Fourrées & little and bigger birds

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by akeady, Aug 30, 2018.

  1. akeady

    akeady Well-Known Member

    Further to the post on fourrées and the fourrée versions of the Cr. 141/1 denarius, here's an outline, which may already be well-known!

    Cr. 141/1 is a denarius minted in Rome sometime between 189 and 180 BC. The obverse has a depiction of a helmeted head of Roma, the reverse Luna in a biga and below the biga the letters TOD with a bird perched on the T.
    • TODUS or TODILLUS (a diminutive) is the Latin name for a small bird, something like a wren
    • This is also a cognomen, so it is assumed that the moneyer responsible for the issue was named Todus and the bird is a pun on his name
    • In some cases, the bird depicted looks larger than a wren - these coins appear to be fourrées in at least many cases
    I had a spreadsheet of the TOD coins from acsearch a few years ago, but today went and made a new list, of the 36 coins there from 2000 to 2018.

    Basically, I see two or possibly three types of bird.
    1. The wren-type - 30 of these in acsearch, all apparently solid
    2. A larger bird with a long beak - 4 of these in acsearch, all apparently fourrées
    3. A medium-sized bird, not very wren-like, but a bit different to the type 2 - 2 of these in acsearch, both apparently solid
    Here are the three types (photos from acsearch, the middle coin is mine now) - I don't claim any ornithological accuracy in my identifications, but this is the "wren-type" bird:
    [​IMG]
    This is the "larger bird with a long beak":
    [​IMG]
    This is the "intermediate" bird:
    [​IMG]

    A spreadsheet with data from acsearch is https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1y4xyWKnbmxTe0pXin6eIPl8rx8TJAtDplz1nc7TUmAQ/edit?usp=sharing

    Interestingly, in "The RBW Collection", on a note following the as of the series (141/2a) Roberto Russo writes "Crawford subdivides this series into two varieties, however, despite being contemporary, they are in fact two very distinct and separate series. The one above, which also includes the denarius, has a small bird with closed wings perched on the T of TOD for the denarius and the as. On the remaining fractions the small bird is perched on T. The other series, which lacks the denarius and follows, has a large bird with spread wings - probably a legionary eagle - perched on the tip of a legionary standard. Beside, at the same height as the top of the head is, a laurel wreath, whose presence reinforces the likelihood of a legionary eagle. The confusion is certainly engendered by the extreme scarcity of well-preserved specimens. For a more extensive analysis see R. Russo in Essays Hersh." The Essays Hersh article splits the two series and introduces a previously unpublished uncia. Anyway, it appears there are some non-wrenlike birds on the denarii also, but not legionary eagles with laurel wreaths.

    From acsearch, it seems that all four of the larger untidy birds are on plated coins; there are two birds larger than wrens but on solid silver coins, while the remaining thirty coins depict wrenlike birds and are solid silver.

    ATB,
    Aidan.
     
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  3. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    Whatever type of bird, I like your flock. Very nice examples
     
    akeady and Okidoki like this.
  4. akeady

    akeady Well-Known Member

    Admittedly, only one of those is mine (a fourrée - the middle one). I have another "little bird" one, but not shown.

    The main purpose of the post was just to point out that all the fourrées I know of feature larger birds than the wren-like one which was known as a todus (or todillus). Perhaps the forger wanted to be able to distinguish between solid coins and his own work.

    I'll add more to the list and see if any plated examples of the smaller bird type appear.

    ATB,
    Aidan.
     
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