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Crawford 103/1, ROMAN REPUBLIC, MT Series, AR Victoriatus - VERY RARE
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Rome, The Republic.
MT Series, 211-210 BCE.
AR Victoriatus (2.79g; 17mm).
Apulian mint.
Obverse: Laureate head of Jupiter facing right, hair falling in neat ringlets; border of dots.
Rev: Victory crowning trophy; MT ligate in lower right field; ROMA in exergue.
References: Crawford 103/1c; Crawford Plate XX (same dies); Sydenham 117; BMCRR (Italy) 232.
Provenance: Ex RBW Collection [NAC 61 (Oct 2011), Lot 457]; purchased from Ed Waddell in Dec. 1983.
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.
The MT Victoriati come in three varieties: those with straggly hair (which come with either a bead and reel border or border of dots) and those with neat hair. This example is the “neat hair” variety. MT Series Victoriati are very rare; there were only three examples (including this specimen) on acsearch on 9/15/18. Crawford counted only six obverse and five reverse dies covering all 3 varieties of the type.
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).
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