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Coin Detail
Click here to see enlarged image.
ID:
762989
Type:
Roman Republican
Issuer:
Oath-Scene Gold Staters and Half-Staters
Date Ruled:
225-212 BC
Metal:
Gold
Denomination:
Half Stater
Struck / Cast:
struck
Date Struck:
BC 225-212
Diameter:
14 mm
Weight:
3.38 g
Die Axis:
6 h
Obverse Description:
Laureate head of Janus
Reverse Legend:
ROMA
Reverse Description:
ROMA in exergue, oath-taking scene: one soldier with foot on rock standing right, leaning on spear with left hand, the other standing left, cradles reverted spear and sagum in left arm; Both laying right hands on figure kneeling left between, head right,
Primary Reference:
Crawford 28/2 and pl. II (same rev. die)
Reference2:
Syd 70
Reference3:
Kestner -
Reference4:
BMCRR Romano-Campanian 7 and pl. LXXIV, 21 (same dies); Bahrfeldt 2/14 (same rev. die)
Photograph Credit:
Classical Numismatic Group
Source:
http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=79712
Grade:
Near EF, toned, minor surface scrape above left head of Janus
Notes:
Very rare; less than twenty specimens recorded. Ex August Voirol Collection (MÜnzen und Medaillen 38, 6-7 December 1968), lot 100.The Second Punic War was a defining event in the history of Rome, a city-state on the verge of becoming an imperial power. It lasted nearly a generation and tested the government, the military and Rome’s system of alliances in Italy and beyond. The war became critical in the fall of 218 when the Carthaginian general Hannibal led his army across the Alps and descended on the Po Valley.In the wake of this catastrophe Rome struck its first gold coinage, which included staters and half-staters. They are often assigned to c. 218-216 B.C., when Hannibal was routinely defeating the Roman armies, including a crushing defeat at Cannae in 216, where many thousands of Romans perished in a single day. Though Hannibal enjoyed some notable successes thereafter, the early period from 218 to 215 represented the peak of his achievement.To pay for the war the government of Rome – for the first and only time in its history – resorted to credit, soliciting loans from leading citizens and their ally Hieron II, king of Syracuse. The economic devastation is reflected in the coinage. Rome’s monetary system came to be based on the silver denarius rather than the bronze as, which had lost 80 percent of its weight in the first six years of Hannibal’s occupation of Italy.The Romans produced a gold coinage twice during this war: the early series, to which this coin belongs, and the Mars head/standing eagle gold coins of 60, 40 and 20 asses struck c. 211-208 B.C. Beyond these, the Romans struck no other gold until the Imperatorial period, beginning with aurei for Sulla in the late 80s B.C.The janiform male head on the obverse is often described as Janus, but since it is un-bearded and youthful Crawford is right to describe it as the Dioscuri. The reverse shows an oath-taking scene in which two soldiers touch the tips of their swords to a pig held by an attendant. The man on the left, bearded and without armor, represents an Italian ally of Rome, and the man on the right, un-bearded, youthful and armored, is a Roman. The meaning of this scene – a masterpiece of propaganda – is clear: Rome demonstrates to her allies that the war against Carthage is a cooperative effort.It has often been suggested that Hannibal’s goal in invading Italy was not to capture the city of Rome, but to dismantle its system of alliances. The Romans were aware this was at least one of Hannibal’s intentions, and these gold coins should be seen as historical documents of Rome’s counterpoint to Hannibal’s effort to undermine its emerging empire.
Created and Managed by Alfredo De La Fe
