From the Sir John Evans Collection, pedigreed to 1909! P. Clodius M.f. Turrinus, 42 BC. Aureus (Gold, 19.5 mm, 8.13 g, 11 h), Rome. Radiate head of Sol to right; behind, quiver. Rev. P·CLODIVS / ·M·F· Crescent surrounded by five stars. Calicó 9. Crawford 494/20a. CRI 181a. RBW 1725. Sydenham 1114a. Minor die shift on the obverse; some roughness on the reverse, otherwise, very fine. From the Y.K. Collection, formed between 1910 and 1947, and from the collection of Sir J. Evans, Rollin &; Feuardent, 26 May 1909, 2. The sun god Sol is a regular feature on the coinage of the IIIIviri monetales of 42 BC. He appears in different forms on denarii and – quite spectacularly – on this aureus. It is almost trivial to point out that the Roman Republic hardly ever minted gold, and that this issue of aurei therefore needed a special reason: we are in the year of the Battle of Philippi! It is slightly more complex to understand why Sol was chosen. While M.H. Crawford interpreted the presence of the sun god as reflecting "a belief in the imminence of a new age", B. Woytek has pointed out in Arma et nummi (pp. 487–488) that Sol was associated both with the East (where the fighting between the triumvirs and the "Liberators" took place) and with Mark Antony personally (who at that moment was certainly the senior commander of the Caesarian party). The god was therefore a fitting subject for an issue of gold coins to pay for the war. This particular specimen was once in the collection of Sir John Evans, the father of the much better-known Sir Arthur. Evans junior certainly got into archaeology and numismatics through his father, who served as president of the Royal Numismatic Society for decades and was a pioneer in the study of prehistoric archaeology and the coinage of ancient Britain. https://cdn.nomosag.com/auctions/95/video00335.mp4?sv=2023-01-03&ss=b&srt=co&st=2025-03-10T16%3A25%3A27Z&se=2099-03-11T16%3A25%3A00Z&sp=rl&sig=i7RzFAqwYGMJUp3u71BbRyL3HhIAtR%2F8cUnRnTVQfyU%3D&rsct=video%2Fmp4