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Home > Members' Coin Collection Galleries > Carausius > Second Punic War (218-200 BCE)
Crawford 083/1, ROMAN REPUBLIC, Anonymous Spear Head Victoriatus - RARE
Rome. The Republic.
Anonymous Spear Head (First) Series, 211-210 BCE
AR Victoriatus (2.67g; 17mm).
S.E. Italian mint

Obverse: Laureate head of Jupiter facing right.

Reverse: Victory crowns trophy; ROMA in exergue.

References: Crawford 83/1b; RBW 337; Sydenham 223var (no spear head); BMCRR 320var (no spear head).

About 212 BCE, when the Romans introduced the denarius system, they also introduced a collateral denomination of silver coin, the victoriatus.  As evidenced by its different weight standard, debased metal, iconography and missing denominational mark, the victoriatus was not integral to the denarius system but was produced for a special purpose.  While the denarius and its fractions, the quinarius and sestertius, all depicted Roma and the Dioscuri, victoriati depicted Jupiter and Victory crowning a trophy.  Further, while denarii were produced from nearly pure silver, victoriati were made from debased silver of about 70% purity.  Based on the weight standard of Magna Graecia drachms, victoriati were likely designed specifically for payments to Greek cities of southern Italy and hoard evidence supports circulation largely in southern Italy.   

Like early denarii, victoriati were produced in both anonymous series and in series marked with letters or symbols.  Some anonymous series are clearly related to letter/symbol series of identical style and fabric, and it's interesting to ponder whether the anonymous or letter/symbol series came first and why.  This rare coin is an anonymous version of Spear Head Series victoriatus, being identical in style to its marked cousin.  Note, on the obverse, the three loose ringlets at Jupiter’s neck and, on the reverse, the large knot and drape in the front of Victory’s garment and the bulbous, round base to the trophy stem – all these stylistic cues are identical in those marked Victoriati of the first Spear Head Series.

Rome ceased issuing victoriati circa 170 BCE.  Perhaps because of their debased metal (which discouraged hoarding), victoriati continued to circulate in Gaul for many years until they functioned as de facto quinarii due to metal loss from wear.  Their continued popularity caused Rome to later issue quinarii bearing the same devices (Jupiter/Victory and trophy).  

For further information on anonymous victoriati, I recommend Ken Friedman’s and Richard Schaefer’s guide hosted on Steve Brinkman’s website: http://stevebrinkman.ancients.info/anonymous/AnonymousVictoriatii.html.

Crawford 083/1, ROMAN REPUBLIC, Anonymous Spear Head Victoriatus - RARE

Rome. The Republic.
Anonymous Spear Head (First) Series, 211-210 BCE
AR Victoriatus (2.67g; 17mm).
S.E. Italian mint

Obverse: Laureate head of Jupiter facing right.

Reverse: Victory crowns trophy; ROMA in exergue.

References: Crawford 83/1b; RBW 337; Sydenham 223var (no spear head); BMCRR 320var (no spear head).

About 212 BCE, when the Romans introduced the denarius system, they also introduced a collateral denomination of silver coin, the victoriatus. As evidenced by its different weight standard, debased metal, iconography and missing denominational mark, the victoriatus was not integral to the denarius system but was produced for a special purpose. While the denarius and its fractions, the quinarius and sestertius, all depicted Roma and the Dioscuri, victoriati depicted Jupiter and Victory crowning a trophy. Further, while denarii were produced from nearly pure silver, victoriati were made from debased silver of about 70% purity. Based on the weight standard of Magna Graecia drachms, victoriati were likely designed specifically for payments to Greek cities of southern Italy and hoard evidence supports circulation largely in southern Italy.

Like early denarii, victoriati were produced in both anonymous series and in series marked with letters or symbols. Some anonymous series are clearly related to letter/symbol series of identical style and fabric, and it's interesting to ponder whether the anonymous or letter/symbol series came first and why. This rare coin is an anonymous version of Spear Head Series victoriatus, being identical in style to its marked cousin. Note, on the obverse, the three loose ringlets at Jupiter’s neck and, on the reverse, the large knot and drape in the front of Victory’s garment and the bulbous, round base to the trophy stem – all these stylistic cues are identical in those marked Victoriati of the first Spear Head Series.

Rome ceased issuing victoriati circa 170 BCE. Perhaps because of their debased metal (which discouraged hoarding), victoriati continued to circulate in Gaul for many years until they functioned as de facto quinarii due to metal loss from wear. Their continued popularity caused Rome to later issue quinarii bearing the same devices (Jupiter/Victory and trophy).

For further information on anonymous victoriati, I recommend Ken Friedman’s and Richard Schaefer’s guide hosted on Steve Brinkman’s website: http://stevebrinkman.ancients.info/anonymous/AnonymousVictoriatii.html.

File information
Filename:AnonSpearheadVic.jpg
Album name:Carausius / Second Punic War (218-200 BCE)
Filesize:1668 KiB
Date added:Jun 22, 2018
Dimensions:3450 x 1668 pixels
Displayed:17 times
URL:https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=147322
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