Some Bits of a Roman Republican Coin Collection

Series: Victory, rostrum tridens, Sardinia C, MA, AVR, Sicily KA or IC, corn-ear

Some notable coins:
- Sardinian C and MA semisses, both extremely rare
- corn ear and KA as, extremely rare
- early rostrum tridens denarius, very rare and ex Bastianelli (1969, oft cited by M.H. Crawford in RRC) and E.E. Clain Stefanelli collections
- corn-ear semis RRC 72/5, very rare and clearly part of the post-semilibral coinage RRC 42 by size and quality of die engraving
- the Sicilian gold 20 as is same type as Professor T.V. Buttrey discovered under a burnt roof tile in Morgantina in 1959 and used to conclude that the denarius issue started in 212 BC because the building burnt down 211 BC, see my next post.


Crawford 61/4 Triens Obv: hd Minerva r Rev: prow r, victory. Provenance: Peus 355, 27 Apr.1998 lot 197 ex Grandt-Nielsen ex Paul Proschowsky ex Numismatisk Forening 9th October 1957 lot 9 (per tickets)
Crawford 61/6 Sextans Obv: hd Mercury r. / oo Rev: prow r. / Victory / ROMA / oo. Provenance: NAC92 (23 May 2016) lot 1551 English Amateur Scholar coll. ex Baranowsky FPL 1Q 1998 lot 112
Crawford 62/1 Denarius Obv: hd Roma r / X Rev: Dioscuri r / rostrum tridens / ROMA, extremely rare early Rostrum tridens. Provenance: E.E. Clain-Stefanelli coll. ex Giuseppe de Falco FPL 83 (Dec.1969) lot 240 Bastianelli coll.
Crawford 63/3 Semis Obv: hd Saturn r, S Rev: prow r, S, C before.
Crawford 63/6 Sextans Obv: hd Mercury r Rev: prow r, C, struck on Tanit / Bull star above, cf Charles Hersh NC 1953, p.40 no.17. Provenance: NAC92 (23 May 2016) lot 1553 English Amateur Scholar coll.
Crawford 64/1 Quinarius Obv: hd Roma r, V Rev: Dioscuri r, MA. Provenance: RBW coll.dupl.
Crawford 64/6c Sextans Obv: hd Mercury r Rev: prow r, ROMA / MA / oo. Extremely rare with horizontal mintmark
Crawford 65/3 Semis Obv: hd Saturn r, S Rev: prow r, S, AVR. Provenance: NAC9 (16 Apr.1996) lot 574
Crawford 65/6 Sextans Obv: hd Mercury r Rev: prow r, AVR, unclear undertype. Provenance: CNG24 (9 Dec.1992) lot 385
Crawford 68/2a Quinarius Obv: hd Roma r, V Rev: Dioscuri r, corn-ear. Provenance: Dix Noonan Webb (9 Apr.2008) lot 292
Crawford 69/2b As Obv: hd Janus Rev: prow r. / corn-ear I / C / ROMA . Provenance: Peus 416 (28 Apr.2016) lot 157
Crawford 69/3a Semis Obv: hd Saturn r, S Rev: prow r, cornear, S / KA / ROMA. Provenance: Triton 1 (2 Dec.1997) lot 904 Goodman coll.
Crawford 69/4a Triens Obv: hd Minerva r, oooo Rev: prow r, cornear, KA. Provenance: Baldwin's 31 (14 Oct.2002) lot 92
Crawford 69/6b Sextans Obv: hd Mercury r, oo Rev: prow r, cornear, IC before. Provenance: Tkalec Bombarda coll. (8 Sep.2008) lot 226
Crawford 72/1 Victoriatus Obv: hd Jupiter r Rev: Victory & trophy, corn-ear. No greaves on trophy.. Provenance: Vecchi 2 (12 Dec.1996) lot 695
Crawford 72/2 20 As Obv: hd Mars r, XX Rev: eagle thunderbolt, ROMA, cornear at 7pm. Provenance: NAC54 (24 Mar.2010) lot 154
Crawford 72/3 Denarius Obv: hd Roma r Rev: Dioscuri r, corn-ear. Provenance: Ivar Gault coll. (Ostfold) ex CNG e250 (23 Feb. 2011) lot 250 ex Bank Leu & Spink & NAC Ceresio 3 (3 Oct.1992) lot 154
Crawford 72/4 Quinarius Obv: hd Roma r Rev: Dioscuri r, corn-ear. Provenance: Hirsch 179 (21 Sep.1993) lot 735
Crawford 72/5 Semis Obv: hd Saturn r, S Rev: prow r, corn-ear ROMA // S below. Provenance: NAC 100 lot 198 ex Nomisma 22 (24 Sep.2002) lot 62
Crawford 72/6 Triens Obv: hd Minerva r, oooo Rev: prow r, corn-ear above oooo below. Provenance: CNG63 (21 May 2003) lot 1119 ex CGB 13 (13 Jul.2001) lot 2

 

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Ted Buttrey's commentary on the burnt tile in Morgantina and my 20 as coin:

QUOTE In the so-called House of Ganymede here there were found lying exposed on the floor (but under the burnt layer and the fallen roof tiles) a silver didrachm of Hieronymous (215-214BC) and a heavy gold ring set with a garnet. That these were openly abandoned indicates a rapid evacuation of the house; that they were not subsequently recovered indicates that no time elapsed between the abandonment of the house and its destruction. The coin of Hieronymous, which is in almost uncirculated condition, gives us the date; not before 215, and not long after. How this bears on the date of the denarius is made clear with a glance at the sanctuaries of Demeter and Kore. ... In all, in the three rooms were found twenty six non-Roman coins, none of them dated by anybody later than the third century BC. The numismatic evidence then is exactly consistent in itself, consistent with the evidence of the architecture, with the ceramic and terracotta evidence, with the literary evidence and the obviously intended destruction of the site. This sanctuary was purposely destroyed in 214 or 211 BC.

There is only one problem. The single Roman coin found on the floor of the rear room of the south sanctuary - sealed under the fallen roof tiles - is a silver sestertius dated according to the chronology of Mattingly and Robinson to 187BC at the earliest.



In the sanctuary room proper, two Roman coins were found on the floor; one a post- semilibral uncia with grain symbol, certainly third century, the other a second silver sestertius. And also on the floor, still under the fallen roof tiles, was found a small jar - a medicine bottle - containing a deposit of nine silver coins: four anonymous victoriates, one anonymous denarius, three anonymous quinarii, and one anonymous sesterius. All of this clearly represents the earliest silver of the denarius system. These coins must have deposited before the sanctuary was destroyed. ...



Across the agora to the east we find about 400 metres away - that is, in no way contiguous - a private house similarly destroyed by fire, toward the end of the third century, under unusual circumstances. Here were found two coin deposits of some interest. The first was found at the bottom of the cistern, from the fill of which were taken two Greek bronzes, one Siculo-Punic, one Hieron II, both third century BC. The thirty seven coins at the bottom of the cistern are all Roman - one gold, the rest silver - and there were as well several pieces of Hellenistic jewelry in gold and set with garnets, as well as some garnets which had been cut and polished but never set. The gold coin is of the familiar Mars/eagle series, a twenty as piece with the grain ear symbol which is surely a Sicilian mintmark.



The silver coins are dated by Mattingly and Robinson, and by the Sydenham catalogue, to 187BC; the gold coin even later to 167BC. Most of these coins were found on the floor of the cistern, but one quinarius was found within a small pitcher which suggests that it had been let down into the cistern deliberately. Certainly no-one throws gold coin and jewelry into his cistern without some hope of recovery; and that he throws them there at all must indicate some anxiety of mind. ... Here again we have evidence for the existence of the earliest denarii and the corresponding gold at least twenty five years earlier than the Mattingly chronology would permit. ...


If it can be shown that an early denarius was sealed in a Second Punic War stratum, Mattingly's chronology cannot stand. ... Similarly this evidence does not support the conservative chronology [AM: this refers to Pliny’s reference to 289BC, today taken to refer to the first wolf-and-twins didrachm struck within the city of Rome]. The sealed deposits do suggest that the first denarius cannot have been very old at the time. Again according to the conservative chronology, by the date of destruction, say 214BC, the whole range of sextantal bronze would have been run through and the uncial standard would have been in effect for three years. But in the sealed deposit not only was no uncial bronze found, at all, but not even any sextantal bronzes with moneyers symbols or monograms. In short, the stratigraphic evidence is curiously anachronistic if we follow the conservative school, and seriously parachronistic [AM: I just learnt a new word!] if we follow the British school. The answer must lie between. All this evidence indicates that the denarius and the sextantal bronze system came into being shortly before the burning of the city of Morgantina in 214BC or 211 BC. UNQUOTE.

 

Series: anchor, crescent, cornucopiae, apex and hammer, caduceus, Victory and anonymous

Some notable coins:
- RRC 53/2 denarius ex de Falco 1969 Bastianelli collection sale
- RRC 54/1 denarius ex Mario Ratto 1955 Giorgi collection sale. I like that the standard anonymous type denarii on this tray both come from classic old collections.
- RRC 59/7 apex and hammer uncia is the third example I am aware of


