Janus-headed as from a Roman mint in Sicily

I picked up the following bronze from a Vcoins dealer recently. I wasn't intending on it as I actually had my eye on a beautiful quadrans he had just posted(which I'll be posting in the next week or two) but this janus-headed as was so cheap that I couldn't resist it. This as comes from a small series of bronzes thought to have been struck at an unknown Roman military mint in Sicily circa 200-190 B.C. under a series of quaestors. During my research I've found a handful of different names/monograms within the wreath: "NA/SO", "Crassipes", "QB", "AL" and a few others but I haven't quite found one with the "AL" or "AV" here, and this series is not included in any of the references I own, so the ID below is tentative and based on CNG's attribution on similar coins. I think the answer may lie in Calciati's CNS I, somewhere near page 343, coins 70ish-90, or in Hoover's HGC 2, around entry 1690, so if anyone has a copy of eiter I'd be grateful if you could take a look and scan any relevant info if possible.


Sicily, uncertain Roman mint, Æ as(21mm, 5.37g). Anonymous("AV" or "AN" monogram), circa 200-190 B.C. Laureate head of bearded Janus; I (Mark of value) above / AV or AN monogram within wreath. BAR issue 37; Hoover HGC 2, 1690
Ex RBW Collection, ex Peus 407, lot 250(part of), 11/7/2012

 

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sweet Janus, congrats red_spork (cool wreath)

 

I fail to see this as different than the one you list as AL. I'd read both as AV. The interest to me of this group is the series was traditionally attributed to Panormos but I have not seen the argument for moving it away from there or an explanation as to what Av, Crassipes or Naso mean. Some refer to quaestors but few attach a coin to a man. Since they are RR family names found on denarii, I assume they are governors of the protectorate or something of that ilk but it seems this would be made more clear in the attributions of the coins we see including the ones you link. Is this a case where current scholarship denies the old theories but does not replace it beyond 'uncertain'?
Where do we place these in our catalogs? RR or Greek Sicily?

 

Pages from Calciati CNS I, Panormos, that feature Janus:

 

More:

 

More:

 

More:

 

Last one:

 

Hoover entry:

 

Interesting!! That's the first I've noticed with the wreath reverse...until this post and Nick's articles.....

 

@Nicholas Molinari Thanks VERY VERY much. Both CNS and HGC reference Bahrfeldt it looks like so I'll have to track down a copy.

I was assuming, probably incorrectly, that the right-most bar being half the height of the "A" was an "AL" monogram and full-height was AV or AN, as it would generally be read on many Republican coins of the period(i.e. VAL versus AV or AN). The HGC page above seems to just list AV so I assume this is just a variation by the engraver.

It seems to me that it's most likely a case of there not being enough evidence to firmly place these issues in Panormus, as that is the reason that Crawford, for instance, also placed several issues at "uncertain" mints, but I still don't know where the new dating comes from. As for where to place these in catalogs, for me, I have a specific "Roman Republic Provincial" category that I use for issues like this that aren't mainline issues but seem to have been struck under Roman authority.

 

That was the first I had heard suggesting Agrigentum as the 'uncertain' but it was done appropriately uncertainly. The style on the Janus faces seem very good on most of these.

 

I dont think there will be any agreement on how to categorize them anytime soon. Take for example the Republican period (and later) Spanish issues. Are they imitative or official? Semi-official? Many disagree. In some instances (as a dealer) I have put such coins into a Greek category and also in Republican or Imperial category.

 

BTW, I just picked up two of these:

 

I especially like the one on the left. Very well rendered. Any pictures of the reverses?

 

Not yet. Sellers photos. I dont have them in hand yet.

 

I feel just the opposite. The one on the right IMHO is much better rendered and much more lifelike. Nice coins @Ken Dorney.

 

Maybe it is just me, but the OP's Janus has a very Roman Republican look, whereas the others, like Ken's and most of the Calciati specimens, look more Greek. Perhaps it was struck in Rome to circulate in the area of Panormos and they incorporated that reverse design so it fit in well.

 

I know RBW started to focus on Republican Provincials before he passed. I don't know if he made any headway on this type, but if he catalogued it as a Republican Provincial then I would, too, until some other evidence comes along. It would be worthwhile to look for any hoards that might have contained these types. Maybe Barhfeldt did.

 

I'm not sure exactly how RBW cataloged this one, though I assume it was as a provincial/colonial type. I purchased it from the dealer who purchased this lot from CNG and none of the coins came with RBW's tags or envelopes.