I've picked up several bronzes this year that didn't make the cut for a thread on their own either as there wasn't much to say or they were too ugly to warrant a post on their own but I think they're still worth sharing and discussion. Photos are a combination of my own and sellers'. This as is from the "VAL" series, thought to have been struck under a moneyer of the gens Valeria. This coin is a great example of the typical compromises one has to make when collecting RR bronzes: the detail is fantastic, far better than average, but it has lost ROMA. Either way, it may well be my favorite of the bronzes I've picked up this year as it's a very impressive coin in-hand. Roman Republic Æ As(28.81g), "VAL" series(Valerius?), 169-158 BC. Laureate head of Janus; above, I / Prow of galley right; VAL monogram above; I before; ROMA below. Crawford 191/1 Privately purchased from Lucernae, 26 February 2020 This fully anonymous quadrans is from McCabe group J2. This group is related to the signed issues of circa 194-180 BC, Crawford 132-150. Andrew McCabe's paper on anonymous bronzes only cites two known quadrantes from this anonymous group, so this is a relatively rare coin and possibly the finest known, even in this corroded and slightly overcleaned state. Roman Republic Æ Quadrans(20.5mm, 7.89g), anonymous, circa 194-180 B.C.. Rome mint. Head of Hercules right; to left, ••• / Prow right; above, ROMA; below, •••. McCabe Group J2; cf. Crawford 132-150 for signed issues in similar style This sextans was an NYINC pickup. A friend bought it to flip but offered it to me at-cost if I wanted it and I couldn't pass it up. This is from the mint of Luceria which minted a large and interesting series of coinage for the Romans during and perhaps for a few years after the Second Punic War. Roman Republic Æ Sextans(4.81g), "L" series, 211-208 B.C., Luceria mint. Head of Mercury right; above, ••; below, L / Prow right; above, ROMA; below, ••. Crawford 97/20a=97/27 Ex Ed Waddell, 16 January 2020 at NYINC 2020 Another Luceria coin, this time an uncia and a very rare one at that. It was actually sold as anonymous, but there is a faint little mintmark between Roma's hair and neck and the style is Lucerian. Given the heavier weight, this coin is probably from a slightly earlier phase than the sextans above. Roman Republic Æ uncia(23mm, 5.94g, 11), anonymous("L" series), 211-208 B.C., Luceria. Helmeted head of Roma right; behind, •; below, L / Prow right; above, ROMA; below, •. Crawford 97/7a This sextans with a dog above the prow was another NYINC pickup arranged shortly before arrival with a collector and friend who had upgraded. I am a really big fan of these "animal" coins that the Romans struck during this period. Roman Republic Æ Sextans(6.47g, 19mm, 7h). Dog series, 206-195 BC. Rome mint. Head of Mercury right wearing winged petasos; above, •• / Prow of galley right; dog standing right above; before, ••; below, ROMA. Crawford 122/7 Privately purchased 8 January 2020, ex Andrew McCabe Collection, Roma Numismatics E-Sale 8, 31 May 2014, lot 493, ex Goodman Collection, CNG 45, 18 March 1998, lot 1305 This is another "animal" coin, in this case an ass, another animal coin but minted a few decades after the previous one. This coin is overall pretty ugly, but the symbol is very clear so I am quite happy with it. Roman Republic Æ Sextans(6.01g, 21mm, 9h). Ass series, 169-158 BC. Rome mint. Head of Mercury right wearing winged Petasos, •• above / Prow of galley right; ass standing right above; before, ••; below, ROMA. Crawford 195/5 Privately purchased 8 January 2020, ex Andrew McCabe Collection, Roma Numismatics E-Sale 5, 8 February 2014, lot 568
I have never put much effort into RR AE. I have posted this one before but still don't have an ID for it. Any help would be appreciated. 4.26g. Denomination? Is that crescent above the head from design or doublestrike?
