I was a little worried about the fragility of this coin when I bid on it and was pleasantly surprised see that, in hand, the flan crack that looks cavernous in the photo is very stable, and for me not distracting. Roman Republic, Anonymous AR Quinarius, 211 BC Mint: Rome Obv: Helmeted head of Roma right; V behind. Rev: The Dioscuri on horseback to right, ROMA in linear frame in exergue. Ref: Crawford 44/6; Sydenham 141; RSC 3. Size: 15.6mm, 2.21g (1/2 denarius, weight standard based on denarius weight of 4.5g) A few quotes on the time period from Kenneth Harl, "Coinage in the Roman Economy": "In the Second Punic War, the Republic reforged silver and bronze currency into a system of denominations that endured for the next 450 years" "Roman triumphs on the battlefield also ensured the triumph of the new Roman currency throughout Italy and the provinces of Sicily" "Hundreds of thousands of gold and silver litrae of Syracuse, Corinthian-style pegasi, Campanian and Italiot didrachmae, and sheckels of Carthage and her Italian allies were melted down and struck into denarii in massive re-coinages in 211-200 B.C. that changed the face of currency in the western Mediterranean" Interesting to consider where the silver for this quinarius might have come from. A related post on republican quinarii from this period by @red_spork here, with useful references. The coin I share above, illustrates the A1 helmet style referencing this Sydenham table (Hersh p.78) which is the earliest helmet style. Post your Quinarii with or without flaws or anything else interesting...
Thanks for the write-up @Sulla80 , and a GREAT Quinarius! Flan cracks, bites, breaks, etc. really do not bother me. Rather, it is the cool coin that interests me. After being reattributed, My 44/6 became a 68/2b harder to find version! RR Anon after 211 BCE AR Quinarius 2.12g Helmeted hd Roma - Dioscuri riding Cr 68-2b was 44-6 RSC 3 ex Clain-Stefanelli hmmm... I have around 45+ Quinarii, here's a fun one: RR Anon AR Quinarius 211-210 BCE 16mm 2.14g SE Italia mint Roma V ROMA Dioscuri Cr 85-1a SYD 174 RSC33b ex RBW SCARCE
Agreed, a nice coin can have lots of flaws and the same links to history Here's mine that I think is also a 68/2b with C3 Helmet: Anonymous AR Quinarius 211-208 BC Obv: Helmeted head of Roma right, V (mark of value) behind Rev: Dioscuri on horseback riding right Ref: Crawford 68/2b
haha...very true @Alegandron ..the only thing i 've got of the dioscuri (half) bros is this bronze 2 hatter over club of Antiochus l Soter
I try really hard to avoid flan cracks, but here's one that snuck by: and a few other early quinarii without flan cracks; visible ones anyway: Phil Davis
Love those Quinarii, Phil ! Hard to find that flan crack... I see it, but just negligible. Just a super coin.
Augustus Quinarius issued to commemorate the end of the "bellum cantabricum", the conquest of the north of the Iberian Peninsula. A victory or a trophy is a personification of a conquered nation. 13 x 14 mm, 1.65 g; Hispania, Lusitania, Colonia Emerita, ca. 25 - 24 BC Ref.: RIC 1A; Cohen 386; Obv.: (AV)GVST Head of Augustus, bare, right Rev.: P CARISI (LEG) Victory standing right, placing wreath on trophy with dagger and sword at base This coin is off center and has a banker’s mark on the obverse. And with head to left: 11 x 12 mm, 1.49 g; Hispania, Lusitania, Colonia Emerita, ca. 25 - 24 BC Ref.: RIC 1B; RSC 387; Obv.: AVGVST Head of Augustus, bare, left Rev.: P CARISI LEG Victory standing right, placing wreath on trophy of captured arms, dagger and sword at base
Here are a few of my quinarii and a sestertius. I try to avoid flan cracks now as well and have tried to seek higher grade coins overall in the past year or so but sometimes I see a coin so special I can overlook just about any fault such as the Spearhead quinarius below: A fully anonymous quinarius and a sestertius from the "Crawford 44" series bucket that really probably represents multiple distinct emissions. The sestertius is from a stylistic group that hoard evidence suggests is the earliest emission. Roman Republic AR Quinarius(2.17g, 11h). Anonymous. After 211 B.C. Rome mint. Helmeted head of Roma right; behind, V. Border of dots / Dioscuri galloping right; in linear frame, ROMA. Line border. Crawford 44/6; RSC 3. Ex RBW Collection, purchased from Antiqua, March 1997 Roman Republic AR Sestertius(12.75 mm, 1.14 g, 2h). Anonymous, first anonymous denarius coinage series. Circa 211 B.C. Rome mint. Helmeted head