Sempronius Pitio Roman Republic Denarius (minted 148 BCE)
“Sempronia 2” Mint in Rome (scarce issue)
3.3 g silver, 18.0 mm
Sears (1) 91; Crawford 216/1; Syd 402
Provenance: Antiek (Marijn Kruijff)
Coppola Collection

Rarity 95/100

The  Sempronia was a Roman family of great antiquity. It included both patrician and plebeian branches. The first of the Sempronii to obtain the consulship was Aulus Sempronius Atratinus in 497 BC, the twelfth year of the Republic. The patrician Sempronii frequently obtained the highest offices of the state in the early centuries of the Republic, but they were eclipsed by the plebeian families at the end of the fourth century BC. The glory of the Sempronia family is confined to the Republican period. Very few persons of this name, and none of them of any importance, are mentioned under the Empire.

This coin marks the fundamental change in the denarius, with the mark of value being moved in front of the helmeted head of Roma (mark X below chin) replaced by the moneyers cognomen (“Pitio”) running counterclockwise.

Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux) on horseback galloping right, each holding horizontal spear. Part of moneyer mark in field below horses with MP ligatured. “L • SEMP” for Lucius Sempronius