Quite predictably, I won another victoriatus

Today a victoriatus arrived from a recent sale that, by my records, is number 17 in my collection(ignoring a few duplicates set aside for deaccession). This is a rather mysterious and rare victoriatus from a small series that Pierluigi Debernardi and Federico Carbone in "The Ara Basilica and Smaller Vicoriati Hoards from Paestum", NC 178(2018) refer to as "91A". The authors call it 91A because stylistically it is related to the torque series, Crawford 91/1a and its uninscribed sibling issue 91/1b, but there are enough differences to separate this type out into its own distinct variety. About 20 examples are known of this 91A series, only two of which appeared in a published hoard, and there is a similar dearth of evidence for Crawford 91/1a and 1b, so not much is known about the mint location of these issues and the only thing that can really be said with certainty is that it must be one of the earlier issues of victoriati based on its inclusion in the Ara del Santuario hoard discussed in the paper linked above, which otherwise only includes early issues.

Coins like this victoriatus are why I love early Roman Republic coinage. There are so many small, mysterious issues like this and one could spend a lifetime trying to hunt them all down.

Roman Republic AR Victoriatus(3.39g, 17mm, 8h). Anonymous. ca. 212 BC. Uncertain mint. Laureate head of Jupiter right. Border of dots / Victory standing right, crowning trophy with wreath. ROMA in exergue. Line border. Crawford - but cf Crawford 91/1b & see P. Debernardi & F. Carbone "The Ara Basilica and Smaller Victoriati Hoards from Paestum", NC 178(2018), pp 312, type 91A.

Ex Aes Rude Titano 42, 29 September 1990, 71(scan below):



As always, feel free to share anything relevant.

 

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Gorgeous coin! Congrats!

 

Wow. Very impressive coin and loved the write up. I’m brand new to ancient coins and haven’t paid much attention to Roman Republican coins but maybe I’ll have to look into it…

 

red spork, That's a very handsome victoriatus of Jupiter ! Jupiter is a popular theme on Republican coinage. I have a late & very common denarius of Jupiter on a Republican denarius, but it is a high grade example.


Roman Republic. Quintus Antonius Balbus, Praetor, 83-82 BC. Rome Mint. AR denarius serratus, 4.07 gm, 19 mm, 5 h. Crawford 364.

 

I like these later depictions of Jupiter as well. My Quintus Antonius Balbus denarius is a slight bit more worn and one I'd like to upgrade at some point but I really like it.

 

Not a lot of room to upgrade from that one Here's my favorite Victoriatus - a denomination that I only have a few of examples of:

Anonymous, 211-208 BC, AR Victoriatus (16mm, 2.44g, 3h), Mint in Sicily
Obv: Laureate head of Jupiter right
Rev: Victory standing right, placing wreath on trophy; ROMA in exergue
Ref: Crawford 67/1; Schaefer & Friedman, Fig. 13 (skirt, greaves, and base on trophy)

 

This is a very nice example of the scarcer 67/1 with what appears to be some wonderful toning. I have one as well but it's got a bit of flat striking and is missing most of ROMA, in addition to being a little overcleaned. I've been trying to upgrade it for years but it's been difficult finding an example that's an upgrade in all aspects.

 

Great coins! Out of all my Roman Republican coins, I have only three with Jupiter on the obverse:

Roman Republic, Cn. Lentulus Clodianus Cornelia, AR Quinarius [half denarius], Rome 88 BCE. Obv. Laureate head of Jupiter right / Rev. Victory standing right, crowning trophy; in exergue, CN•LENT. Crawford 345/2, RSC I Cornelia 51a (ill.), BMCRR 2443-2444, Sear RCV I 255 (ill.), Sydenham 703, RBW Collection 1313. 14x15 mm., 1.99 g. [Footnote omitted.]



Roman Republic, L. Procilius L.f., AR Denarius, 80 BCE. Obv. Laureate head of Jupiter R., S C behind/ Rev. Juno Sospita advancing R., wearing Etruscan shoes turned up at the toe, holding figure-eight shield [prob. an allusion to the mythological Shield of the Salii priests, or ancilia] in left hand and hurling spear with right hand; snake before; behind, L. PROCILI/F downwards. RSC I Procilia 1 (ill.), Crawford 379/1, Sydenham 771, Sear RCV I 306 (ill.), Harlan, RRM I Ch. 4 at pp. 19-22 [Michael Harlan, Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins, 81 BCE-64 BCE (2012)], BMCRR Rome 3147. 19.5 mm., 3.6 g. (Purchased from Harlan J. Berk, Ltd., NYINC Jan. 2020.)



Roman Republic, Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio, 47/46 BCE, N. Africa, Utica (provincial capital 30 mi. NW of site of Carthage) or mobile military mint traveling with Scipio’s camp [see Sear Imperatorial (CRI), infra at p. 34]. Obv. Laureate head of Jupiter right, Q. METEL around to right, PIVS in exergue (PI ligate)/ Rev. African elephant walking right, SCIPIO above, IMP in exergue. Crawford 459/1, Sear Imperatorial (CRI) 45 (pp. 33-34) [David Sear, The History and Coinage of the Roman Imperators 49-27 BC (1998)], RSC I Caecilia [Babelon] 47 (ill. p. 21), Sear RCV I 1379 (ill. p. 262), RBW Collection 1601 (ill. p. 337), BMCRR Africa 1, Claire Rowan, From Caesar to Augustus (c. 49 BC - AD 14), Using Coins as Sources (Cambridge 2019) at pp. 44-45 & Fig. 2.22. 19.5 mm., 3.78 g. Purchased from Germania Inferior Numismatics, Netherlands, Dec. 2021. [Footnote omitted.]

 

Excellent example, @red_spork , and congrats on the rare find!

I really like the Victoriatus denom... here are a few of mine.


RR Victoriatus after 211 BCE Jupiter Victory Trophy VF Craw 53-1 Syd 83



Roman Republic
AR Victoriatus
Anon
211-206 BCE
Jupiter
Dioscuri
Sear 49 Craw 44-1



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


Even Clodianus got on the bandwagon with a similar design on his QUINARIUS that he issued...


RR Cn Lentulus Clodianus 88 BCE AR Quinarius Jupiter Victory crowning trophy Craw 345-2 S 255

 

My Victoriatus:



Roman Republic, Anonymous, 211 - 208 BC Silver Victoriatus, Rome Mint, 17mm, 3.29 grams Obverse: Laureate head of Jupiter right. Reverse: Victory standing right crowning trophy of arms and armor, ROMA in exergue. Crawford 53/1 // RSC 9

Ex. Ken Dorney

My Jupiter denarii:



Q Antonius Balbus Denarius Serratus. 83-82 BC. Laureate head of Jupiter right, S C behind / Victory in quadriga right, control letter below, Q ANT BALB P R in ex. Cr364/1; Syd 742.



M. VOLTEIUS Mf AR Denarius , 78 BC. Laureate head of Jupiter right. Capitolinus with closed doors , thunderbolt on pediment , M VOLTEI M F below. Cr385/1 , Syd 774 , Sear5# 312. Ref : VOLTEIA 1.

 

Some very nice examples of Q Antonius Balbus from@red_spork , @Al Kowsky, and @Mr.MonkeySwag96 - well struck, nicely toned and well preserved coins! I'll add another one to the pile Crawford 364/1d (control mark reverse below) contrast with @Mr.MonkeySwag96's coin which is 364/1c (control mark obverse before):