I've been watching the coin I'm sharing today for over a year and a half. As usually happens, every time I'd think I was going to buy it, something else would come up at auction or be offered by a dealer but it was always high on my watch list and last week I finally decided I had to have it and pulled the trigger. This victoriatus comes from the "pentagram" series, thought to have been struck in Etruria circa 209-208 B.C., right in the middle of the Second Punic War. If the style looks familiar, look no further than my avatar: the obverse of my "staff" series victoriatus. Based on similarities of style, Republican numismatists have argued that the "pentagram" and "staff" series were closely related for well over a century, and Crawford confirmed this relation by illustrating an obverse die link between the victoriati of the two series. Unfortunately, as might be expected from the rarity of these types, the hoard evidence for the victoriati of both series is extremely scant with only a single example of the "pentagram" victoriatus listed in Roman Republic Coin Hoards and none of the "staff", however the presence of multiple examples of the "staff" bronzes in the Citta Ducala hoard and few others strongly suggests Etruria as the mint location. Crawford suggests that this "pentagram" series was financed by M. Marcellus, the "Sword" of Rome, with part of the 500 pounds of gold(Livy, book XXVII, chapter 10) that he was given to fund his campaigns as consul in 209 B.C., right before he was sent out to Etruria to put down a revolt. He further suggests that at least a portion of this bullion(and presumably the remaining dies) were passed on to C. Calpurnius Piso, promagistrate in Etruria, under whom the "staff" issue was minted. Roman Republic AR Victoriatus(2.70g, 18mm), Anonymous("Pentagram" series). 209-208 B.C., Etrurian mint. Laureate head of Jupiter right. Border of dots / Victory standing right, crowning trophy with wreath; Pentagram between. ROMA in exergue. Line border. Crawford 105/1; Sydenham 233a. Ex RBW Collection, purchased from Thomas Cederlind, 8/16/1995 As always, feel free to post anything relevant(especially @Alegandron whom I know has one of these!).
That is a beauty and excellent information on the two series. I have neither, but will now keep my eyes peeled for one of them. Thanks.
OH WOW SPORKY! You got one! That is GORGEOUS! Nice capture, great write-up! Cool they call them "pentagrams"...LOL, they are STARS to me! Ours are both "filled in"! Yours has great pedigree! Congrats! Mine... Roman Republic 209-208 BCE anonymous AR Victoriatus. Star Obv: Laureate head of Jupiter r. Rev: Victory crowning trophy; in field, pentagram and in exergue, ROMA Ref: Sydenham 233a. Crawford 105/1; Sear 49 2.54g 18 mm
Pentagrams are always cool, until they are used for Satanism. I found a couple in a couple cemeteries, and things immediately got weird enough to prompt me to leave.
This is a really cool type that I somehow hadn't seen before. It's not exactly in my wheelhouse but now I kinda want one. The depiction of Zeus-Ammon is excellent