Crawford 45/2 Quinarius Obv: hd Roma r, V Rev: Dioscuri r, ROMA. Provenance: NAC78 (26 May 2014) lot 527 ex Hess-Divo 317 (27 Oct.2010) lot 428 ex Harlan J.Berk BoB 91 (25 Jun.1996) lot 287
Crawford 50/3 As Obv: hd Janus Rev: prow r, anchor. Provenance: Union des Banques Suisses 1 (1 Apr.1976) lot 80
Crawford 50/4 Semis Obv: hd Saturn / S Rev: prow r / S / anchor / ROMA.
Crawford 53/1 Victoriatus Obv: hd Jupiter r Rev: Victory and trophy, ROMA. Provenance: Professor James R. Easton collection
Crawford 53/2 Denarius Obv: hd Roma r, X, peaked visor Rev: Dioscuri r, ROMA, flag cape, rectangular text box, Brinkman 17. Provenance: Spink Num.Circ. Oct.1989 lot 5209 ex Sternberg VII (25 Nov.1977) lot 239 ex Giuseppe De Falco FPL 83 (Dec.1969) lot 156 Bastianelli coll.
Crawford 54/1 Denarius Obv: hd Roma r, X, short peaked visor, three parallel visor lines, Brinkman 23 Rev: Dioscuri r, ROMA in exergue. Provenance: Gemini XI (12 Jan.2014) lot 338 Nancy Walsh coll. ex Mario Ratto 26 Jan.1955 lot 27 Giorgio coll.
Crawford 57/1 Victoriatus Obv: hd Jupiter r Rev: Victory & trophy, crescent. Provenance: Tom Cederlind retail 2001 (not in FPL)
Crawford 57/2 Denarius Obv: hd Roma r Rev: Dioscuri r, crescent. Provenance: RBW coll. ex Charles Hersh
Crawford 57/3 As Obv: hd Janus Rev: prow r / I crescent // ROMA.
Crawford 57/5 Triens Obv: hd Minerva r, oooo Rev: prow r, crescent above. Provenance: Triton XII, 6th Jan.2009 lot 463 item B057 AK collection
Crawford 57/7 Sextans Obv: hd Mercury r, oo Rev: prow r, crescent ROMA // oo. Provenance: NAC61 (5th Oct.2011) lot 236 RBW coll. = RBW221
Crawford 58/2 Denarius Obv: hd Roma r Rev: Dioscuri r, cornucopiae. Provenance: RBW coll. ex Baldwin Sept.1980
Crawford 58/3 As Obv: hd Janus Rev: prow r, cornucopiae. Provenance: Astarte XXII (15 May 2010) lot 78
Crawford 59/5 Quadrans Obv: hd Hercules r Rev: prow r, ooo, apex, hammer. Provenance: Herakles retail 2008
Crawford 59/7 Uncia Obv: helmeted head of Roma r.; behind, pellet Rev: prow r, above, apex and hammer. Before, pellet and below, ROMA; third specimen known. Provenance: NAC61 (5th Oct.2011) lot 254 RBW coll. = RBW239 ex NAC7 (1 Mar.1994) lot 471
Crawford 60/1a Denarius Obv: hd Roma r Rev: Dioscuri r: caduceus. Provenance: Harlan J.Berk 156 (17 Oct.2007) lot 188
Crawford 60/2 As Obv: hd Janus Rev: prow r, caduceus above. Provenance: CNG79 (17 Sep.2008) lot 788 V.C. collection
Crawford 60/5 Quadrans Obv: hd Hercules r, ooo Rev: prow r, caduceus / ooo / ROMA.
Crawford 60/6 Sextans Obv: hd Mercury r, oo Rev: prow r, oo, caduceus. Provenance: RBW coll. ex Alex Malloy June 1995
Crawford 61/1 Denarius Obv: hd Roma r Rev: Dioscuri r / flying Victory with wreath / ROMA.

 

Series: early denarius coinage in gold and silver with related post-semilibral and sextantal bronzes

Some notable coins:
- RRC 41/5 variety struck as (there is no struck as denomination in RRC, but there should be) McCabe group A2 = die Russo, Essays Hersh pl.15,1
- RRC 41/7 struck triens, McCabe group A2, a wonderfully clear overstrike with glossy enamel like surfaces, over an RRC 38/5 sextans
- RRC 44/2 gold 60 as: this coin comes from Spink and Galerie des Monnaies (15 Feb.1977) thus its provenance precedes the 1980s Sicilian hoard examples. These coins come in two styles, related to the RRC 50 anchor series and related to the RRC 72 corn-ear series; this is in the latter style and is the 60 as denomination that accompanies the gold 20 as Sicilian corn ear type (there's no 60 as with corn-ear symbol known)
- RRC 44/4 gold 20 as: this comes in the other, rarer, style, related to the RRC 50 anchor series
- RRC 44/5 and 44/6 denarius and quinarius are in the earliest style on especially large flans
- RRC 56/1 dupondius is extremely rare, most examples coming from one of two hoards found in the 1900s and 1920s. It is ex RBW coll. ex C.Hersh coll. ex Glendining (19 Jul.1950) lot 461 Henry Platt Hall coll. ex Hamburger 96 (25 Oct.1932) lot 273 = Hersh Overstrikes NC 1953 p.53,62d (this coin)
- RRC 56/2: excepting this and the dupondius, all the other RRC 56 types are McCabe group G1 or G2: notable about the 56/2 are the excellent surfaces, strongly engraved dies and strong strike excepting one flat area. Sometimes the Romans made bronzes to very high standards


