A nice aes grave arrived recently. It was from Italy and took about a month to work its way across the Atlantic. As best I can tell, the package did not come with any undesirable extras. Seller's Pics. I took several pics with different lighting options. These show the coin's features best. Roma/Wheel series. AE Cast Semis, c. 230 BC. Obv - Bull leaping left; S below. Rev - Wheel of six spokes; between two spokes, S. 99.8 grams (1), 50.0 mm, die rotation 12 Grade, rrdenarius - VF; seller - VF, aVF, Rare (2) well centered, nice casting with good features, wheel on reverse is low profile, no flan flaws, typical style; patina (3) - light tan, the patina color & fine surface irregularities make seeing and photographing features hard; no damage; Cr. 24/4; 265 to 242 BC; Wt Std = 270 BMC Greek Italy; Pg 54, Central Italy #5 & #6 Haeberline; Pg 59 - 60, 70 examples, 104.3 to 171.2 grams; Pl 25, 1-7 HNI, 327 Sear: 535 RBW, 34 Sydenham CRR = 60; Syd AG = 87; Syd collection = T & V, 32; 269 to 240 BC Vecchi, ICC, 67 Garrucci, Table XL, #1; Pg 21, Wt = 4 ounce + 18 den = 133.2 grams not in BMCRR, Bab / RSC Notes: 1. Weights from various sources: a. _ On Line Haeberline b. Number 37 70 c. Max Wt, gr 166 171 d. Min Wt, gr 92 105 e. Avg Wt 128 133 f. St Dev 19 15 Note: my coin is the second lowest weight of 100+ coins. That is not a good sign. Otherwise the coin looks great and is from a seller I trust. 2. Vendor called the coin “Rare”. I found 70 examples in Haeberline, 13 examples in the ANS web site CRRO and another 24 from various places in books and on the web. Two CoinTalk members have posted their examples of this coin - @Andrew McCabe on Oct 15, 2019; @AncientJoe on Sep 6, 2014. 3. Vendor said: “Untouched earthen light green patina.” I do not see green, but that is often the case because I am a bit color blind. Below are some pics of the page with Haeberlin illustrations and some cast coins I was photographing.
good addition to your RR collection, congrats. I see nothing wrong with your Semis. sellers pics are indeed green, your pics are blue(ish) Dont understand your concern about the weight of 100 grams, Roman Republic bronze was dropping in weight fast over time, 100 grams in 230 BC is correct. only 20 years later (210 BC)the Semis was only 20 grams (pic)
WOW! When I saw your post I got excited as a collector of Aes Grave. It is a beautiful piece with a nice , natural green patina. The bull semis is indeed one of the rarest of the cartwheel series. I can't remember the last time I saw one for sale. Weights of these cast pieces do seem to vary widely. I definitely would not worry. Here is mine from many years ago. If I recall, it was about 120 gms.
A very nice piece!! Thinking about dipping in my toes and purchasing a couple of these. There was a dealer at the last Whitman show I attended and he had several of these in his cases. Very impressive!! I'm still waiting on my auction purchase of a German coin from an Italian auction house. Export license?!?! Waiting 4+ months.
