Rhine Legions. Anonymous, circa May/June-December 68. Denarius (Subaeratus, 18 mm, 2.71 g, 6 h), uncertain mint in Gaul or in the Rhine Valley. 'S P Q R Group'. SALVS GENERIS HVMANI Victory standing left on globe, holding wreath in her right hand and palm frond in her left.
Rev. S P Q R within oak wreath. BMC 34. CG 97.6 (
this coin). Cohen 420. Gollnow & Rutten 1098 (
this coin). Martin 77. Nicolas 77. RIC 72. Smyth XI/20 (
this coin). Nicely toned. Breaks in plating on the obverse
, otherwise, very fine.
From the collections of Dipl.-Ing. Christian Gollnow, Leu 9, 24 October 2021, 1098 and Hugh Algernon Percy (1914-1988), His Grace the 10th Duke of Northumberland, K.G., P.C., G.C.V.O., F.R.S., and very likely from the collection of Hugh Percy (circa 1714-1786), His Grace the 1st Duke of Northumberland, K.G. and P.C., removed from Alnwick Castle, Sotheby's, 4 November 1982, 554.
The collection of the Dukes of Northumberland was described in detail by Rear-Admiral William Henry Smith (1788-1865), F.R.S., a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, who saw it for the first time in 1851 and published his 'Descriptive Catalogue of a Cabinet of Roman Family Coins belonging to His Grace the Duke of Northumberland, K.G.' in 1856. Smith cataloged a total of 1718 coins and noted that the collection had been in the possession of the dukes for many years.
The most probable original compiler was Hugh Percy (circa 1714-1786), His Grace the 1st Duke of Northumberland, K.G. and P.C., who was renowned as an art patron and was advised by the French traveler, author and numismatist Louis Dutens (1730-1812). Dutens also guided Elizabeth Percy (1716-1776), Her Grace the 1st Duchess of Northumberland, in forming her renowned collection of medals, and accompanied the Duke's and Duchess's younger son Algernon Percy, 1st Earl of Beverley, F.S.A., to Italy during his Grand Tour in the late 1760s.