Crawford 41/5 variety McCabe A2 As Obv: hd Janus = die Russo, Essays Hersh pl.15,1 Rev: prow r, oooo, parallel keel lines, Provenance: Titano 2nd series 33 (14 June 2009) lot 83
Crawford 41/6e McCabe A2 Semis Obv: hd Saturn, S behind, Russo cf.pl16.10 (similar obv die) Rev: prow r, I, parallel keel lines
Crawford 41/7 McCabe A2 Triens Obv: hd Minerva r, oooo overstruck on Mercury Prow sextans Rev: prow r, oooo, parallel keel lines, overstruck on RRC 38/5 Mercury Prow sextans. Provenance: Astarte 14 (24 Apr.2004) lot 249
Crawford 41/8 McCabe A2 Quadrans Obv: hd Hercules r, ooo Rev: prow r, ooo. Unrecorded variety with no X on prow, replaced with a dot.
Crawford 41/9 McCabe A2 Sextans Obv: hd Mercury r, oo Rev: prow r, oo, ROMA over, parallel keel lines, no waves, large flan overstrike rev on obv 38/6 uncia - 38/6 obv truncation visible on rev 4pm value dot visible on rev 2pm.
Crawford 41/10 McCabe A1 Uncia Obv: hd Roma Attic helmet r, o Rev: prow r, o.
Crawford 41/11 McCabe A1 Semuncia Obv: hd Mercury r Rev: prow r, ROMA. Provenance: Artemide XXVI (17 Oct.2009) lot 175
Crawford 44/2 60 As Obv: hd Mars r, LX Rev: eagle thunderbolt, ROMA. Provenance: Antiqua (Steve Rubinger) FPL XV 2009 lot 89 ex Spink and Galerie des Monnaies (15 Feb.1977) lot 424. Note provenance of this coin precedes the 1980s Sicilian hoard examples. This coin is in Sicilian i.e. RRC 72 style
Crawford 44/4 20 As Obv: hd Mars r, XX Rev: eagle thunderbolt, ROMA. Provenance: Astarte 2009. NB same die pair as Künker 193 lot 348. This coin is in RRC 50 anchor style
Crawford 44/5 Denarius Obv: hd Roma r, prominent gryphon on helmet, splayed visor Rev: Dioscuri r, ROMA part-incuse. Brinkman group 1. Provenance: RBW coll.
Crawford 44/6 Quinarius Obv: hd Roma r, prominent gryphon on helmet, splayed visor / V Rev: Dioscuri r, ROMA.
Crawford 44/7 Sestertius Obv: hd Roma r, IIS, straight visro Rev: Dioscuri r, ROMA. Provenance: Hirsch 298 (7 May 2014) lot 429
Crawford 56/1 McCabe H2 Dupondius Obv: Minerva overstruck on Janus Rev: prow r, II above, overstrike. C. Hersh, NC 1953, p. 53, 62d (this coin). Provenance: NAC61 (5 Oct.2011) lot 214 RBW coll. = RBW199 ex C.Hersh coll. ex Glendining (19 Jul.1950) lot 461 Henry Platt Hall coll. ex Hamburger 96 (25 Oct.1932) lot 273 (est.125 RM) = Hersh Overstrikes NC 1953 p.53,62d (this coin)
Crawford 56/2 McCabe D1 As Obv: hd Janus Rev: prow r, I, ROMA. Provenance: Stack's Bowers 149 (24 April 2009) lot 2137 ex Pegasi 3 (14 Apr.1997) lot 209
Crawford 56/3 McCabe G1 Semis Obv: hd Saturn r, S Rev: prow r, S, ROMA. Provenance: Baldwin's retail 1992
Crawford 56/4 McCabe G2 Triens Obv: hd Minerva r, smaller bust, oooo Rev: prow r, oooo, delineated prowstem that bends back, ROMA.
Crawford 56/5 McCabe G1 Quadrans Obv: hd Hercules r, ooo Rev: prow r, ooo, ROMA. Provenance: Münzen Medaillen DE 2 (27 Mar.1998) lot 425
Crawford 56/6 McCabe G1 Sextans Obv: hd Mercury r, oo Rev: prow r, oo, ROMA.
Crawford 56/7 McCabe G1 Uncia Obv: hd Roma r, o, short thick delineated prowstem Rev: prow r, o, ROMA. Provenance: RBW coll.
Crawford 56/8 McCabe G1 Semuncia Obv: hd Mercury r Rev: prow r, ROMA above. Provenance: NAC92 (23 May 2016) lot 1548 English Amateur Scholar coll.

