Crawford 039/3, ROMAN REPUBLIC, Collateral Semilibral Struck AE Sextans

Rome. The Republic.
Semilibral Reduction, 217-215 BCE.
Æ Sextans (24.15 grams; 30 mm).
Uncertain Italian Mint.

She-wolf facing right, head turned left, suckling the twins, Romulus & Remus; ●● (mark-of-value) below.

Reverse: Eagle facing right with flower in beak; ROMA to right; ●● (mark-of-value) behind.

References: Crawford 39/3; Sydenham 95; BMCRR (Romano-Campanian) 120-124.

Provenance: Ex Goldberg 87 (15 Sep 2015), Lot 2084; Sternberg XXII (20-21 Nov 1989), Lot 173.

Crawford attributes the 39 series to the Rome Mint, circa 217-215 BCE. While I agree with the dating, I question the mint attribution. They are among the earliest Roman struck bronze coins intended for use in central Italy. Previously, Roman struck bronzes were generally intended for use in Magna Graecia, while the cast bronze Aes Grave were used in Rome and central Italy.

The types in this series are beautiful, bold and unusual, and, excluding the Hercules/bull Quadrans type, were never wholly repeated in subsequent Roman Republican bronze series. The types are entirely pro-Roman, at a time that the Republic was in dire straits under threat of Hannibal’s invasion. This Sextans depicts the favorable founding of Rome, with the She-wolf suckling the City’s mythical founders, Romulus and Remus, on one side, and a powerful eagle bringing them additional nourishment or good omen on the other. This is the first depiction of the Wolf and Twins on a Roman bronze coin, the scene previously being depicted on a silver didrachm circa 269 BCE (Crawford 20/1).