Forces of Galba in Spain. Anonymous, 3 April-2nd half of June 68. Denarius (Silver, 17 mm, 3.08 g, 5 h), uncertain mint in Spain. Spanish round shield inscribed S P Q R; all within oak wreath. Rev. ROMA RENASCENS Roma advancing right, holding Victory on globe in her right hand and long eagle-tipped scepter in her left. BMC -. CG 68.1 (this coin). Cohen -. Martin -. Nicolas -. RIC -. Unique and unpublished save for its previous auction appearance. A very interesting piece of great numismatic interest. Somewhat rough and with some minor edge filing, otherwise, very fine.


The emergence of this coin is of great interest in two ways. First, it combines two familiar Spanish anonymous reverse types into a single coin (with the Spanish shield type here serving as the obverse), thus clearly linking the issues together. Secondly, it is one of perhaps only three known anonymous civil war denarii to share a die with a coin naming Galba, as it was struck from the same reverse die as lot 1038 below. As such, the two coins prove beyond a doubt the close connection between the Spanish anonymous issues and the coinage naming Galba imperator. Whether the anonymous and named series succeeded each other or overlapped remains unclear.