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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Sallent, post: 2680250, member: 76194&quot;]Behold, my Victoriatus has arrived safe and sound from Europe. It is as expected, uncleaned with dirt and hoard patina sticking to its surfaces, yet the metal that shows through all appears to be of good quality and in a good state of preservation.</p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, I shall leave it as is with the hoard patina. No cleaning for this beauty.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Here is the coin in question. Excuse my feeble attempts at photography:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]598998[/ATTACH]</p><p>Roman Republic</p><p>AR Victoriatus, Anonymous, ca. 211-208 B.C.</p><p>Uncertain mint(traditionally, Vibo Valentia).</p><p>Laureate head of Jupiter right. Border of dots</p><p>Victory standing right, crowning trophy with wreath; between, VB; in exergue, ROMA. Line border. Crawford 95/1a</p><p>Notes: Traveling Roman Military Mint in Southern Italy</p><p><br /></p><p>Why is this coin important? What history does it tell? This coin was minted on campaign as the Roman army attempted to strike back and recapture parts of Southern Italy, after a series of catastrophic military defeats less than a decade prior.</p><p><br /></p><p>When this coin was struck, the might of the Roman army laid dead, Hannibal moved with impunity over most of Italy, and some of Rome&#039;s allies wavered. This coin would have been minted to purchase the loyalty and manpower of Rome&#039;s remaining allies in Southern Italy as the Roman war machine prepared to finally challenge Hannibal once and for all over control of the southern Italian Peninsula.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]599002[/ATTACH]</p><p>The men who would have been paid with this coinage were likely from cities in the south that remained loyal to Rome, and would have received these coins as payment for their service in battles such as the Second Battle for Capua, which resulted in Rome&#039;s victory and recapture of this strategic and important southern Italian city, or the&nbsp; disastrous Battle of Herdonia, where Roman blood flowed so freely it watered fields downhill for miles.</p><p><br /></p><p>In all likelihood, the only reason we have this coin was because its owner buried it prior to a battle, hoping to return, and never did. You can tell it never saw much circulation at all.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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