Another new Republican coin: Mercury/Prow semuncia

Roman republic Æ Semuncia(5.50g), anonymous. 217-215 BC. Head of Mercury right, wearing winged petasos / Prow right; ROMA above. Crawford 38/7; Sydenham 87.

One of the earliest types of struck Roman coinage. The word "Semuncia" actually comes from Latin for "Half ounce", having originated as a bronze coin weighing half a Roman ounce at a time when an as weighed one Roman pound. This is one I picked up from the same dealer as the Cn. Lentulus denarius I recently posted and I'm really pleased with this one as well.

Today also marks a milestone in my "career" as a collector - it was exactly one year ago today that I bought my first Ancient & Medieval coins, a small bronze of Julian II and a half follis of Justin II & Sophia at a small coin shop in Estes Park, Colorado. So, in celebration of that, I took a quick "Group photo". Individual photos of everything but some of the LRBC are on my gallery(link in signature) but here's a quick overview of what a year of collecting looks like for me(seller/provenance info blurred for privacy):

 

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One word , nice .

 

Nice new RR bronze and nice collection! Congrats on the milestone .

 

Cool republic and nice group shot.

 

some wonderful coins rs!

and that is a fantastic semuncia, i have this rough example of the type...

 

Wow, you've got a great looking collection shapin'-up!! (congrats)

 

That's a very nice Roman bronze! I hope you don't mind but I lightened your image to better show some of the excellent detail, and removed some lint.

 

See what happens when you start down the "Dark Side". It would appear you are hooked. It's like drugs. People say they can just buy one and they can quit whenever they want. Yeah, right.

 

Thanks, TIF! That is perfect. I tried to lighten it a bit but it always ended up ugly.

 

And if you stay long enough eventually you have to start selling to support your habit.

 

Yeah, but you only need to sell off your modern coins......

 

"the first one is free"

... but then the maniacal-coin-monkey gets on your back and demands cash for every additional ride on the ancient coin ferris-wheel!!



... ummm, but we do have cookies

 

Funnily enough, it wasn't my first ancient that was free, but my first one of any value(previous ones had been $1-$10 each mostly, except for the overpriced first LRBC):



I won this in a contest over on the Reddit AncientCoins subreddit by correctly IDing the ruler on a nearly unique bronze of King Midas. Of course, this was the "nudge" I needed to start buying more expensive coins and now I'm waiting for the day I come home to my friends and family sitting around the room telling me how they all just want what's best for me...

 

Yep. Been there. Done that.

BTW, that reverse looks like a skeleton (waiting for them Ancients cookies I think).

 

Good looking coin with nice color