Well, if I had money, I'd tell you what I'd do. I'd go downtown, buy a Mercury or two. Crazy 'bout a Mercury! Lord, I'm crazy 'bout a Mercury! I'm gonna buy me a Mercury ... I've always liked the design of these semunciae with the Mercury obverse. I had the opportunity to add one to my numophylacium and took the plunge! Anonymous. Roman Republican Æ semuncia, 6.11 g, 20.8 mm, 10 h. Rome, 217-215 BC. Obv: Head of Mercury, right, wearing winged petasos. Rev: Prow, right; ROMA above. Refs: Crawford RRC 38/7; BMCRR 129; RCV 620; Sydenham CRR 87. Let's see your semunciae, Mercury heads, or anything you deem relevant!
...boy you're gonna drive me to drinkin' if you don't stop drivin' that hot rod... ...hahaha.... i couldn't resist the bug in me ear...><
The details on your Mercury is stunning Here's some Mercs of mine Anonymous. 211-208 BC. Æ Sextans (19mm, 5.6 g, 2h). Corn-ear and KA series. Mint in Sicily. Draped bust of Mercury right, wearing winged petasus; • • (mark of value) above / Prow of galley right; grain ear above, KA (ligate) to right, ROMA below. Crawford 69/6a; Sydenham 310d; Ex LANZ
i've only a Greek of Perseus with (the hero)Perseus wearing the winged helmet, harpa behind obverse.. Perseus, king of Macedon,18mm, 5.79gms c179-178BC
I literally LOL-ed when I saw that Alan Jackson clip. Back when it was on the radio a lot, it became my numismatic theme song for a while. But not because of ancients. And you can change the verb from “buy” to “dig”. “Mercuries”? It’s true I was crazy ‘bout ‘em, and I’d scoop one up every time I got the chance! Digression done. Resume discussion of ancient Mercuries.
Does Hermes count? The caduceus over the shoulder and the petasos makes it Hermes, other than that I've never been able to figure this one out: Unknown Greek Æ 11 (c. ?) Head of Hermes right, wearing petasos, winged kerykeion (caduceus) over shoulder / Greek inscription? around chelys (lyre made with tortoise shell) (1.89 grams / 11 x 10 mm) eBay May 2021
SEMUNCIA or Half Uncia Roman Republic Anon AE Semuncia 217-215 BC Turreted Roma Horseman Whip Roma Craw 39-5 Sear 619 Scarce Roman Republic Anon AE 19mm Semuncia 217-215 Mercury Prow Sear 620 Craw 38-7 Campania CAPUA AE Semuncia 216-211 BCE Juno Xoanon Hannibal capital Italia SCARCE Bruttium AE 17 Semuncia 214-211 2nd Punic Nike Zeus Biga Carthage occupation
Nice coins all!.....Here's my favourite with a neat little Griffon. Ionia, Phokaia, c. 350-300 BC. Æ (15mm, 4.36g, 11h). Phokleon, magistrate. Obverse..Head of Hermes facing left wearing a Petasos hat tied at the back. Reverse..Forepart of a griffin springing left. ΦΩKAEΩN (PHOKAEON), name of the magistrate below. SNG Copenhagen 1039ff (magistrate); BMC 101.
Beautiful coin, @Roman Collector ! I very much like the thick green patina on your example. Here is my semuncia - the earliest Roman coin that I own: Roman Republic, anonymous issue, AE semuncia (post-semilibral standard), 215–212 BC, Rome mint. Obv: head of Mercury r. Rev: prow r.; above, ROMA. 20mm, 6.97g. Ref: RRC 41/11.
How about Mercury on a quadrans... Confused? So was the seller, who thought this was a sextans. This might seem like an error at first but you'll notice 3 dots on both obverse and reverse. While we think of Mercury=sextans and semuncia, Roma=uncia, Hercules=Quadrans, etc, these types were not set in stone at the beginning of the Second Punic War and there was considerable experimentation with coinage during the war, particularly at Luceria which issued a number of types that do not conform to the rules that we normally think of. While Mercury-headed quadrantes are overall relatively rare, there were multiple types and multiple dies that used Mercury as the obverse for the quadrans, so it is certainly a conscious choice, even if strange. Roman Republic Æ quadrans(27mm, 15.28g), "L" series, after 211 BC, Luceria outstep mint. Head of Mercury right; above, • ••; below, L / prow of galley right; above, ROMA; below, •••. Crawford 97/5c = Crawford 97/13d; McCabe, "The Roman Struck Bronze Coinage of Luceria and Canusium"(forthcoming, presented at ANS Witschonke conference), T2.2a Ex Holding History, eBay, 4 September 2021
Not a head, but..... Herennius Etruscus. As Caesar, 249-251 AD. AR Antoninianus (23x20mm; 3.74 gm; 6h). Rome mint, 1st officina. 3rd emission of Trajan Decius, 250 AD. Obv: Radiate and draped bust right. Rev: Mercury standing left, holding purse and caduceus. RIC IV 142b (Decius); RSC 11.