of Roma right; behind, IIS. Border of dots / Dioscuri galloping right; in linear frame, ROMA. Line border. Crawford 44/7; Sydenham 142; RSC 4; Russo RBW 176-177. Purchased from Apollo Numismatics(Merrill Gibson) via VCoins, 1/1/2016. Reportedly ex Serop Simonian A Crawford 45/2 quinarius. This is a scarcer fully anonymous emission that includes denarii, quinarii and sesterii all with a similar style. Roman Republic AR Quinarius(16mm, 2.28 g, 12h). Anonymous. After 211 B.C. Uncertain(perhaps Apulian?) mint. Head of Roma right, wearing winged helmet ornamented with griffin's head and three-piece visor, earring an necklace; behind, V. Border of dots / Dioscuri on horseback riding right, each holding couched spear and wearing chlamys, cuirass and pileus surmounted by star; in relief in linear frame, ROMA. Line border. Crawford 45/2; Russo RBW 180; Sydenham 169. Ex CNG Triton XXII, 1/9/2018, lot 787, ex Alan J Harlan collection, purchased from Spink & Son A Crawford 72/4 "corn-ear" quinarius from Sicily. Possibly from the same hoard as the 44/6 above as it has a similar dark hoard patina and was in the market around the time many similarly patinated coins appeared: Roman Republic AR quinarius(15mm, 2.05g, 11h). Anonymous, wheat-ear/corn-ear series, ca. 211-210 B.C., Sicilian mint. Helmeted head of Roma right, V behind / The Dioscuri riding right, each holds a spear; wheat-ear/corn-ear below; in linear frame, ROMA. Crawford 72/4; Sydenham 194 Ex RBW Collection, Agora 73, 3/27/2018, lot 206, privately purchased from Dmitry Markov, 9/9/1994 An exceedingly rare and unpublished variety of the spearhead quinarius, one of only a handful known, most of which are in museums. Roberto Russo and more recently Andrew McCabe have done some excellent work teasing out the three groups of "spearhead" bronzes and McCabe has shown that the more common spearhead quinarii are apparently related to the Sardinian Praetor quinarii, but this is more reminiscent of the style of the Apulian spearhead bronzes. I simply could not pass this coin up even with it's flaws because the style really spoke to me that this coin was special. Apparently even though it appeared in multiple NAC sales it went mostly unnoticed over the years. Roman Republic AR quinarius(1.62g, 15mm, 5h). Anonymous(Spearhead series), after 212 BC, Apulian(?) mint. Helmeted head of Roma right, V behind / The Dioscuri riding right; below, ROMA and Spearhead. Crawford 83/3 Ex Pegasi Spartan sale S77, 1/16/2018, lot 185, ex Naville Numismatics Auction 1, 6/15/2013, lot 62, ex Numismatica Ars Classica Auction R, 5/16/2007, lot 1263, ex Numismatica Ars Classica Auction M, 3/20/2002, lot 2422 Two styles of the Crawford 85/1a "H" quinarius. The first is the more common style, quite common and found in many early hoards. The second is considerably scarcer and not found in any of the early hoards. It may have been struck at the same mint but much later. The H bronzes exhibit a similar multiple-phase emission pattern. Roman Republic AR quinarius(16.3mm, 1.94g, 12h). Anonymous. ca. 212-196 B.C. Apulian mint. Helmeted head of Roma right, V behind / ROMA, the Dioscuri riding right, each holds a spear; H below. Crawford 85/1a; Sydenham 174; RSC 33b; Russo RBW 347. Ex RBW Collection, ex Malter XXX(Frederick Hastings Rindge collection, assembled in the 19th century), lot 1473, 6/7/1985 Roman Republic AR quinarius(2.16g, 16mm, 9h). Anonymous. ca. 212-196 B.C. Apulian mint. Helmeted head of Roma right, V behind / ROMA, the Dioscuri riding right, each holds a spear; H below. Crawford 85/1a; Sydenham 174; RSC 33b; Russo RBW 348/NAC 61 lot 356(these dies) Ex Roma XIII, 3/23/2017, lot 544
I've just realized that our two 68/2b coins appear to have the same dies for both obverse and reverse. A black and white mask of your coin overlayed on mine... Mine came from an ebay seller with this envelop and disc that I hope will someday provide a clue to a previous owner.
LOL, wow! Purdy cool! Mine was in a Pegasi Auction... It was attributed as Cr 44/6 and was in Clain-Stefanelli collection... I would THINK at this time that there we far fewer dies made. So if you HAD one of these, chances were greater that we would have shared dies. Purdy cool that BOTH obverse and reverse are die matches, though! LOL, I see mine is winning the race against yours! Mine is closer to the edge of the flan than yours !
Thank you for sharing these interesting and beautiful coins and the notes on this unusual spearhead quinarius!
