Artemide Aste s.r.l.
Auction LII 26-27 Oct 2019
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Anonymous. AR Obol, 320-300 BC, Neapolis mint. D/ Head of Athena right, wearing Attic helmet. R/ Head of horse right; behind, star; before, ROMANO downwards. Cr.- (cf. 13/2); B.-; Syd-;. AR. g. 0.61 mm. 10.00 11h. Unlisted in the standard references, unique and unpublished. F/VF.
About Cr. 13/2, cf. NAC 72, 2013, lot 396 and note. The appearance of unique and unpublished Roman Republican coins might surprise, but a careful investigation of the recent literature reveals that this has occurred several times in the last years. For one example over all, see the Roberto Russo paper on the discoveries he made on bronze (Unpublished Roman Republican bronze coins, Essays Hersh, 1998). Similar findings occurred in the anonymous early series, both denarii, victoriati and quadrigati. Of course, these new discoveries refer to excedingly rare series, produced by one or two dies, which have escaped the careful analysis of Michael Crawford in Roman Republican Coinage (RRC).
We believe that this coin is a new example of such new entries in the Roman Republican coin catalog. Most probably produced in just one pair of dies, as RRC 13/2, this is the only example known to us so far. We fully agree with the note of NAC 72, 2013, lot 396, both with respect to the mint, Naples, and the denomination, obol, i.e. 1/6 of a drachm.
This coin share the same obverse as RRC 2/1, and its reverse is very close to 13/2, the only difference being the symbol behind the horse protome. As such, it might be part of RRC 2 series, with a value of 10 bronze pieces (assuming the usual exchange rate of 1:120 between silver and bronze) and produced at about the same time of RRC 13/1-2.
The reasons of such excedingly rare coinages (also RRC 13/1 was produced by a few dies) is still mysterious.
About Cr. 13/2, cf. NAC 72, 2013, lot 396 and note. The appearance of unique and unpublished Roman Republican coins might surprise, but a careful investigation of the recent literature reveals that this has occurred several times in the last years. For one example over all, see the Roberto Russo paper on the discoveries he made on bronze (Unpublished Roman Republican bronze coins, Essays Hersh, 1998). Similar findings occurred in the anonymous early series, both denarii, victoriati and quadrigati. Of course, these new discoveries refer to excedingly rare series, produced by one or two dies, which have escaped the careful analysis of Michael Crawford in Roman Republican Coinage (RRC).
We believe that this coin is a new example of such new entries in the Roman Republican coin catalog. Most probably produced in just one pair of dies, as RRC 13/2, this is the only example known to us so far. We fully agree with the note of NAC 72, 2013, lot 396, both with respect to the mint, Naples, and the denomination, obol, i.e. 1/6 of a drachm.
This coin share the same obverse as RRC 2/1, and its reverse is very close to 13/2, the only difference being the symbol behind the horse protome. As such, it might be part of RRC 2 series, with a value of 10 bronze pieces (assuming the usual exchange rate of 1:120 between silver and bronze) and produced at about the same time of RRC 13/1-2.
The reasons of such excedingly rare coinages (also RRC 13/1 was produced by a few dies) is still mysterious.