An Æ as of L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi

I purchased this Æ as in the recent CNG auction. Like this moneyer's denarii, this type is extremely common, one of the most common bronzes of the entire Republican series actually, and while I initially planned on waiting until a nicer example of this type came by, I picked up this lesser example because it has something that makes it special. The cataloguer at CNG didn't seem to pick up on what was different about it, and based on the lack of bids(I won it at only a single increment over opening, a decent bit below my max) I don't know if any other bidders did either, but the previous collector, RBW, did make a note of it on his tag. Can you see it?



You don't need to know the dimensions to see it but for those interested, it's 29mm in diameter and weighs in at 11.87g.

 

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The haircut?

 

Nope, that is usual for the type.

 

um...the flan "doodad" there at 11 on the obverse?

 

Good catch but not what I'm looking for. That is an interesting part of it but flan imperfections are pretty common on this series.

 

Since I can't see anything unusual on the reverse, how about the gaping mouths LOL

 

Nope - the mouth style is perfectly normal for this issue.

 

As my daughters would call guys they would never date...: "Knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers!"

 

Looks like there might be wording below the prow?

 

All of this moneyer's asses have wording below the prow. But you're close.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb. Is that Victory just above the words Frugi and not above the prow?

 

Nah, forget what I said. I'm just taking a stab at it.

 

Well, if it's the wording I'd have to guess the ordering of it and perhaps Bing had it by the different format (reversal of below and above)???

I give up LOL

 

The reverse inscription looks like "L•PISS" instead of PISO, but maybe the photo or my eyes are playing tricks on me!

 

I think you have it @Carausius

 

The legend in the exergue sure looks like FRVGF instead of FRVGI to me.

 

Correct! The F is very clear and given the style seems to be the product of an official mint as opposed to an imitative issue where these sorts of errors happen often. I haven't found another one like it and Crawford only lists a legend variation of a retrograde "S" in PISO on a single die, so I thought it interesting enough to warrant bidding on.

 

It is an F, clear as day! I'm surprised I missed it. Congratulations on winning this interesting variety. I just won an exceptional example of the common type, which I have not yet received. Auction photo below.

 

Wow! That really is an exceptional example of the type. I hope that when I finally add a regular example of the type it's half as nice as yours.

 

Nice catch Spork. RBW rocked! And Carausius, I love the casting sprue on your coin.