 

Series: quadrigatus coinage and related prow and collateral struck bronzes

Notable coins:
- RRC 28/5 silver as (only time such denomination ever struck) = Debernardi Legrand RBN CLXI (2015) coin Ht1/3-9, showing these tiny silver coins were struck in Spain
- RRC 29/4 drachm is ex Frederick Hastings Rindge coll. (see earlier posts)
- RRC 30/1 is ex Superior Galleries 7 June 1987 lot 4293 Buddy Ebsen (Jed Clampett, Beverly Hillbillies) coll. ex Glendining 4 Nov.1982 Duke of Northumberland coll. lot 235 = Rear-Admiral W.H. Smyth Roman Consular Coins 1856 tablet XVI/47 (weight as 100.3 grains = 6.50 grams)
- RRC 32/1 is ex Bourgey (17 Jun.1959) lot 596, coll. Hervé Chandon Comte de Briailles (1900 -1954), wine maker (aka the founder of Moet and Chandon Champagne house) and benefactor to the BnF collection
- RRC 42/1 corn-ear didrachm - very rare and among the better condition extant examples
- RRC 28/3 billon quadrigatus with likely less than 30% silver; Clive Stannard has suggested that this debased coinage may have been the coinage of the entrapped garrison in the citadel in Tarentum and issued concurrent with the first denarius coinage elsewhere in Apulia around 212 BC
- the two bronze seriesc, collateral (Hercules Centaur etc.) and prows, are just beautiful


Crawford 28/3 Didrachm Obv: hd Dioscuri, Janiform, round trunc. (early style) Rev: Jupiter + Victory in quad r, incuse rectangle. Provenance: Künker 243 (21 Nov.2013) lot 4672 ex ex Gorny - Giessener Münzhandlung 60 (5 Oct.1992) lot 319
Crawford 28/4 Drachm Obv: hd Dioscuri, Janiform, round trunc. (early style) Rev: Jupiter and Victory in quadriga l, ROMA.
Crawford 28/5 Libella As Obv: horse r, ROMA Rev: Jupiter in quad r, Victory behind, incuse rectangle. Provenance: Aureo 121 (19 Dec.2000) lot 3 Tiber coll. = Debernardi Legrand RBN CLXI (2015) coin Ht1/3-9
Crawford 29/3 Didrachm Obv: hd Janus, angular trunc (early style) Rev: Jupiter + Victory in quad r, relief on raised trapezoid. Provenance: Freeman & Sear MBS12 (28 Oct.2005) lot 267
Crawford 29/4 Drachm Obv: hd Janus, convex rounded truncation, large head Rev: Jupiter + Victory in leaping quad l, exergue legend. Provenance: CNG47 (16th Sep.1998) lot 1042 Goodman coll. ex Malter XXX (7 June 1985) lot 1450 Frederick Hastings Rindge Collection (1857–1905) collection on loan to Boston Museum of Fine Arts cf. 1902 curator's report
Crawford 30/1 Didrachm Obv: hd Janus, fat face and neck Rev: Jupiter + Victory in quad r, relief on raised trapezoid. Provenance: Superior Galleries 7 June 1987 lot 4293 Buddy Ebsen (Jed Clampett, Beverly Hillbillies) coll. ex Glendining 4 Nov.1982 Duke of Northumberland coll. lot 235 = Rear-Admiral W.H. Smyth Roman Consular Coins 1856 tablet XVI/47 (weight as 100.3 grains = 6.50 grams)
Crawford 32/1 Didrachm Obv: hd Janus narrow head, convex rounded truncation Rev: Jupiter, Victory in leaping quadriga identical style to RRC pl.III-12 = Cr.32/1. Provenance: Bourgey (17 Jun.1959) lot 596, coll. Hervé Chandon Comte de Briailles (1900 -1954), wine maker and benefactor to the BnF collection
Crawford 42/1 Didrachm Obv: hd Janus Rev: Victory, jupiter in quad r, cornear. Provenance: Freeman & Sear FPL 8 (Fall 2003) lot 271
Crawford 28/3 Didrachm Obv: hd Janus, curved trunc. (late style) Rev: Jupiter + Victory in quad r, line relief trapezoid. Provenance: Joel Creusy - Bremens Belleville - Pierre Egbers coll. (26 Nov.2014) lot 78 (dating from 1930s) with France export permit no. 159230
Crawford 28/3 Didrachm Obv: hd Janus, flat truncation broad head cf.Cr.pl.IV,8 Rev: Jupiter with Victory in quadriga r, legend relief in line box, debased silver. Provenance: Amateur English Scholar (not in NAC92) purchased 1998
Crawford 38/5 Sextans Obv: hd Mercury r, oo Rev: prow r, oo. Provenance: Pierre Crinon
Crawford 38/6 Uncia Obv: hd Roma l Rev: prow r, ROMA, McCabe group AA semilibral with waves in a triangular keel area, wing, and club in fighting platform. Legend ROMA looks like ROXA. Provenance: Titano 28 (3rd June 2007) lot 47
Crawford 38/7 Semuncia Obv: hd Mercury r Rev: prow r, ROMA. Provenance: Roberto Russo coll. ticket dated 2002
Crawford 38/8 Quartuncia Obv: hd Roma r Rev: prow r, two lines at rostrum level, ROMA, McCabe anon bronze series AA.
Crawford 39/1 Triens Obv: diademed female head right (Diana) behind, four pellets. Rev: Hercules fighting centaur, holding his hair in l. hand and club in r.; before, four pellets. . Provenance: RBW coll. ex H.Kreindler 10th Dec.1993 with older undated German ticket
Crawford 39/2 Quadrans Obv: hd Hercules r Rev: bull r, snake. Provenance: Lanz 36 (21 Apr.1986) lot 527.
Crawford 39/3 Sextans Obv: Wolf & twins, oo Rev: eagle stg r, oo. Provenance: Sternberg 10 (25 Nov.1980) lot 217 ex Bonmham's Vecchi 1 (22 May 1980) lot 250
Crawford 39/4 Uncia Obv: Sol facing, o Rev: Sol facing, Crescent moon, two stars, o. The globe above the crescent is the value mark, not a full moon or sun.
Crawford 39/5 Semuncia Obv: female hd r turreted Rev: horseman r.

