Crossed another "grail" coin off the list: the incuse legend victoriatus

The coin I'm sharing today is a type I've badly wanted to add to my collection ever since I first read about it years ago, but I thought I might never find an example of that I could afford until I stumbled across this example on eBay. This victoriatus, unlike all my other victoriati, has a fully incuse legend on the reverse, a feature unique to these victoriati but which also appears on a tiny number of early denarii and on the earliest quadrigati. Surprisingly, the find evidence does not suggest that these victoriati were minted alongside either the incuse-legend quadrigati or the denarii, so while the feature is shared by these various coins, it seems to have simply been a stylistic choice by some of the engravers, perhaps in imitation of the early quadrigati.

So where do these coins fit into the context of the Second Punic War and what makes them so interesting outside of the design variation? First, every single example with a known or reported findspot was found in Spain and when new examples do come to market they almost always come through Spanish dealers or auction houses, so we can be pretty confident that these were minted in Spain. Second, while there is little hoard evidence for these types(owing to their overall rarity), the high weight standard and the experimental design feature of the incuse legend point to an origin in the earliest period of the denarius coinage circa 212 or 211 B.C. before the weight standard was lowered and when many coinage experiments such as the half-victoriatus and incuse legend denarii seem to have been going on.

If these coins were minted at this time period in Spain they were almost certainly struck at a military camp under the control of one of the Cornelii Scipiones, either Publius Cornelius Scipio and his brother Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus, both of whom were defeated at the battle of the Upper Baetis in 211 B.C., or Publius's son, also a Publius but better known to history by the name Scipio Africanus. The younger Publius was elected proconsul and sent to Spain at the head of an army in the wake of his father's death and would go on to conquer Hispania and end Carthaginian rule in the area in 206 B.C. before being unanimously elected Consul in 205 B.C.. He then took his forces southward, first to Sicily and then to Africa where he defeated Hannibal at the battle of Zama in 202 B.C., earning himself the agnomen Africanus.


Roman Republic AR Victoriatus(3.10g, 17mm, 1h). Anonymous, ca. 211 B.C., military mint in Spain. Laureate head of Jupiter right. Border of dots / Victory standing right, crowning trophy with wreath. Below, ROMA incuse on tablet. Line border. Crawford 96/1

Feel free to share anything relevant!

 

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I can't tell one Victoriatus from another, but I do appreciate your commitment to collecting all the varieties there are. That's a sign of a true collector right there.

Here's my one and only. I suppose I do need to add another eventually...


Roman Republic
AR Victoriatus, Anonymous, ca. 211-208 B.C.
Uncertain mint(traditionally, Vibo Valentia).
Laureate head of Jupiter right. Border of dots
Victory standing right, crowning trophy with wreath; between, VB; in exergue, ROMA. Line border. Crawford 95/1a
Notes: Traveling Roman Military Mint in Southern Italy

 

Congrats! It's always a wonderful feeling to cross a 'grail coin' off the list.

 

Congrats on getting a grail coin, nothing beats that feeling. It has wonderful history to it.

 

Congrats on the fascinating victorious, RedSpork. The trophy is also an interesting style, with the outlined trunk. Neat stuff.

 

Well done @red_spork I bought this miserable example (or maybe just a miserable cell phone pic?) of the type several years ago. I couldn't pass it up in any condition. It shares the characteristic massive trophy "stem". I need to capture a better image of this coin soon.

 

The fully-incuse legend was not experimental in the context of Republican coinage by the time the denarius and victoriatus were introduced. It was well known from the massive quadrigatus output of Crawford 28 and 30, which likely continued until earliest years of the Second Punic War. It was certainly a short-lived variant in the denarius/victoriatus coinage.

 

Perhaps experimental wasn't the correct word for this feature. It certainly seems like from the context of the coins that in-relief legends settled out and became standardized rather quickly and that this was a product of the lack of standardization around the time of the introduction of the denomination, much like the odd denominations and other things being tested at the time.

 

I recognize this coin. I almost bought it a few years ago when it was listed on Vcoins but by the time I had some cash to buy it it was gone. Congrats on acquiring your own example of this difficult type.

 

WOW, @red_spork ! This was the very first thing I saw BEFORE reading anything of your post!


BAMM!!! Nailed that one! Great job capturing this!

I have a few Victoriatii, but I always like my PIG and STAR versions:

PIG

RR Victoriatus 206-195 BCE AR 16-5mm 2-61g Jupiter r Victory crowning trophy sow r in ex ROMA Syd 253 Russo RBW 554 Cr 121-1


STAR (not a fancy-name Pentagram, cuz this one is FILLED IN!!!)

RR Anon 211-206 BCE Victoriatus STAR Very Rare Sear 49 Syd 233a Craw 105-1


Ok, now that you have FOUND a HOLY GRAIL, this DOCUMENTARY is NOW OBSOLETE!


Oh, Coconuts!

 

Cool comment... also validates this earlier model among the changing Quadrigatii series:


RR Anon AR Heavy Denarius -Quadrigatus - Didrachm 225-215 BCE Incuse Roma Janus Jupiter Cr 28-3 S 31

These are a few of mine progressing through debasement in Silver as well as design as the War with Hannibal wore on with Rome...
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/th...narius-and-its-influence.300387/#post-2807549

 

I don't have a cool sow victoriatus but I'm always jealous of your Crawford 105/1 star/pentagram victoriatus, it's a bit nicer than my modest example(also they might share the same obverse die):


And my related Crawford 106/1 Staff victoriatus. This type is l die-linked to the 105/1 victoriatus:


Interestingly, whereas Crawford placed both of these types in Etruria, modern finds suggest very strongly that they should actually be assigned to Spain. Most new staff/pentagram victoriati also seem to come from Spain, much like my incuse victoriatus shared above. They may also be related to the Corneli Scipiones as "Scipio" in Latin literally means staff or walking stick. Perhaps these are later issues from near the end of Scipio's war in Spain.

 

@red_spork Congratulations on another milestone victoriatus for your already admirable collection. This is one of the rare key varieties and the most sought after anonymous variation.