Roman Republic AR Denarius(3.81g), Quintus Pomponius Musa, moneyer, 56 B.C., Rome mint. Laureate head of Apollo right; behind, star. Border of dots. / Urania, muse of Astronomy left, holding rod in right hand and pointing to globe resting on tripod; on right, Q POMPONI downwards; on left, MVSA downwards. Border of dots. Crawford 410/8; Sydenham 823
Ex Harlan J Berk, 21 July 2020, ex Gorny & Mosch Auction 146, 6 March 2006, lot 379, ex Gorny & Mosch 133, 11 October 2004, ex Münzen & Medaillen GmbH 14, 16 April 2004, lot 479, ex Münzen & Medaillen GmbH 11, 7 November 2002, lot 930, ex Numismatik Lanz, München 18, 13 May 1980, lot 253
See Berk's video of this coin here
From an excellent writeup by CNG:
Although the moneyer Q. Pomponius Musa is unknown to history, his choice of Hercules Musagetes and the nine Muses as coin types is remarkable and clearly connected to his cognomen.
The reverses of this series – Hercules playing the lyre and the Muses, can be none other than the celebrated statue group by an unknown Greek artist, taken from Ambracia and placed in the Aedes Herculis Musarum, which was erected by M. Fulvius Nobilior in 187 BC after the capture of Ambracia in 189 BC (Plin. NH xxxv.66; Ov. Fast. vi.812). By the second century BC, Rome had overrun most of Greece and was captivated by Hellenic art and culture, not the least of which was its sculpture. Fulvius is said to have taken the statues to Rome because he learned in Greece that Hercules was a musagetes (leader of the Muses). Remains of this temple have been found in the area of the Circus Flaminius close to the southwest part of the circus itself, and northwest of the porticus Octaviae. An inscription found nearby, 'M. Fulvius M. f. Ser. n. Nobilior cos. Ambracia cepit' may have been on the pedestal of one of the statues. The official name of the temple was Herculis Musarum Aedes, which Servius and Plutarch called Herculis et Musarum Aedes.
The dating cited here is 56 B.C. per Hersh & Walker(Mesagne hoard).
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