards behind / Roma and Venus standing facing, each holding staff; Roma on left, holding sword and placing foot on wolf's head; Cupid alighting on Venus' shoulder on right, together flanked by rudders standing on prow; C•EGNATIVS•CN•F (partially ligate) below, CN•N upwards to right, B (control letter) in left field. Crawford 391/3; BMCRR Rome 3285; RSC Egnatia 2. 4.13g, 18mm, 11h.

About Extremely Fine; attractive iridescent old cabinet tone

Acquired from Dr. Busso Peus Nachfolger.

The gens Egnatia was a plebeian family of equestrian rank in the tribe of Stellatina. Originally of Samnite origin, the Egnatii appear to have been established at Teanum. Following the conclusion of the Social War, a branch of the family moved to Rome, where two of them were admitted into the Senate. The moneyer responsible for this coin, one Gnaeus Engatius, is virtually unknown but believed to be the same as that mentioned in Quintillian (Institutio Oratoria, 5.13.33) who was expelled from the Senate by the censors, and who at the same time disinherited his son, the son being retained in the Senate. No satisfactory explanation of the types of Egnatius' coinage has been proposed, but Venus and Libertas are the common theme.