Doug, its a Quartuncia struck around 215 BC ,Roma looking right ,crescent is part of her helmet. Great collection, red spork, I like the animals on deck. Here are 2 more:
Thanks for sharing @red_spork - these AEs are interesting to see. Interested in any key reference books, articles, or websites that you like for AEs of the Roman Republic. As much as I like the republican period, the AEs have a price/beauty ratio as well as limited differentiating context, and my own general confusion over weight standards and denominations that have all inhibited me from having more than a few representatives. I have none from the animal series. Here's my favorite: Anonymous, Quartuncia, Rome, 217-215 BC; AE Obv: Helmeted head of Roma right. Rev: Prow right; above, ROMA Size: 3.22g ; 16.4mm , . Ref: Crawford 38/8; Sydenham 88 @Andres2 - interested to know how confident are you in quartuncia (38/8?), it's the weight of 4.26g on Doug's coin that throws me off. I would have guessed (with almost no confidence) uncia like 56/7, or less likely to me, 41/10? @dougsmit is there a depression at back of head on your coin? brockage, bad flan, overstrike? if you wanted to make a lengthy project of this coin - this 2013 paper from @Andrew McCabe (referenced by @red_spork) could be useful - it investigates Roman Republican anonymous struck bronzes, with prow designs, dating from 215BC and on-wards, organizing into groups and sub-groups, and describing common over-strikes for some issues (see Group H).
@Sulla80 , I dont think Doug's coin is an Uncia , because there is no dot/pellet under the bow of the galley as on the other Uncias in this thread including your link. The weight of the replubic bronzes are all over the place in the 220-200 BC period compare the weight of your uncia 5,94 gram with my uncia 12,5 gram. So 4,26 gram is not akward for a Quartuncia imho.(a semuncia is out of the question, since there would be Mercury on the obverse) Here's my Uncia:
The style isn't correct for a quartuncia. This looks like a later coin. I think last time Doug shared this coin, the consensus was that it's an overstrike of some sort, but a double strike is a possibility. The crescent above the head looks like an artifact of an overstrike or doublestrike to me and not anything that was actually in the die. It's actually hard for me to say with certainty whether it's an uncia or a triens, as sometimes it's not obvious when marks of value are not visible. Sometimes you find mysterious and hard to identify coins within Roman Republic bronze. I've actually got a few in my own collection that I have questions about for various reasons, and a whole lot more I've spotted over the years on auction websites and things that left me with questions I couldn't answer. That's the fun of it for me.
Thanks for indulging my curiosity, the missing dots are puzzling, my thought was that on the reverse it was "off-flan" and somehow lost in the overstrike(?)-brockage(?)-doublestrike(?) of the obverse. The sometimes unanswerable puzzles of ancient coins are fun - and learning from others on CT how you think about these questions is also part of the fun for me.
C. Vibius Pansa Ae As Cr 342/7f Obv. Head of bearded Janus. Rv. Three prows of galley right. 90 B.C. 11.83 grms 29 mm Photo by W. Hansen
As far as key references for these coins, I would recommend the following specifically for bronzes(assuming you already have Crawford): 1. Andrew McCabe's linked paper. It's worth reading and re-reading. While it only strictly applies to anonymous bronzes it presents a good framework for understanding the issues with symbols as well. Many symbols were re-used or have "sibling" coins in the same style without symbols. Because of this, style is everything and much can be learned by closely looking at style. Other papers on Andrew's Academia.edu page are all worth reading as well. 2. Essays Hersh - specifically Roberto Russo's paper on unpublished bronzes. Behind Andrew's paper, this is one of the better publications since Crawford on bronzes, partially because it has some of the discussion on style, i.e. on the spearhead issues, that I think is an important piece of how to think about these bronzes. This book has a lot of other great RR material as well. 3. Kestner-Hannover: this is a great museum catalog with many, many coins illustrated. There are also a lot of errors, though you can find a paper from Richard Schaefer that corrects most of them. This is great for learning about style and developing an eye for it. 4. Auction catalogs - Goodman(CNG 44-47 including Triton I), RBW collection (NAC 61 & 63 or the combined book), Vecchi 3. Great sources for many images of bronzes. All but Vecchi 3 can be found online for free. Vecchi 3 is full of mistakes but you'll learn a lot trying to sort them out 5. Online sources: CRRO, LaMoneta, Andrew McCabe's website Outside of those sources, Andrew McCabe has announced a book he's working on specifically on bronzes that will probably supercede everything mentioned above, so definitely watch for that.
Thanks for suggestions, much apprecaited. Crawford, Hersch already on my shelf (although I had ignored so far the Russo article), Schaefer review downloaded, LaMoneta added to my RR bookmarks and Die Munzen der Romischen Republik im Kestner Museum Hannover (1989) in on its way after reading Crawford's description that begins "This magnificent volume...".
