Uncia of M. Herennius (108-107 B.C.), Roma & Cornucopiae

This turned out to be a lucky eBay find (it was advertised as "Greek"). Apparently this is a late-period Roman Republic uncia issued by M. Herennius (who issued denarii at that time), 108-107 B.C.

I didn't know unciae were issued this late; McCabe notes on his site that the economic rationale remains "unclear." Since I didn't see any others on CT, I thought I'd toss it out here.

Several places note it as being "rare" but I found quite a few auctions for them on acsearch. That CNG got $400 for one that isn't all that great gave me an American Picker's kind of thrill: https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=820&lot=591

If there is any others, or any additional information on this issue, I'd love to see it. Or anything else, unciae, M. Herennius, lucky finds, etc.


Roman Republic Æ Uncia
M. Herennius
(108-107 B.C.)
Rome Mint
Helmeted head of Roma right; • (mark of value) to left / ROMA, double cornucopiae.
Crawford 308/4b; Babelon Herennia 4 var.; Sydenham 568b var.' Russo RBW 1145.
(4.57 grams / 20 x 19 mm)

Notes:
"The economic rationale for the issue of unciae in this period is unclear." (McCabe) andrewmccabe.ancients.info/RRC280.html

"Rare; three specimens in Paris, of both varieties." (Gemini, LLC, Auct. XII, Lot 285, 11.01.2015)
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4012808

 

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Very cool, @Marsyas Mike ! Congrats! Super find.

All my Uncia are from the Republic Era.

Here is an early one having the approx weight of the Uncia when it was cast:


Italia Aes Rude
- bronze
ca 5th-4th Century BCE
29.7mm 32.4g
roughly an Uncia at the time of casting

 

That's a terrific find! A very attractive example of a rare and interesting type.

I have a much more common denarius of the same moneyer.

Roman Republic, moneyer: M. Herennius, AR denarius, 108–107 BC, Rome mint. Obv: PIETAS; head of Pietas r. Rev: M HERENNI; one of the Catanean brothers Amphinomos and Anapias carrying his father r. 19mm, 3.94g. Ref: RRC 308/1b.

 

Nice catch Mike, never seen an Uncia with a cornucopia on the reverse,

Usually there is a prow of a galley:

 

Nice pickup @Marsyas Mike !

I don't have an uncia of M. Herennius, but I do have a denarius of this moneyer.

 

This is an excellent find. Very well done, especially if you got it cheap with these excellent surfaces. I wish I'd seen it, but I only really watch the Roman Republic section so I'd have never spotted it but it would have taken me about 2 seconds to buy it or bid on it at anywhere under $250. Maybe I need to start looking at the Greek section too