8281
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  [Image]                              Item Sold At Auction #37
                                  -----------------------------------
                Lot Number: 64107
                Estimate: $500.00
                Final Sale Price: $438.90
                                  -----------------------------------
                Denomination: Stater
                Grade: Good VF
                Reference: RPC 1701B; BMC Thrace pg. 208, 2; BMCRR II pg. 475, 50




  Thrace, Dynasts of. Koson. Mid 1st Century BC. AV Stater (8.43 gm). KOSWN, Roman
  consul accompanied by two lictors / Eagle standing left on sceptre, holding wreath.
  RPC 1701B; BMC Thrace pg. 208, 2; BMCRR II pg. 475, 50. Good VF. Estimate $500.



  Marcus Junius Brutus and C. Cassius Longinus left for Greece in August of 44 BC,
  having failed to win popular support at Rome following the assassination of Caesar.
  In the next two years the tyrannicides collected an immense war chest as they
  assembled their forces for the contest against Antony and Octavian. Local rulers,
  Koson among them, were convinced or compelled to contribute their resources to
  finance the military buildup. Called either "Cotison" or "Coson" in brief references
  by Horus, Florus and Seutonius, Koson was a Geto-Dacian king who survived the Roman
  civil war and died in 29 BC. He is known to history only from brief literary
  references and from his remarkable issue of gold staters. The obverse of these coins
  depict the great consul L. Junius Brutus, who expelled the Tarquins from Rome in 509
  BC, accompanied by two lictors bearing axes. The design is copied from the denarius
  issued by M. Junius Brutus when he was a moneyer in 54 BC (Crawford 433/1). The
  reverse, an eagle standing on a sceptre and holding a victory wreath, was evidently a
  standard type at Rome and occurs on the coinage of Q. Pomponius Rufus (Crawford
  398/1). The monogram BR marks the issue as one on behalf of Brutus himself. The
  designs express Brutus’ propaganda in the civil war perfectly: the obverse represents
  the historic fight against tyranny, and the reverse is a symbol of patriotism in the
  form of the victorious Roman eagle.





Online auction 37 closed September 10, 2001.



Used by permission of CNG, www.historicalcoins.com