Obverse: Draped bust right wearing Phrygian helmet wreathed with laurel, control symbol (eagle) behind.

Reverse: Cybele seated in biga of lions right, M VOLTEI M F in ex.

RRC: 385/4. Sear: 315. CRR: 777. RSC: Volteia 4. [Rome, 78 BC].

Diameter: 19 mm. Weight: 4.0 g.

A superb silver denarius of M. Volteius struck in 78 BC. The reverse depicting Cybele driving a chariot drawn by a pair of lions. Cybele, also known as the Great Mother, was a Phrygian goddess whose frenzied rituals were quite foreign to Roman tradition, and in fact she only enters the pantheon in 204 BC. The obverse head remains unidentified, but he is most likely Attis, the consort of Cybele famous for his act of self-castration, seen here with long wavy hair and a Phrygian cap. The coin is in superb condition, the reverse slightly off-centre but with beautiful electric blue toning.