Hi all, I have this RR Sextans that I've been trying to ID. It looks to be anonymous... so I'm having trouble finding the correct reference or dates. Anyway, any help would be appreciated. Also, post your Mercury headed (or other) sextans! 4g 20-18mm I also have a couple rough quadrans that I've had for years that I may post later for ID... I'm not good with identifying these.
Nice Sextans @Orange Julius ! Great definition, and minimal wear...VERY NICE! I covet yours! Here is a Variety Pack of Sextans. Not sure if any of mine would help with your attribute: RR Anon AE Sextans 211-206 BCE Prob Sicily-Katana mintage Cr 69-6a Sear 1211 RR Manlius Vulso AE Sextans 210 BCE Mercury Prow Cr 64-6b RR Anon AE Sextans-Hieron II Error Overstrike 214-212 BCE S1211 Cr69-6 RR Anon AE Sextans 217-215 BCE She-Wolf Twins Eagle Syd 95 Cr 39-3 S 609 Scarce Etruria or Umbria Aes Grave 3rd C BCE Sextans 23mm 25-15g Club-2 Dots HN 54 Vecchi-Th 172 Etruria or Umbria Aes Grave 3rd C BCE Sextans 23mm 25-15g Club-2 Dots HN 54 Vecchi-Th 172 ITALIA Aes Formatum AE Bronze Ax Head ca 5th-4th C BCE sextans size 44.8mm 56g MERCURY: RR Anon AE Semuncia 217-215 Mercury Prow Sear 620 Craw 38-7 RR C Mamilius 82 BCE AR Den Serrate Mercury caduceus Ulysses Dog Argos Sear 282 Craw 362-1
Wow! I don't know much about these but that example is in a much better state of preservation than most I've seen!
5.4g 19mm Attribution: Crawford 69/6b. Date: 211-208 BC Obverse: Head of Mercury right. Reverse: Grain ear above prow right, I C before, ROMA below.
Thanks all! I really like it and would like to get into RR bronzes a bit more... especially by finding some recognizable overstrikes like @Alegandron 's Sextans-Hieron II... those are some great coins you have there! Thanks @Victor_Clark ! The picture from Crawford is exactly the information I was looking to find.
That’s a great coin @Sulla80 ! The difference in styles between our two is interesting. I don’t know much about where these were minted... i wonder if the different styles are representative of different regional mints or just simply different engravers. ...that’s what I love about this hobby, always something new to learn!
Regions, time periods, also a surprising range of weights for coins labelled as "Sextans": 23.11 grams here: https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=2765&lot=1084 mine at 5.4g yours at 4g here's another at 11.75g https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=2765&lot=1092 and another at 32.14 grams https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/61814 All with 2 dots and mercury!
Yeah, since everyone has a LOT of Empire coins, A few of us focus our Roman coinage in the Republic... I like to feel that I am in the Shadows of the Darkside! Or, the Darkside of the Darkside! Most of my collection is dated BCE... that Empire stuff is just plain “moderns” to me...
Haha that made me laugh. “This is the ancient section, get outta here with those 4th century moderns.” I may join you in the Darker side more often, these RR are cool but a bit harder to attribute!
Wait, wait -@Alegandron, let's be careful here...I think everyone should stay focused on the Roman Empire: after all this is where all the action was, perhaps start with the 12 Caesars...Roman republican coins are too hard to attribute, not that interesting, the moneyers are all obscure, and the history of that period doesn't have much modern relevance, oh and if you have one denarius with the head of Roma and a quadriga, you basically have everything the republican period has to offer. Footnote: OK, maybe I don't believe any of that, but I do think we should avoid creating more competition for nice coins.
You ALMOST had me there, LOL. Of all the Roman History, I loved the Republic...because its mistakes, discoveries, strife, etc. was that MADE it possible for the Empire. Besides, I really like the Republic’s coinage as opposed to the narcissitic Empire coins. Don’t get me wrong, I DO, in fact, have 152 of the Roman Rulers. They just don’t excite me as much as the Republic and those entities that interacted (allies and/or foes) with them.
Finally getting back to researching this coin... two questions for anyone who can answer. 1. It’s dated to “after 211.” What’s the best guess for the other bookend date for a 4g coin? The end of the second Punic War? 2.) what’s the current thinking on the mint location? Many are listed as Rome but a few other examples list “field mint” or other locations. Thanks!
@Andrew McCabe has classified these anonymous Republican AE coins in more detail than was provided by Crawford. To my eyes a lot of the categories are hard to determine, and I'm sure that he might be able to identify them better. However, just glancing at his paper, I would be inclined to assign your coin to what he has termed J2, which he attributes to the Rome mint 190s - 180s BC, even though most dealers just assign all of these anonymous bronzes to Crawford 56. The coins in J2 category fit your coins weight, and feature the same peaked deck structure as your coin. Here's an example he gives for a coin in this category, which has a weight and style close to yours. But I could be wrong:
