Eagle and Wreath series Æ Triens. 189-180 BC, Helmeted head of Minerva right; four pellets above / Prow right; legionary eagle with spread wings perched on legionary standard above; laurel wreath to the eagle's right, four pellets before prow, ROMA below. Crawford 141/4a (but described in error by Crawford as bird and TOD). 10.22g, 23mm, 3h.
Good Very Fine, unusually complete and clear. Very Rare.
From the Andrew McCabe Collection.
Crawford describes his series 141 as showing a wren with the letters TOD, TO or T above the prow, the abbreviation standing for Todus, which is the Latin word for wren and hence would make this a punning type. However, the bronzes of this series are invariably in abominable condition, and it was not until Essays Hersh (1998) that the existence of two distinct bronze series was demonstrated by Roberto Russo, one showing a wren with the letters TOD, or T, and the second showing a legionary eagle perched on a legionary standard with a wreath before it. The perch and the wreath had been long misread as the letters T and O, but can be clearly distinguished on well preserved examples such as this.
A third variant of these two series consists of denarii only with an apparent raven rather than wren as symbol, though it would appear that all extant examples are fourée (cf. Roma XI, 547 & Roma E-21, 583), and are all presumably later forgers issues. Indeed, the two examples sold by Roma share a reverse die but have different obverses, a rare instance of die linking between different plated coins of the same type that only adds to the interest of this ornithological group.