Roman Republic Anonymous AE Semis circa 91 BC, 6.19g OBV: Head of Saturn right "S" behind REV: Prow of a galley right "S" before, "ROMA" in exergue REF: RCV 901 I'm using the dealer's attribution at the moment. I don't see the "S" behind Saturn, but I definitely do right of the galley prow. I've looked all over the internet for information about these RR anonymous semis circa around 91 BC. Doesn't seem to be much information. Also, I don't have a copy of Sear RCV. RR anonymous semis seem to be somewhat uncommon. I'm going to be extremely happy once I receive the coin in the mail. I've been wanting a decent one for a low price for some time. Aegean Numismatics was having a trivia where you had to determine the difference between three Greek coins, Lysimachos' in the name of Philip II, Alexander III and the official issue of Philip II. The first five to get the right answer would win and get a $20 credit. Well, I got it and I'm very happy with that too. I got this coin and another from the shop.
Awesome addition, Daryl ... yah, I love those AE Roman Republic prow-coins!! (congrats) I have David Sear's "Roman Coins and Their Values, Volumn-I" and I found the reference that your seller included, but I am not 100% confident that your dude picked the correct description? Ref #901 states the following => S above prow ... => however, your S is obviously "before" the prow and would therefore be one of the many other choices within Sear's book (sadly Gil-g, this section of his book is filled with a few coin-sketches and then merely several other descriptions, but I don't have the skills to determine the exact Ref # of your cool new coin) ... ummm, but I do have an AE Semis example of my own to post ... NOTE => although your seller may have missed picking the exact Ref#, he did correctly estimate the time period associated with your coin ... by 91 BC the weight standard of these semis coins had been significantly reduced.
Nice catch, Gil. I don't see an S behind the bust either. Here's mine, in which the S on the obverse is quite clear. Perhaps your obverse S wore out, or never existed. Anonymous Roman Republic AE Semis 21mm, 8.6g, anonymous, after 211 BC. Obv.: Laureate head of Saturn right; S behind. Rev.: Prow of galley right; S above, ROMA below. Crawford 56/3; Sydenham 143a; BMCRR 229; Sear 766.
Thanks a lot for checking the book for me. I can see the difficulty in figuring out what the exact attribution is based on what you told me. I'm glad the time-frame is right for this coin though. Because I did read something about some of these bronzes being post reform where the weight has been drastically reduced. I'll know once I receive the coin if the "S" is behind Saturn on the obverse or not. So far I don't see it at all. Very nice semis you have as well.
Very nice coin, JA. I see yours is very well attributed with various references. I could not find anything on my coin from Crawford either, online. I have no books on them at all, unfortunately.
I don't either. That's a copy/paste from Wildwinds, but I know Dane is very careful about double-checking attributions from the actual sources. She corrected several of mine.
That's a good idea. I may try asking Dane what the ID might be. I've never asked her to help ID any coin before though.
Just to be clear, I didn't ask her for an attribution. I sent her some images of coins to be included on Wildwinds, and she corrected two of my attributions. I'm not sure she's open to attributing coins unless they go on her website.
I should have said, that gives me an idea. I think there is a possibility this coin could go on the site since I did not see one there.
