Crawford 333/1, Roman Republic, 97 BC., moneyer Caius Egnatuleius, Quinarius

Roman Republic (Rome mint 97 BC.), moneyer Caius Egnatuleius.
Quinarius (15-17 mm, 1,91 g), silver, axis irregular alignment ?? (ca. 260°),
Obv.: C. EGNATVLEI. [C. F.] (letters NAT and VL in monogram) Q , laureate head of Apollo r. “Caius Egnatuleius Caii Filius Quaestor”, (Caius Egnatuleius son of Caius Quaestor),
Rev.: Between Victory and trophy, Q and in exergue, ROMA, Victory l. inscribing shield attached to trophy; Gallic carnyx (war trumpet) at base of trophy. The Q for the denomination (quinarius).
Crawford 333/1 ; Syd. 588 ; Bab. Egnatuleia 1 ; BMC 1076 .
virtually as struck, lustrous, minor area of striking weakness, good extremely fine - uncirculated

For this type Crawford estimated 625 obverse dies and 781 reverse dies, which leads to a production estimate of somewhat between one and two million coins of this type.
This type quinary takes up the typology of the Victoriatus silver coins which disappeared nearly a century ago. C. Egnatuleius like T. Cloulius seems to have been one of the partisans of Marius, without knowing his cursus honorum after his questure. On the reverse, the carnyx (Gallic trumpet) may refer to Marius' victories.
This is the last type of quinary struck for the period.
The obverse of this coin shows the laureate head of Apollo, the god of health, literature and fine arts, along with the name of the moneyer Caius EGnATVLEIus Caii Filius, “Caius Egnatuleius, the son of the elder Caius.” This moneyer is only known from his coins and was the sole member of his family to have held the office of moneyer. The Q stands for quinarius, the denomination of this coin. The reverse depicts Victoria standing, inscribing a shield which is attached to a trophy. The coin refers to Marius' victories over the Teutones and Ambrones at Aquae Sextiae in 102 B.C. and the Cimbri at Vercellae in 101 B.C. Crawford believes this issue financed settlement of Marius' veterans, partly in Cisalpine Gaul. Q once again identifies the denomination while ROMA appears in the exergue.