Featured Countermarked Aes Formatum, Dupondius - something you don't see every day!

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by rrdenarius, Jun 4, 2020.

  1. rrdenarius

    rrdenarius non omnibus dormio Supporter

    I recently added an interesting piece of cast bronze to my collection of Roman Republican coins, cast bronze money from Central Italy and Roman scale weights. The marks of value, if that is what they are, are the same as a 2 As Roman scale weight found in excavations of Pompeii - II. The weight, 559 grams = 280 gr equivalent As, is close to two Roman pounds, 654 grams. Only a few of the early cast Asses weigh over 280 grams. This piece was advertised as - Of the greatest historical interest and apparently unpublished. A description of the piece and how it fits my collection is below.
    DSCN4491.JPG DSCN4492.JPG DSCN4493.JPG DSCN4494.JPG

    Roman Republic / Central Italy – Cast Bronze with Marks
    Cast bronze was a form of money before Rome and Central Italy issued coins. This triangular piece looks like it was broken from a pie shaped circular ingot. Two marks “II” on this piece could indicate it had a value of two Asses, or one Dupondius. Some Roman two As (pound or Libra) scale weights use a similar symbol – II. Two As weights in the British Museum and from Munich are pictured below. Similar shaped bronze pieces are shown in Garrucci, Table III. His description is below. Several books show inscriptions on cast bronze. Some bronze pieces with inscriptions from my collection are shown below.
    559.0 grams
    67x65x31 mm.
    Good VF, RRRR
    DSCN4498.JPG

    Aes Rude / bars with marks clockwise: crescent & + (centering mark), + (no centering mark), II

    DSCN0171.JPG

    Picture shows an Aes Rude, 30 grams, with crescent and + (note the centering dot) from Garrucci Table LXVII. My aes rude pieces have +/C and +.

    DSCN1733.JPG
    Aes Signatum fragment with incuse symbol, C or crescent moon; 22.39 grams; 25.29 X 23.36 X 6.5 mm

    20190924_130931.jpg

    Picture of 1st century Roman scale weights from British Museum. The one on the right used the symbol II for 2 #.

    rrdenarius Cast Bronze Collection, 6/1/2020
    DSCN4509.JPG

    You can see more details on my blog -
    http://rrdenarius.blogspot.com/

    Post something you have that is unpublished. This Countermarked Aes Formatum, Dupondius is not unpublished now!
     
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  3. ominus1

    ominus1 Well-Known Member

    ...would my memoirs count?!?...:p..kool piece rr...:)
     
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  4. akeady

    akeady Well-Known Member

    This is a minor unpublished piece which is in my mind as I photographed it finally last week - a Domitian As. The IOVI CONSERVATORI reverse legend isn't in RIC for this year, just IOVI CONSERVAT. The longer version is associated with the previous year's coins, so it could be described as a mule of RIC 301 (Obv.) and RIC 229 (Rev.).

    Obv. IMP CAES DOMITIAN AVG GERM COS XI - Laureate head right with aegis
    Rev. IOVI CONSERVATORI - Jupiter standing facing, head left, holding thunderbolt and sceptre
    [​IMG]
    Mint: Rome (85 AD)
    Wt./Size/Axis: 10.04g / 28mm / 6h
    References:
    • cf. RIC 219 (COS X)
    • cf. RIC 301 (IOVI CONSERVAT)
    Provenances:
    • Ex. Frank Robinson ca. 1990
    Acquisition/Sale: Mark Lehman AP Auction 10-Aug-2014
    Notes: May 31, 20 - This is a mule of the reverse of RIC 219 (COS X obverse) and the later COS XI obverse of RIC 301 (which has a reverse legend IOVI CONSERVAT).

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    ATB,
    Aidan.
     
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  5. thejewk

    thejewk Well-Known Member

    Your collection is enviable, and your new addition is a superb one! Well done.
     
  6. rrdenarius

    rrdenarius non omnibus dormio Supporter

    Interesting coin Aidan. It looks like it circulated for a while. I wonder how long it circulated after his death.
     
  7. robinjojo

    robinjojo Well-Known Member

    A very impressive collection!
     
  8. akeady

    akeady Well-Known Member

    I don't know - it may have received a blow from a hammer at some stage, which has flattened both sides. I got around to photographing a lot of 7 Domitian asses last week, some of which had damnatio memoriae marks on the heads, so this one got away lightly if it circulated for long after Domitian's death.

    You have an impressive collection of heavyweights, in all the meanings. I need to add some of those to my RR collection.

    ATB,
    Aidan.
     
  9. eparch

    eparch Well-Known Member

    Post something you have that is unpublished. [/QUOTE]

    A most interesting post, and I shall look forward to checking out your blog. I believe these two may be unpublished .Comments appreciated .

    upload_2020-6-5_13-17-54.png
    upload_2020-6-5_13-18-6.png
    Cocoon-shaped AE cast Aes Formatum, Central Italy, 6th-4th centuries BC.


