DR-552 | Crawford: 420/2a
Publius Plautius Hypsaeus
Publius Plautius Hypsaeus

Gens: Plautia
Moneyer: Publius Plautius Hypsaeus
Date and mint: 60 BC - Rome


Obverse: Bust of Leuconoe, right, draped and with hair decorated in various ways; behind, dolphin. Dotted border.
Legend: P YPSAE S C

Reverse: Jupiter in quadriga, left, reins in left hand and throwing lightning with right. Dotted border.
Legend: CEPIT C YPSAE COS / PRIV

Comment: The Plautia gens, of plebeian origin, achieved relevance in republican politics with several prominent magistrates. Among them is P. Plautius Hypsaeus, moneyer in the year 60 BC, when Caesar, Pompey and Crassus sealed the private pact of the First Triumvirate, which transformed the balance of the Republic.

In the first variant of this issue (Crawford 420/1a) Neptune, emblem of Roma's maritime power, appears on the obverse. In this second variant (Crawford 420/2a), the god is replaced by the female figure of Leuconoe, identified in the legend. It is a Nereid, one of the marine divinities in Neptune's courtship, which maintains the reference to the maritime sphere but introduces a different nuance: not the authority of the sovereign god of the sea, but the protective grace of the divinities that accompany him.

The reverse preserves the image of Jupiter in a quadriga, launching a lightning bolt, a symbol of supreme authority and military triumph. The combination reinforces the idea that Roma was protected both by the power of the celestial gods and by control over the seas.

Thus, the two variants—Neptune and Leuconoe—offer a complementary reading: one exalts the direct power of the god of the sea, the other recalls the presence of his auxiliary divinities, integrating both planes into the discourse of religious and political legitimation typical of the time.

Provenance: Roma Numismatics (2021)
Price: 2,087 €