Coins that show some signs of provenance.

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by osdet, Jun 17, 2018.

  1. osdet

    osdet Active Member

    I have always wanted a snibbed (serrated) denarius, so when in Rome recently I decided to look for one. The fact that a coin is serrated indicates that it must have a reasonable amount of silver and that someone in the past has handled it extensively. I prefer coins that show some signs of provenance.
    I was pleased with this coin as I don't have any Republic coins because I concentrate on Imperatorial and early Empire - so I killed two birds with one stone, sorry - coin.
    I have often wondered whether these serrated coins were readily accepted by merchants, innkeepers etc, as their silver value was lessoned by the numerous serrations. Perhaps the serrated coins were mixed with other coins and thus escaped detection - similar to how forgeries may be passed on today! Anybody got any thoughts on this?
    BTW - what is the significance of CLV on the reverse?
    Image3.jpg
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    C. Naevius Balbus. 79 BC. AR Serrate Denarius (1.89cm av.)
    (3.7 gm). Diademed head of Venus right; SC diagonal behind neck / Victory in triga right; numeral CLV above; C NAE BALB in exergue.
     
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  3. Insider

    Insider Talent on loan from...

    Are ancient scholars in agreement on the reason coins were serrated? Do they occur during a specific period of time or region of the world?
     
  4. Nathan401

    Nathan401 Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

    I thought it was a defense against trimming silver off the edges of the coins, but I'm far from certain.
     
  5. dadams

    dadams Well-Known Member

    Here is an interesting article in which Harold Mattingly classifies and dates "Roman 'Serrati'".

     
  6. Fugio1

    Fugio1 Well-Known Member

    Here is my Cr. 79/1, the Earliest Roman serratus, (Mattingly’s class I).
    79-1.jpg
    Many plausible explanations have been put forward for the purpose of the serrated edge, but the technical process is a mystery. Mattingly suggests the evidence indicates a manual process, where the serrations were applied (by hand?) to the flans before striking, but logically the economy of a completely manual process makes little sense. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of serrati were produced, so some mechanical device must have been used to produce the serrated flans. Mechanical processes by their nature produce repeatable patterns, which would suggest that some of these coins would present identical serration patterns from one coin to the next, but I've never seen a duplicate. I’m unaware of any studies that have revealed identical patterns on serrati, but my research is far from exhaustive. Is anyone aware of scholarship on the topic of Roman Republican serrati production?
     
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  7. Voulgaroktonou

    Voulgaroktonou Well-Known Member

    Here's my Cr. 79/1. I am no expert on Republican, but I believe I have read somewhere the implausible suggestion that the reason for the serrations was decorative!
    2015.015.jpg
     
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