    Unlisted in the standard references and apparently unpublished; Vecchi ICC- (cf."Bronze objects found with Aes Rude and early currency bars in Central Italy", p. 76 and pl. 90)

    AE. g. 47.74 mm. 64.00

    RRRR. Untouched earthen emerald-green patina.

    For the depiction of a cocoon on a cast Uncia cf. Vecchi ICC 312.


    upload_2020-6-5_13-22-7.png
    upload_2020-6-5_13-22-16.png


    Aes Premonetale.

    AE Cast Ingot, decorated with rosette in incuse square.
    Central Italy, 4th-3rd century BC.

    AE. g. 52.72 mm. 0.55 RR. mm. 28x18x17.
     
  10. Ryro

    Ryro Trying to remove supporter status

    RR denar, you always have the coolest pieces:woot::wideyed:
    Here is a coin that I cannot find anywhere.
    It's a teeny half piece to the regular Antigonus ll\lll monogram shield coin with very unusual grain ears flanking the helmet instead of the usual tufts. (Sorry fouree the side ways obverse)
    20200112_113110_IMG_4212.PNG
    Antigonos II
    Gonatas/Antigonus III Doson
    Æ (13mm, 1.8 g,1/2 unit).
    Uncertain Macedonian mint.
    Macedonian shield with
    monogram of Antigonos in
    central boss / Macedonian
    helmet sans bushel flanked by
    grain ears ; kerykeion to left,
    green patina.
    Possibly singular for the type
     
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  11. red_spork

    red_spork Triumvir monetalis

    These were all unpublished when I purchased them but are no longer. I have a few others completely unpublished but you will have to wait for those. I suggest if you think you have an unpublished coin, talk to the people who would be researching those types and varieties and either publish it yourself or provide them with the necessary information(provenance, metrics, photos, etc.). Alternatively, you might find out your unpublished coin isn't completely unpublished, and that's good too.

    A variety of the Q victoriatus with Q on shield and in field. Not in Crawford or any of the major published RR collections
    102q.jpg
    Roman Republic AR Victoriatus(2.87g, 16mm, 2h), "Q" series. 209-208 B.C., Apulian(Luceria?) mint. Laureate head of Jupiter right. Border of dots / Victory standing right, crowning trophy with wreath; on trophy shield, Q; Q between. ROMA in exergue. Line border. Crawford 102/1 var(style & Q on shield). Cf. "A Large Hoard of Roman Republican Victoriati", Pierluigi Debernardi and Steve Brinkman, NC 2019(173) for discussion of "102Q" variety.
    Purchased via eBay auction, 26 August 2019, ex Diana Numismatica, Rome, Italy and reportedly ex private Italian collection circa 2012

    A new legend variety of the as of L Calpurnius Piso Frugi which reads FRVGF below the prow. One other example known in the ANS which was not previously described as a variety until I purchased this one and then realized theirs was a die match, thus confirming that it was part of the die and not the result of tooling or corrosion
    cr340.4-var-FRVGF-backgroundtouchedup-1200.JPG
    Roman Republic Æ as(29mm, 11.87 g, 4h). L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi, moneyer, 90 B.C. Rome mint. Laureate head of bearded Janus; I above / Prow of galley right, on which stands Victory; above, L PISO; below, FRVGF. Crawford 340/4 var(FRVGF reverse legend); Sydenham 677 var; BMCRR Rome 2179-2185 var; Russo RBW 1270 var.
    Ex RBW Collection, purchased from V. C. Vecchi, 11/30/1985

    A solid silver example of a denarius of M Aemilius Scaurus and P Plautius Hypsaeus combining the obverse of Cr. 422/1a(AED CVR in exergue and no REX ARETAS) and the reverse of Cr. 422/1b(scorpion below horses). Babelon published this variety over 100 years ago but was only able to illustrate it with plated examples, which lead to it being considered unofficial and as such was rejected from the standard works including Crawford. Richard Schaefer and I, in "A Doubted Variety of M Aemilius Scaurus and P Plautius Hypsaeus Vindicated"(Koinon I, 2018), argued that this was indeed an official variety, evidenced by the fact this coin is good silver(SG=10.41), that a few other examples we discovered in the sales record appear to have reasonable weights and no signs of plating, and that we were able to find die links between these examples and normal examples of Cr. 422/1a and 422/1b. We believe these good silver examples were created during the short transition period to the new dies.
    Cr422.1-.jpg
    Roman Republic AR denarius(3.80g, 18.31mm). M. Aemilius Scaurus and P. Plautius Hypsaeus, 58 BC, Rome mint. Camel right; before, kneeling figure, holding reins in left hand and olive-branch tied with fillet in right hand; above, M SCAVR; on either side, EX SC; below, AED CVR. Border of dots / Jupiter in quadriga left, holding reins in left hand and hurling thunderbolt with right hand, ; above, P HVPSAEVS; AED CVR in two lines. Below, C HVPSAE COS; PREIVER in two lines. On right, CAPTVM upwards. Border of dots. Crawford 422/1-(obverse 422/1a, reverse 422/1b), cf. Bahrfeldt, Nachtrage i, pl. I, 9
     
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