Roman Republic (Rome mint 82 BC.), moneyer Caius Mamilius Limetanus.
Denarius Serratus (3,69 g, 18-21 mm), silver, axis coin alignment ?? (ca. 180°), .
Obv.: Draped bust of Mercury to right, wearing winged petasos and with caduceus over his left shoulder. Control letter E behind.
Rev.: C MAMIL / LIMETAN , Ulysses standing right, holding walking stick in his left hand and extending his right toward his dog Argos who is barking in greeting on the right.
Crawford 362/1 ; Syd. 741 ; Bab. Mamilia 6 .
Same obverse die as Leu Numismatik Web Auction 12 (30.05.2020), lot 1034 ( https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=7131881 , https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?lot=1034&p=lot&sid=3872 )
Some areas of minting weakness, otherwise VF – EF
The family of Limetani claimed to descend from Telegonus, the son of Odysseus and Circe, and from Mercurius / Hermes. Claiming divine descent was very popular within the Roman society during the first century B.C. Towards the end of Hesiod's Theogony (c. 700 BC), it is stated that Circe bore Odysseus three sons: Agrius; Latinus; and Telegonus, who ruled over the Tyrsenoi, that is the Etruscans. Hermes/Mercury was a divine ally of the Greeks against the Trojans. In the Odyssey, Hermes helps his great-grand son, the protagonist Odysseus, by informing him about the fate of his companions, who were turned into animals by the power of Circe.
For this type Crawford noted an estimate of 100 obverse dies and 111 reverse dies.
The scene on the reverse of this coin shows the scene when the old dog greeted his master upon his return to Ithaca, and illustrates the age-old sentiment that the dog is man's best friend. Argos, Ulysses' dog, died of joy and old age when he recognized his master on his return to Ithaca. Ulysses' dog waited years for his owner's return from Troy. When Ulysses finally arrived home from his wanderings, he was in disguise, yet he was greeted by his old hound who promptly died at his feet from the combined excitement of the reunion with his beloved master and his infirmities due to old age.
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