Roman Republican Denarius - Sulla's Civil War issue !! (R101)

MINT: Rome.

DENOMINATION: Denarius

SPECS: 3,53 g | 18 mm | 3h 

​DATE: 82 BC

OBVERSE: Laureate head of Apollo right; scepter behind shoulder, control mark below chin.

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REVERSE: Horseman galloping right, brandishing a spear in right hand.

Legend: P · CREPVSI 

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CATALOG REFERENCE: Crawford 361/1c; Sydenham 738a; Crepusia 1.

In 82 BC, this silver denarius was minted in Rome during the bloodiest year of Sulla’s Second Civil War, issued by the Senate. That November, Sulla won the decisive Battle of the Colline Gate just outside Rome's walls, narrowly defeating a force of Marian rivals and Samnites. The victory allowed him to seize absolute control of the Republic, declare himself Dictator, and launch the infamous Proscriptions, which were a series of state-sanctioned political purges.