@chrsmat71 mentioned a turd bid a couple of weeks ago. Turns out I have two of 'em. Roman Republic As, struck bronze, 169 – 158 BC, Rome Obv - Laureate head of Janus, I above Rev - Prow right, TVRD ligate above, I before C. Papirius Turdus Æ As, 24.84g, 31mm, 12h. Good Fine. Crawford 193/1. BMCRR – Rome 796 – 798 Syd – 366 Bab – Papiria 1 RBW - 826 Per Grueber: The Turdi were a branch of the Papiria Gens. Livy mentions a C. Papirius Turdus, who was Tribune of the Plebs in 178 BC. The coin may have been minted by his son (and thus the name attribution). This moneyer produced bronze coins Sextans to As, but no silver or gold coins. Both coins have good provenances. The left coin is ex RBW collection and Elsen 37 in 1994. The right coin is from the Andrew McCabe Collection. The seller's pics for coin #2.
Wow. Before you changed the title, I thought this was going to be a discussion of dumpy little 5th century Æ coins like those of Johannes (which I often refer to as "mouse turds", though I was actively seeking a Johannes once). But that's all a thread of its own. This is neat. I was unaware of the Turdi. Here is a Turdus migratorius, which is all too common around here in springtime. That has to be one of the funnier scientific names in the animal kingdom.
I had no idea robins were called Turdus migratorius! Serves them right. I wish I had known that when I wrote this recent blog post trashing them.
I don't own any coins of C. Papirius Turdus but I do have a Roman provincial coin you might enjoy. Pisidia, Tityassos, circa 2nd Century AD. AE 18mm, 4.78g O: Forepart of boar right R: Tetrastyle temple. SNG von Aulock 5375, SNG Paris 2233-4 Clack's Ancients, list 119, November 2004, lot 136 (Lovette collection)
LOL! Well, now you have fodder to use for a sequel to your blog post (which I read in its entirety, BTW). Next spring you can taunt the robins for their scientific name, which was no doubt pinned upon them by a scientist who'd just gotten his car splattered. (Or, since the naming might've happened in the 19th century, maybe they'd just gotten to his favorite shirt while it was on the clothesline.)
Yes. The scientific name of the American robin is Turdus migratorius. Look it up. I did not make that one up, but LOL-ed when I saw it the first time!
Dang, I want a coin from Tityassos now. Oh, and as far as sophomoric humor involving coins goes, I've "been there, done that".
