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Crawford 13/1, ROMAN REPUBLIC - AR Didrachm
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Rome, The Republic.
Anonymous, 310-300 (c. 295?) BCE.
AR Didrachm (7.13g; 21mm).
Mint in Central Italy (Neapolis?).
Obverse: Head of Mars, bearded, in crested Corinthian helmet, facing left; oak spray behind.
Reverse: Bridled horse head facing right; [ROMANO] on base below; wheat stalk behind.
References: Crawford 13/1; HNI 266; Sydenham 1; BMCRR (Romano-Campanian) 1-4.
Provenance: Ex vAuctions Sale 343 (6 Dec 2019) Lot 155; Pegasi Auction VI (8 April 2002), Lot 316.
This coin is part of the very first series of Didrachms produced in the name of Rome. It was a small issue, with only four obverse dies and fifteen reverse dies currently known. In 1974’s Roman Republican Coinage, Crawford assigned the issue to 280-276, however, subsequent evidence and scholarship caused him to reassign the coins to 310-300 BCE. Later scholars, including Rutter in Historia Numorum Italy (2001) have concurred with this revised dating. In a recent tweet, Professor Liv Yarrow announced that her forthcoming book will propose a more recent date of c. 295 BCE; we’ll have to wait for her book to see the evidence to support this re-dating.
While these didrachms bore the inscription ROMANO, they were not struck in Rome and didn’t really circulate in Rome! They were likely produced in Naples or some other nearby mint for a particular purpose. In Coinage & Money Under the Roman Republic (1985), Crawford proposed that the purpose for the issue was the construction of the Appian Way from Rome to Capua, begun in 312 BCE. If Professor Yarrow's proposed later dating is correct, the purpose would need to be reconsidered. The average weight and purity of these coins is consistent with contemporaneous Neapolitan standards, and the fabric of the coins is also consistent with Neapolitan silver issues.
The ROMANO inscription may have been either an abbreviation of the genitive plural ROMANORVM (“of the Romans”) or dative ROMANO (“by the Romans”) either of which would be similar grammar to Greek coin inscriptions.
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