Most Roman Republican denarii have abbreviations of the names of the officials responsible for the issue. The ones that do not are termed 'Anonymous'. This example is in a middle ground. It has no name but bears an elephant head (with bell around the neck) very similar to those used by descendents of Caecilius Metellius who was a hero in the Punic Wars so the standard references attribute the coin to L. Caecilius Metellus Diadematus whose name appears on the moneyer lists as being in office in 128 BC. The general style of the coin is consistent with other issues of that time so this seems reasonable if not a certainty. This specimen is worn and has scratches and other minor faults but is reasonable example of a middle grade Republican denarius. The figure driving the biga is identified as Pax.
I found four for sale on VCoins right now but none my cheapskate nature could accept even allowing fo higher grade. 'Common' is one thing and available at my price is another.
I like the rev of yours over those on vcoins. I was asking how common semi anonymous coins are in general, sorry.
There are really very few (4 or so???) unmarked Republican moneyer coin types after the early years when anonymous was the rule rather than the exception. None are listed as rare. Do be careful that there are many Republican denarii with legends missing due to centering which is a different thing altogether. The only other one I have is this RSC 226 page 8 (which I bought for the scoop before I found better examples of that condition).
The reason that later on anonymous became scarcer is that the moneyers realize how great the self promotion could be to their careers. Imagine getting a job where you can put your name on the coins? How many of us would instead choose to be "anonymous"?
