Hoping to get some opinions on this AS of Janus. Also some more information if possible . My knowledge on these is very limited so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Some of these coins were in circulation for such a long time that they are often found in a wretched state. Yours is a nice example with a clearly defined Janus, a fully lettered ROMA, an easily recognizable prow of the galley and a pleasingly pleasant overall appearance. Nice coin.
What is the thing above the galley looks like a wheat stalk or something similar. Is this coin attributal to a certain family or moneyer ?
It's a fairly odd corn-ear, but might be Cr. 72/11 - http://numismatics.org/crro/id/rrc-72.11 What's the weight?
Nice looking coin. A while back I posted a Unica which had the grain ear and Andrew McCabe helped me out - they were minted in Sicily apparently. Here's my ugly unica: Roman Republic Æ Uncia Anonymous Corn Ear Series (214-212 B.C.) Sicily Mint Helmeted head of Roma right, pellet behind. / ROMA, prow right, corn ear above, pellet below. Crawford 42/4a. (6.36 grams / 20 mm) Attribution Note: Andrew McCabe confirmed this attribution Coin Talk, 10/04/19 From McCabe's website: "The Uncia RRC 42/4 is commonly overstruck on Hieron II Poseidon/ Trident types and rarely over Carthagian bronzes. Crawford says that these coins were likely issued in connection with the arrival of Marcellus and the beginning of serious operations against Syracuse in 214 BC."
Fake (as in, tooled to the point of being a fake). Symbol doesn't relate to anything real and its design suggests it was carved from nothing. It's not just the corn-ear - literally everything about this cries "tooled fake". I attach comparative photos: Sorry bcuda.
Well I am extremely grateful for all the information you gave me. I had not purchased the coin but I was thinking about it. You helped me out in learning from this without the financial hurt. Again thank you so much ! This forum is awesome.
Don't feel bad. If I did not already have a nicer looking Janus As I might have bought it and I have been collecting ancients for decades.
The amount of work put into retooling this coin and the patina is unreal. When I originally started to buy ancient coins over 30 years ago but quit collecting after about 5 years. I tried to stay with the bronze coins cause I felt they were safer than buying a silver coin. So naturally I figured the same when I got back into the ancient coins with in the last year, things sure have changed in the last 30 to 25 years for sure.
