I won two fully-anonymous RR coins this month and thought I'd share them in a single post. The first is an anonymous quadrans in the style of the signed Rome mint issues of circa 206-195 B.C. and this coin in particular is a close match for the rare Crawford 113/196 Star-before series quadrans(see the link for why I see 113/196). This anonymous series was not identified by Crawford but is described in Andrew McCabe's paper on anonymous bronzes as Group J1. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of this one before spiriting it away to the bank so I've only got dealer pictures to share for now: Roman Republic Æ Quadrans(24mm, 9.72 g, 9h), anonymous, circa 206-195 B.C.. Rome mint. Head of Hercules right; to left, ••• / Prow right; above, ROMA; below, •••. McCabe Group J1; cf. Crawford 112-124 and 196/4 for signed issues in similar style Privately purchased from London Ancient Coins via Vcoins, 9/4/2018. Image copyright London Ancient Coins My second anonymous purchase this month and perhaps the one I'm most excited about was an eBay purchase from what was apparently some sort of pawn shop and, based on the paper that came with it was apparently some sort of sight-unseen mail order purchase before that. This coin is a Crawford 89/1b victoriatus, a very rare variety related to the Cr. 89/1a "club" victoriatus, but without the club! If you're interested, you can read a bit about how to identify this variety in this guide to the anonymous victoriati written by Kenneth L. Friedman and Richard Schaefer but the easiest feature to spot is the particular style of the base of the trophy on this issue which takes the form of two dots which appear disconnected from the post. The seller did not identify this as any sort of rare variety and I hoped that it would end up flying under the radar and staying cheap but alas several strong bids came in at the last moment and I probably overpaid for it at almost $200 shipped but when you have to have every variety you do whatever it takes and I wasn't willing to wait and hope I could find another example. Roman Republic AR Victoriatus(2.33g, 18mm, 12h). Anonymous(style of "Club" series). ca. 208 B.C. Southeast Italian mint(perhaps Brundisium?). Laureate head of Jupiter right. Border of dots / Victory standing right, crowning trophy with wreath. ROMA in exergue. Line border. Crawford 89/1b Purchased from The Coin & Jewelry Exchange, Fort Meyers, Florida via eBay auction, 9/17/2018 As promised, the "mail order" ad that came with it and which I assume it was previously purchased from. If you recognize the vendor, please let me know: As always, feel free to share anything relevant!
Two great coins RS. I always learn something new about Republican coinage from your posts. Here's my anonymous victoriatus
Great coins! Both are excellent examples, even if they weren't rareties. Here are my humble examples... Anonymous (Q series), Quadrans South-East Italy, 211-210 BCE; AE; Head of Hercules r.; behind, °°°, Rv. Prow r.; above, ROMA; before, Q; below, °°°. Crawford 86A/3; Sydenham 182b. Very rare Victoriatus Anonymous. 211-208 BCE AR (18mm, 3.42 g, 1h). Luceria L (second Crawford series). Luceria mint. Laureate head of Jupiter right, hair falling in three neat ringlets; all within bead and reel border / Victory standing right, crowning trophy; L between, ROMA in exergue. Crawford 97/1b; Sydenham 121; Kestner 1076-8;
@Ryro , your Victoriatus pictured above is a Spearhead series, not an L series. Did you attach the wrong photo?
I suspect this is a fully anonymous quadrans as opposed to the Q series as the style is different from the Q series and I don't see a trace of the Q where it should be. My first guess is that it is one of the later Second Punic War half weight types from Southern Italy or Sardinia. Do you have the weight by chance?
I still need to pony up and buy a scale. So no weight. But I could swear there is a "Q" following Roma on the reverse. Doesn't that make it a Q series?
I believe what you're seeing as the Q is actually the tip of the acrostilium or prow-stem, the portion of the prow that curves upwards. Look at this coin as an example which could potentially trick your eye into thinking a "Q" was there if the rest of the acrostilium was less distinct. On the "Q" series quadrans, the Q is actually just to the right of the prow itself at approximately 3 o'clock on the reverse as can be seen on this coin.
@red_spork , I always enjoy your RR posts! Here are a couple of my Victoratii: RR Anon 211-206 BCE Victoriatus STAR Rare Sear 49 Syd 233a Craw 105-1 (yeah, well, whatever - it is called a "filled-in pentagram", I call it a STAR) RR Victoriatus 206-195 BCE AR 16-5mm 2-61g Jupiter r Victory crowning trophy sow r in ex ROMA Syd 253 Russo RBW 554 Cr 121-1 (Soooweee! PIG!!!) My Quadrans from the same time period: RR AE Quadrans 18mm 3.6g Rome 206-195 BC Hercules R wearing lions skin pellet behind - ROMA Prow of galley right 3 pellets Cr339-4a; Syd679c
Very cool quadrans but this is actually likely from the 1st century B.C.. I'm not as familiar with the style and separating imitations versus official coins of this period but the style and weight are consistent with that era as is the attribution of Crawford 339/4a
