Roman Republic. Anonymous, after 211 BCE. AR victoriatus. Obverse: Laureate head of Jupiter right. Reverse: Victory crowning trophy, ROMA in exergue. Crawford 53/1, Sydenham 86. This coin: Frank S. Robinson Auction 129, lot 111 (October 25, 2025). This coin is part of the Roman financial response to the Second Punic War (218- 201 BCE). The victoriatus was half the weight of a quadrigatus (didrachm) and thus meant to be equivalent to a drachm, rather than the denarius that had recently been introduced as the main Roman silver denomination. The victoriatus was used to pay the Roman troops in southern Italy and Sicily, and the coins have turned up in large numbers in hoards from those regions. Victoriati continued to circulate for many decades after the end of the war. According to Kenneth W. Harl in Coinage in the Roman Economy, "They were popular in Cisalpine Gaul, passing as equivalent of Massiliot drachmae and Celtic imitative pieces of the Po Valley. Victoriati that sustained heavy wear during the Second Punic War were later revalued down to 5 asses or one-half of the denarius, the reckoning Cato the Elder employed in 180 B.C. Since victoriati were of a base alloy, their greater weight and size made them much more handy fractions than the tiny, easily lost quinarii and sestertii." This coin has clearly seen a lot of use, which in my opinion makes it even more interesting as a witness to history. Please post your victoriati or other related coins.
