Issued under the moneyer Marcus Porcius Cato — grandfather of the famous Stoic — this quinarius belongs to a short-lived revival of the denomination that had been largely dormant since the Second Punic War. The Social War of 90–89 BC created exceptional demand for silver coinage as Rome funded a brutal campaign against its Italian allies, and the quinarius was briefly reintroduced to stretch silver supplies across fractional denominations.
The Porcian gens had a long history of legislating against monetary excess; the irony of one of its members minting during a military fiscal emergency is not lost on specialists in Republican coinage.
Issued under the moneyer Marcus Porcius Cato — grandfather of the famous Stoic — this quinarius belongs to a short-lived revival of the denomination that had been largely dormant since the Second Punic War. The Social War of 90–89 BC created exceptional demand for silver coinage as Rome funded a brutal campaign against its Italian allies, and the quinarius was briefly reintroduced to stretch silver supplies across fractional denominations.
The Porcian gens had a long history of legislating against monetary excess; the irony of one of its members minting during a military fiscal emergency is not lost on specialists in Republican coinage.