Roman Imperatorial period AR Denarius(3.82g), Marcus Antonius, Summer 38 B.C., Athens. Marcus, veiled and wearing the priestly robes of an augur, standing right, holding lituus in right hand; M•ANTONIVS•M•F•M•N•AVGVR•I(MP)•TE(RT) around clockwise. Border of dots / Radiate head of Sol right; III•VIR•R•P•C•COS•DESIG•ITER•ET•TERT around clockwise. Border of dots. Sear HCRI 267; Crawford 533/2; BMCRR East 141; Banti Marcus Antonius 57/3(this coin)
Purchased from Numismatica Varesina, 8 July 2022, ex VL Nummus Auction 12, 15 September 2019, lot 87, ex Giuseppe De Falco FPL 51, December 1960, 272, ex John Cosmo Stuart Rashleigh Collection, Part I, Glendining, 14th-16th January 1953, lot 427.
This denarius of Antony was struck Summer 38 BC in Athens. On the obverse of this coin is Antony, portrayed in the priestly robes and with the lituus of an Augur, likely Antony's attempt at stressing his adherence to traditional Republican values in opposition to Octavian who was driving towards autocracy. The reverse features a bust of Sol, a symbol of the East, in this case likely attempting to show that affairs in the East were still important to Antony, who had recently returned from Italy where he had been for much of 40 and 39 BC.
This coin has a wonderful provenance to the John Cosmo Stuart Rashleigh collection, sold at Glendining 14th-16th January 1953. Rashleigh was an English collector whose collection was formed from the mid 1930s up through its sale in 1953, though a second Rashleigh collection, primarily of English coins, was assembled by his grandfather and sold at Sotheby's in 1909.
If you're a fan of Daphne du Maurier's work as I am you may be surprised to learn that Manderley, the setting of du Maurier's "Rebecca" was inspired by Menabilly, seat of the Rashleigh family. She came across the dilapidated mansion early in life during a family trip and fell in love with it, spending considerable time outside staring in and appreciating it from afar, and even writing some about it. Some years later, J C S Rashleigh agreed to lease it to her and she lived there several years and made considerable renovations before returning it to the Rashleigh family.
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