Roman Republic Quadrigatus

Hey fellow collectors!

I wanted to share my newest pickup with you guys. I think I got it at a great price!

This is a Roman Republic quadrigatus. The predecessor to the denarius.

It’s my first Roman coin from the Republic as my others are all denarii from the Roman Empire.

Officially they are supposed to weigh 6.8 grams so about equal to 2 denarii.

Although the description lists the obverse as a “youthful” Janus there is much debate among historians & numismatists about whether it’s actually the Dioscuri (Castor & Pollux) as Janus almost always has a beard.

Anonymous. Ca. 225-214/2 BC. AR didrachm or quadrigatus (23mm, 6.64 gm, 7h). NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5, overstruck. Uncertain mint. Laureate head of youthful Janus, two small annulets on top of head / Jupiter, hurling thunderbolt with right hand, scepter in left, in fast quadriga right driven by Victory; ROMA incuse on raised tablet below. Crawford 29/3. Sydenham 64.

 

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Nice!

 

Thanks Donna!

I think it's pretty cool to have a Roman coin from before the Empire period.

Not to mention I just love the coins with "ROMA" on them xD.

 

Sweet...that's a nice Victory driving the biga and Zeus ready to hurl his bolt. What great action!

 

Thanks

Actually it’s a quadriga not a biga.

A biga is 2 horses.
A quadriga is 4 horses.

Hence the name quadrigatus.

I just learned that myself xD

 

Mea Culpa..

 

Don't forget the triga (which appears on only two Roman coins)!

Roman Republic, C. Naevius Balbus, AR Serrate Denarius, 79 BCE, Rome Mint. Obv. Head of Venus [or Juno, see BMCRR p. 366] right, wearing diadem, necklace and long earring, hair long, S • C [Senatus Consulto] behind / Rev. Victory, naked to waist, driving triga right, with rightmost horse turning head back towards the others; control-number CLIII (= 153, with L in form of upside-down T); in exergue, C•NAE•BALB [AE and LB ligate]. Crawford 382/1b, RSC I Naevia 6 (ill.), Sydenham 760b, Sear RCV I 309 (ill.), Grueber, BMCRR 2926-2976 (this control-number at BMCRR 2964), RRM I Ch. 6 at pp. 28-31. 19 mm., 3.92 g.*





* Footnote omitted.

 

I love that one!

But I imagine a 3 horse chariot would be very difficult to control.

Trigatus?

 

Nice pickup! Like the obverse design!

 

Thanks!

I’ve had my eye on one of these for a long time.

Unfortunately they didn’t come up for auction very often and the ones that did had issues like really dark toning that made the design hard to see or harsh cleaning that left marks all over.

Finally I pulled the trigger on this one since the design is clear even though it has a chip in the 2 o clock position.

But at least the weight is still pretty good at 6.64 grams out of 6.8 grams.

 

Apparently just called a triga, like the biga. Regarding the triga, this is from the footnote I omitted:

"Sear notes at p. 130 of RCV I that the three-horse chariot (triga) depicted on the reverse “is rarely depicted on the Republican coinage, the only other example being on a denarius of Ap. Claudius Pulcher issued in 111/110 BC” (Crawford 299/1a). Harlan states at p. 31 that the triga’s current use in Rome in the first century BCE, at a time when it was no longer used by the Greeks, “was only found in the celebration of the Ludi Romani, a religious and ceremonial survival of the games originally held by the dictator Aulus Postumius to commemorate [his] victory [over the Latins] at Lake Regillus” in the 490s BCE (famously aided by Castor and Pollux). As the Roman practice in these games is described by Dionysius of Halicarnassus (7.73.2), the “third horse, joined to the team by a trace, runs alongside the two horses yoked together in the usual way” -- explaining why the third horse on the reverse looks back at the other two."

 

Anyone happen to know the purity of the quadrigatus?

 

The early issues were made of almost pure silver, presumably coming from Spanish mines conquer; the late ones were quite debased in weight and purity.

 

Thanks! I appreciate you answering this for me .

I’m not sure if mine came from Spanish mines or is a debased one from later.

I did look at the chipped off piece at the 2 o clock position on the edge of the obverse and it does look like silver underneath but I’m not sure if I’m right.

What do you think?

 

IMHO it should be a Crawford 30/1 series, but identification of Quadrigati is a tricky game (NGC doesn’t play it at all, I see). This should put this issue before the debased ones.
Important recent studies about this issues have been published by S. Bernard and by Debernardi and Legrand.

 

I really hope it’s a high purity one.

I’d be happy if it was at least 92% silver or more considering they could refine it as pure as 97% back then.

But I’m hoping it’s not debased down to like 50% or something.

Sadly it’s really hard to find information about purity of coins even though there are many sources to help identify which coins they are and when they were minted.

If only I had an XRF machine so I could test it for myself .

 

Agree, the OP fits more in the Crawford 30 bucket. Crawford 29s generally have ROMA in relief on a trapezoidal tablet, sometimes incuse on trapazoidal tablet. 29s also have finer style obverses with wider heads. My 29 below.

 

It looks closer to my 30/1 alright:




Interesting that NGC noted it as overstruck - I wonder what it was struck over?

ATB,
Aidan.

 

What a great coin. I've had a shot at one or two and they have all eluded me because of price or at least what I can pay.

 

ROMA - CANNAE

Evolution of the 2nd Punic War CRISIS in a same Coin type

1) Around the Time of Cannae - SILVER


RR Anon AR Heavy Denarius -Quadrigatus - Didrachm 225-215 BCE Incuse Roma Janus Jupiter Cr 28-3 S 31


2) As Hannibal Ravages Italia and the Roman Armies - Less Silver


RR Anon AR Heavy Denarius Quadrigatus Didrachm 215-213 Janus Roma Relief tablet S 32 Cr 28-3

3) Nadir of the Republic - Scarcity of Resources - FEAR - Billon


RR 225-214 BCE Anon BILLON Heavy Denarius Quadrigatus-Janus Didrachm Janus-Jupiter galloping quadriga r 18.2mm 4-1g Cr 28-3 S 33