Well, I believe DonnaML is (or was?) a lawyer, so perhaps she can help you out! Ha ha, that would make for a very interesting different interpretation of the reverse of the coin! In stead of the college of the Augurs interpreting the will of the gods via the flight of birds, they would be studying the will of the gods via these 'productions' of the birds!
These folks were obsessed with dots as their coins evolved... India, Chalukyas of GujaratGadhaiya Paisa Billon drachm Gadhaiya Paisa), 4.6g, 14mm, 3h; ca 9th cent AD Obv.: degenerated Indo-Sasanian style bust to right, sun and moon above Rev.: stylized fire altar, sun above left, crescent moon above right Reference: Deyell 156-159: Series Vaghela 1.5 India Gujarat Chalukyas Gadhaiya Paisa BI Drachm 11th C CE Sun Moon Fire Alter Crescent: Series 1.4.3
@DonnaML, thank you for finally helping me out with how this started! ...Before then, I'm regressing a decade or so, to when I'm watching some Anime movie that is just Too Stoned for Me to Properly Deal With. --No, I said, the Movie.
Only, why do they look that much better than they can dance? From the ridiculous ...back to the ridiculous. No intervening sublimity up in here.
The dot below the truncation of Roma's neck is found on one variety of early denarii and quinarii (RRC 44/5 and 44/6) and also found below the truncation of the head of the Dioscuri on some quadrigati. Lots of speculation exists on the significance of this mark. RRC 44/6 quinarius Dot Variety RRC 31/1 (not my coin)
On some Greek coins the dots are critical--they give the denomination: 21 mm. Very thick at 5 mm. 12.99 grams. Himera, Sicily. 430-420 BC. Gorgoneion facing, tongue protruding Three dots, for three onkiai. A "trionkia." Sear Greek 1107. Hoover Sicily, Himera 467.
The Roman Republic had some one cast dotters: the middle bottom is a semiuncia, the dot is really part of the plant the right bottom is a sextans with only one dot showing the rest are VNCIA
Yes. We will see this expressed as three twelths "trionkia" or simplified to one fourth "tetras". Many people get confused in their twelths since three dots is a fourth and four dots is a third ("trias") as on this Akragas tooth type coin. Two dots is 2/12 or one sixth ("hexas") as on this tooth worth half the above back then. Both of these have and eagle and a crab but these cast coins are hard to find with both clear. Then the Romans came along and translated the fractions into Latin giving us triens, quadrans and sextans for 4, 3, and 2 dots respectively. If we had known we were going to be coin collectors we should have paid more attention to fractions in third grade. All I have to show is a three dot quadrans. I really should show more interest in RR AE coins but you can't collect everything. Can you?
