Crawford 039/2, ROMAN REPUBLIC, Collateral Semilibral Struck AE Quadrans

Rome, The Republic.
Anonymous, Semilibral Reduction, 217-215 BCE.
AE Struck Quadrans (38.77g; 31mm).
Uncertain Italian Mint.

Obverse: Youthful head of Hercules in boarskin headdress, facing right; three pellets (mark of value=3 unciae) behind.

Reverse: Bull leaping right, snake below; three pellets (mark of value = 3 unciae) above; ROMA below.

Reference: Crawford 39/2; Sydenham 94; BMCRR (Romano-Campanian) 116.

Provenance: Ex SKA/Credit Suisse (Bern) 7 (27-29 Apr 1987), Lot 656; Dr. Busso Peus Auction 300 (28 Oct 1980), Lot 206; Munz Zentrum Auktion XXX (21 Nov 1977) Lot 76; Signorelli Collection.

This coin is part of a short-lived, semi-libral series, struck collateral to the standard prow types (Crawford 38) in 217-215 BC. The economic hardship on Rome imposed by Hannibal’s invasion led to a rapid decline in the weight of Roman bronze coins, resulting in the adoption of a semi-libral bronze standard (AE As of ½ Roman pound) and eventual elimination of cast coins. The Series 39 types and their relationship to contemporaneous Second Punic War events are interesting to ponder. Hercules is an important figure, appearing on two of the 10 available sides of the series. Likely this is a paradigm of Roman strength and heroism during the War. While Crawford attributes this series to the Rome mint, I believe the types and fabric of the coins are inconsistent with the contemporaneous, Crawford 38 prow types which are also attributed to Rome.

Frequent visitors to my gallery may notice that this coin is a duplicate of a coin already in my collection. Indeed, I recently chose to upgrade my original specimen (viewable here: http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-143993 ) with this companion. The type is difficult to find as well preserved as this specimen, so when I saw this coin, I snatched it up. For now, I’ll keep them both. The pair illustrates the general fabric of this series – well made, conical flans, likely produced in open moulds; flat fields (struck from flat-planed dies); and generally low relief.