 

Series: early Roman didrachm and litra struck silver and bronze coinage

Some notable coins:
- RRC 1/1 ('nuff said)
- RRC 16 variety with lion left rather than right: no known examples outside Italian museums and none known of by M.H. Crawford; possibly ex the 1854 Vicarello hoard which was widely dispersed, with a few lion left examples
- RRC 20 wolf and twins didrachm ex Pierre Egbers coll. (Creusy Nov.2014) comes from Adolph Cahn 80 (27 Feb.1933)
- RRC 22 Victory didrachm ex Stack's 1971: I have a 19th century electrotype of this coin that may be ex Ashmolean suggesting it may be an ex Oxford coin
- RRC 23 Roma [sic] / Eagle bronze: see article I wrote with Andrew Burnett that included a die study of this series. There are varying obverse symbols, a nice clear prow behind the helmet on this coin
- the two drachms, Mars/Horsehead sickle, and Apollo/Horse, are very and extremely rare respectively
- the tiny Diana/dog bronze is ex William Boyd coll. (1840-1906)


Crawford 1/1 bronze Obv: hd Apollo r Rev: forepart of man-headed bull r, 8 pointed star on flank, ΡΩΜΑΙΩΝ above.
Crawford 13/1 Didrachm Obv: hd Mars l, oak leaf behind Rev: horse hd r, ROMANO on tablet, corn-ear. Provenance: Künker 280 (26 Sep.2016) lot 307 Hannelore Scheiner coll. ex Lanz 40 (25 May 1987) lot 455
Crawford 15/1b Didrachm Obv: hd Apollo l, ROMANO Rev: horse r, star of 8 points. Provenance: NAC72 (16 May 2013) lot 955 JD coll. ex Münzen und Medaillen Basel FPL 359 (Aug.1974) lot 23
Crawford 16/1a Dilitra Obv: female hd r Rev: lion r holding spear in mouth, ROMANO.
Crawford 16/1b Dilitra Obv: female hd left, rarer variety Rev: lion r holding spear in mouth, ROMANO. Provenance: Joel Malter September 5, 1969
Crawford 16/1 variety Dilitra Obv: female hd r Rev: lion LEFT ROMANO, possibly ex-1854 Vicarello hoard, no known examples outside Italian museum.
Crawford 17/1g Litra Obv: hd Minerva r, behind star, around ROMANO counterclockwise Rev: horsehead l, around ROMANO clockwise.
Crawford 20/1 Didrachm Obv: hd Hercules r Rev: wolf and twins, ROMANO. Provenance: Joel Creusy - Pierre Egbers coll. (26 Nov.2014) lot 73 ex Adolph Cahn 80 (27 Feb.1933) lot 529
Crawford 22/1 Didrachm Obv: hd Diana r, vine leaf Rev: Victory stg r, palm, wreath, MM / ROMANO. Provenance: Stack's June 14 1971 lot 62 to Southern California S.C. coll. ex Ashmolean Museum (uncertain deacquisition date) accompanied by an electrotype before 1950 of same coin marked A on edge for Ashmolean
Crawford 23/1 Dilitra Obv: hd Minerva l ROMANO, plough behind Rev: eagle thunderbolt sword.
Crawford 25/1 Didrachm Obv: hd Mars r Rev: horsehead r, sickle / ROMA. Provenance: Spink Numismatic Circular May 1984 lot 2621 (£950) ex Auctiones 12 (29 Sep.1981) lot 259 ex Stack's Knobloch coll. (3 May 1978) lot 31
Crawford 25/2 Drachm Obv: hd Mars r Rev: horsehead r, sickle / ROMA. Provenance: NAC61 (5 Oct.2011) lot 81 RBW coll. =RBW39 ex Frank Kovacs MBS 2 (30 May 1980) lot 159
Crawford 25/3 Litra Obv: hd Mars r Rev: horsehead r, sickle. Provenance: Aes Rude Titano 42 (29 Sep. 1990) lot 46
Crawford 26/1 Didrachm Obv: hd Apollo r Rev: horse prancing l. Provenance: NAC72 (16 May 2013) lot 400 (CHF 1100) JD coll. ex Astarte 5 (29 Oct.1999) lot 393
Crawford 26/2 Drachm Obv: hd Apollo r Rev: horse prancing l, ROMA.
Crawford 26/3 Litra Obv: hd Apollo r Rev: horse prancing l. Provenance: RBW coll. ex Tom Cederlind 31 Apr. 1992 ex Baldwin July 1958
Crawford 26/4 Half Litra Obv: hd Diana r Rev: dog r, ROMA. Provenance: Baldwin's 42 (26 Dec.2005) lot 16 (part) William Boyd coll. (1840-1906)
Crawford 27/1 Didrachm Obv: hd Mars r, club behind Rev: horse galloping r, club above, ROMA below. Provenance: Triton XIV (4 Jan.2011) lot 565 ex CNG75 (23rd May 2007) lot 892 ex CGB 24 (24 Jun.2005) lot 162
Crawford 27/3 Double Litra Obv: hd Hercules r, club Rev: Pegasus r, club.

