SCYTHIA – Geto-Dacians – Koson – AV Stater
Struck circa after 54 BC, Sarmatia, Olbia mint
Obverse:KOΣΩN. Roman consul — modeled on L. Junius Brutus, the founder of the Roman Republic — walks left between two lictors, one preceding and one following, each bearing the fasces, emblem of magisterial authority. This striking composition is directly adapted from the Roman Republican denarius of Marcus Junius Brutus, linking the coin to one of the most turbulent moments in Roman history.
Reverse: Eagle standing left on a scepter, wings spread in commanding display, grasping a laurel wreath in its right talon — the ultimate symbol of victory and divine sanction.
Metal: Gold (AV)
Condition: Lustrous and sharply struck, with full devices and crisp legend.
References: Cf. RPC I 1701B; BN 468–470; HGC 3, 2049
Collector’s Note:
The enigmatic gold staters of Koson stand apart as one of the most historically charged coinages of the ancient world — a fusion of Roman Republican propaganda and Dacian royal power. Struck in the wake of Julius Caesar’s assassination, their imagery is borrowed wholesale from the coinage of Brutus, Caesar’s most famous assassin, and likely reflects a political alliance or mercenary payment to a Dacian king named Koson. The rich Carpathian gold, the dignified procession of Brutus with his lictors, and the imperial eagle reverse all combine into a piece that is at once rare, mysterious, and steeped in the political drama of the late Republic. For the advanced collector, a Koson stater offers not only beauty and historical significance but also a direct link to the last days of the Roman Republic and the complex web of alliances on its frontiers.
SCYTHIA – Geto-Dacians – Koson – AV Stater
Struck circa after 54 BC, Sarmatia, Olbia mint
Obverse:KOΣΩN. Roman consul — modeled on L. Junius Brutus, the founder of the Roman Republic — walks left between two lictors, one preceding and one following, each bearing the fasces, emblem of magisterial authority. This striking composition is directly adapted from the Roman Republican denarius of Marcus Junius Brutus, linking the coin to one of the most turbulent moments in Roman history.
Reverse: Eagle standing left on a scepter, wings spread in commanding display, grasping a laurel wreath in its right talon — the ultimate symbol of victory and divine sanction.
Metal: Gold (AV)
Condition: Lustrous and sharply struck, with full devices and crisp legend.
References: Cf. RPC I 1701B; BN 468–470; HGC 3, 2049
Collector’s Note:
The enigmatic gold staters of Koson stand apart as one of the most historically charged coinages of the ancient world — a fusion of Roman Republican propaganda and Dacian royal power. Struck in the wake of Julius Caesar’s assassination, their imagery is borrowed wholesale from the coinage of Brutus, Caesar’s most famous assassin, and likely reflects a political alliance or mercenary payment to a Dacian king named Koson. The rich Carpathian gold, the dignified procession of Brutus with his lictors, and the imperial eagle reverse all combine into a piece that is at once rare, mysterious, and steeped in the political drama of the late Republic. For the advanced collector, a Koson stater offers not only beauty and historical significance but also a direct link to the last days of the Roman Republic and the complex web of alliances on its frontiers.
