Denarius (Coin) Depicting a Galley (32-31 BCE, issued by Marc Antony): Artwork and History

Denarius (Coin) Depicting a Galley (32-31 BCE, issued by Marc Antony) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Roman.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

The front (obverse) of this coin depicts a type of Praetorian ship, called a galley, with rowers. On the back (reverse), an eagle flies between two staffs. The Roman number "VI" (six) refers to one of the twenty-three legions that served under Mark Antony. Coins such as this denarius were used to pay his fleet.

Object facts

• Title: Denarius (Coin) Depicting a Galley
• Date: 32-31 BCE, issued by Marc Antony
• Artist attribution: Roman
• Place of origin: Roman Empire
• Medium: Silver
• Dimensions: Diam.: 1.7 cm (11/16 in.)
• Type: Coin
• Department: Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
• Reference number: 1923.1238

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. William Nelson Pelouze

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.