 

As I've worked my way down from Crawford 200 to Crawford 1, there will now be a brief intermission while I make preparations to photograph and document Crawford 200 up until the Imperatorial era.

 

Bravo! Wonderful coins, Andrew. As a recent winner of one of your coins at CNG auction I couldn't help but notice you have red Ahala tags in the trays and the tag that arrived from auction had a white version of this tag. Do you version control your collection by color coding the tags? Those that survived the purge get a red tag?

Jeremy

 

The red tags are "no coin here" space fillers, colour matching the red Abafils! No text on the back.

The "purge" as you describe it, is likely continuous. I have quite a few coins on the side that don't feature in these red tray photos, bought for study purposes, or from older resources eg group lots, especially bronzes, perhaps obscure symbol or legend varieties of silver, or that don't now make my display grade, and there will always be upgrades, and sometimes I will feel a coin in these abafils no longer fits, or just need to sell a better coin to make some cash. The display groups, as these are, have got to look right and tell a story, being a collection. Not every coin is part of the main storyline, or may be now but not always forever. Consistent experience is that when I pull a coin that doesn't somehow fit the narrative, the result is my collection looks better not worse for being one coin less, and that's one I can now pass on.

Everyone has their own way of collecting. This way of putting together display sets is one of my techniques.

In a small but significant number of cases I regret selling a coin. There's several months between consignment and sale, and moods change. When a sale gets listed, I kinda want about a quarter of the coins back, as in, they would be coins I'd consider bidding on if I saw them elsewhere. But I resist the urge and remind myself of my credit card bills. But each sale has at least one coin I super regret putting up. In those cases, as a path of least regret, I tend to poke some friends and encourage them to get for their own collections. And maybe hope if they win it, that they'll let me have it back some day.

 

Awesome collection, @Andrew McCabe ! The JANUS coins are my favorite. I like your space holder disk with your logo on it too. It would make a great button.

 

Wow I love those! Thanks for the creativity and ideas.

My ticket stamp is based on an actual Janus in one of the above trays. Hint: it's not a silver quadrigatus. The match is clear when you see it

 

Thanks! They’re yours—no charge Making buttons is one of my other hobbies

 

Andrew, Yours is one of the great RR collections of our time, both in breadth and quality. The presentation here is both tasteful and highly impressive.

 

Ray

Am nor sure what am looking at here: these are designs for buttons, represented in 3D, so as to make them look real..

Or are they actual buttons, printed off and wrapped around some metal? They look uncannily real. Lovely in any case

Andrew

 

Thank you Fugio; also, in my postings, I gave leads / hints on coins worth looking or commenting on - the "some notable coins" list in every post. I'll be happy to sense that some readers cast an eye over the ones that I consider notable because in many cases one may not see the same coin type (or a similar quality provenance) in a decade browsing auction site, or, ever, on CoinTalk (given there are many unique or near unique types shown)

 

No problem, Andrew. The first one is just a facsimile of an ancient coin. The other 2 are button designs. The 3D effect is only for visualization.

This is the art you would need for printing.

 

Continuing: Series: aes signatum and ramo secco bars

- The ramo secco bar is ex the collection of Baron Renfrew of Kaimsthorn, a British archaeologist, paleolinguist and Conservative peer noted for his work on radiocarbon dating, the prehistory of languages, archaeogenetics, and the prevention of looting at archaeological sites. The name derives from the design of a 'dry branch'. Such bars are found principally in northern central Italy. An early date is suggested by the discovery of one piece in a stratum of an excavation near Gela in Sicily which has been dated by the pottery finds to the 6th century BC [Gene McPherson, see his blog here: https://rrdenarius.blogspot.com/2016/12/ramo-secco-bar.html ]
- the bull-bull bar isn't in as good condition as I'd like but is solid bronze despite it's fragile looking surfaces. It's difficult to find even decent fragments of RRC 3 to RRC 12 bars. They were, surprisingly, made at same time as the round aes grave through the 3rd century BC, and are not earlier despite their different form. Perhaps they had symbolic uses e.g. as donatives or end of service payments to soldiers, but as fragments are often found in aes grave context, they were clearly broken into spendable lumps.


Ramo Secco Quincussis Obv and Rev: Ramo Secco dried leaf pattern. Provenance: Baldwin’s 99 (4 May 2016) lot 591 Collection of Baron Renfrew of Kaimsthorn, ex Spink 23rd December 1955 (£75) with ticket ex Spink 1930 (£12) with ticket, found Chiusi, Etruria before 1930, possibly ex Chiusi 19th c. finds cited by Haeberlin
Crawford 5/1 Quincussis Obv: Bull right Rev: Bull left. Provenance: ROMA X (27 Sep.2015) lot 638 with old retail receipt

 

series: aes grave: Dioscuri-Mercury and Apollo-Apollo

some notable coins: splendid provenances!
- RRC 14/1 Dioscuri-Mercury as is ex Mario Ratto 1955 Giorgio coll.
- RRC 14/3 dolphin thunderbolt triens is ex
(a) Colonel Jay Dawley coll. (Pearl Harbour, D-Day, Bulge, Upshot–Knothole atomic tests)
(b) Martin Schøyen coll. (manuscripts, ancient coins, antiquities, early printed books, incunables)
(c) Stack's 1969 Fred Fowler coll.
- RRC 18/1 as is ex the Heuer collection and was likely bought from Baldwin's or Spink in the 1930s; I may be able to link it to unillustrated but weight-confirmed coins in the 1930s Spink Numismatic Circulars. Many examples of this series are overweight i.e. exceeding a 324 gram Roman pound; this is 305 grams but a fairly large chunk was lost separating it from the mould. The evidence of overweight examples of this series shows once more that the Romans didn't care much about the exact value or weight of bronze. Who produces coins that are too heavy unless the raw material was abundant and a lot cheaper than coined money?
- RRC 18/3 horsehead triens is ex Elvira Clain-Stefanelli; many of her Roman Republican coins were acquired in the 1970s




Crawford 14/1 As Obv: Janiform hd Dioscuri, I Rev: hd Mercury l, I. Provenance: Münzen Medaillen 2 (27 Mar.1998) lot 308 ex Mario Ratto 26 Jan.1955 lot 18 Giorgio coll.
Crawford 14/3 Triens Obv: dolphin, oooo Rev: thunderbolt, oooo. Provenance: NAC10 (9 Apr.1997) lot 322 (CHF 400) Colonel Jay Dawley coll. (Pearl Harbour, D-Day, Bulge, Upshot–Knothole atomic tests) ex Oslo Mynthandel 8.Aug 1990 Martin Schøyen coll. (manuscripts, ancient coins, antiquities, early printed books, incunables) ex Stack's June 19th 1969 lot 269, Fred Fowler coll.
Crawford 18/1 As Obv: Apollo r. Rev: Apollo l.. Provenance: Baldwin's Argenteum 4 June 2011 lot 11 ex Douglas and David Heuer coll. amassed by the Heuer family during the 1930s – 1980s (David Heuer †2007, see online auction description), much from Baldwin's in the 1930s.
Crawford 18/2 Semis Obv: Pegasus r, S Rev: Pegasus l, S. Provenance: Aes Rude Titano 65 (13 Apr. 1996) lot 64
Crawford 18/3 Triens Obv: horsehead r. / oooo Rev: horsehead l. / oooo. Provenance: NAC92 (23 May 2016) lot 244 Elvira Clain-Stefanelli coll. (†2001)

 

series: aes grave Roma-Roma
Only one photo needed as obverse and reverses shown on the same background. Note for compatibility with the struck coins in earlier posts, aes grave are shown in the same size trays as all the struck coins shown previously - Abafil mignons - though I store them in the larger Abafil diplomats, deep trays, with compartments

This first Roma-Roma series without club is relatively rare, and the higher denominations especially rare: I have triens (ex Bourgey, Paris in 1962) quadrans, uncia and semuncia


Crawford 21/3 Triens Obv: oo / thunderbolt / oo Rev: oo / thunderbolt / oo. Provenance: Eberhard Link coll. bought 2nd Nov. 1962 in Bourgey, Paris
Crawford 21/4 Quadrans Obv: right hand facing / ooo Rev: left hand facing / ooo. Provenance: Nomisma MBS 18B (31 May 2001) lot 247
Crawford 21/6 Uncia Obv: knucklebone, o Rev: knucklebone, o. Provenance: Baldwin's retail 1998
Crawford 21/7 Semuncia Obv: acorn sigma Rev: acorn sigma. Provenance: CNG45 (18 Mar.1998) lot 1104 ex Goodman coll.

 

What a beauty Andrew!!!
I miss your deep knowledge and your always stimulating ideas in the Lamoneta forum...
Come back sometimes
Scipio