Thursday, October 24, 2019

Pegasus Pegasus Cast Semis Crawford 18.2

Anonymous Cast Æ Semis, Pegasus / Pegasus
Rome, 270 BC




Anonymous Cast Æ Semis. Rome, circa 270 BC.
Obv - Pegasus flying right; below, S in retrograde
Rev - Pegasus flying left; below, S
VF; well centered, high profile casting, small casting flaw near top sprew, good style, dark brown patina on obv & a bit lighter on rev
140.7 grams
52.7 X 49.7 X 16.6 mm
12 h

Crawford 18/2
Sear 530
T&V 9
ICC 34
Sydenham
CRR: 16, plate 5 #16
Aes Grave: 44
Sale Cat: #77 (224 grams) & #78
HN Italy 280;
Haeberlin page 84-85, #1-100; plate 35, #7-10
Garrucci page 19; Table XXXIV #2
Kircheriano Table IX #2
BMC Italy page 51 #7


I like having some of the historic books on cast coins. I have all but BMC Italy (it is on order).
 My coin is on the plate from Haeberline that shows the coin. Above the coin is a copy of Sydenham's Aes Grave. The top left book is Kercheriano and bottom left is Garrucci.




I was able to view the coin at Roma's office in London before the auction. After a week in London, my wife and I traveled to the Shetland Islands for Wool Week. My wife knit our WW hats.


Friday, October 11, 2019

Anchor and Trident Cast Sextans

Anchor and Trident Cast Sextans

ICC 297, 280 to 260 BC, Central Italy


This coin is normally described as rare, RR. I did not find many examples on line when looking for similar coins. I remembered this quote:
Cast coins are rare. Even rarer are collectors of cast coins.


It is hard to see details on the Seller's pics of the trident.


My Pics are not any better. It is hard to see the curls of the trident, and they look a bit different than pics in two old cast coin books.


the picture above from Garrucci, Le Monete Dell'Italia Antica, 1885, shows ornate details on the trident in pic #4.

the picture above from L'Aes Grave Del Museo Kircheroiano, 1839, shows ornate details on the trident like the one above, but not on my coin. I suppose that could be troubling. 


Greek Italy.
Cast AE Sextans, uncertain Central Italy, c. 280-260 BC.
Obv - Anchor; two pellets (mark of value) across the field.
Rev - Trident; two pellets (mark of value) across the field.
Catalogers who describe this coin say they can not place it in another series of cast coins or guess where they were produced.  
The coin is not in Crawford, Grueber, Sear, Babalyon or several other books. I did not find it in the British Museum on line, but do not feel good about my searches. It is in Sydenham’s Aes Grave book, but not his larger book on RR coins. I found a dozen examples in web searches. Size and weight data are given below.
My coin:
·         41.76 grams
·         35.9 X 40.3 X 7.3 mm; this coin is a bit thinner and wider than other Sextans I have
·         RR. Very rare.
·         Green patina, blackish spots.
·         About VF.
References:
HN Italy 377.
L'Aes Grave Del Museo Kircheroiano; Plate 35; Incerte Table 1 of 5; #4
Garrucci, Le Monete Dell’ Italia Antica, Pg 23, #4; pl. XLIV, #4; see Note 1 


Haeberline, Pg 164, 38 examples; pl. 68, #1 & 2; avg wt = 35.0 to 69.7 grams
Vecchi, ICC 297; 38.2 to 69.7 grams
T.V. 214
Sydenham Aes Grave; Pg 105; #109;
Sydenham coin collection Sales Catalogue: Pg 8; #132 (37 gr) & #133 (43.2 gr); plate IX – X;
.

eem data
Hab data
Eq As
Weight
41.80
eem
haeb
Weight - max
54.30
69.7
Weight - min
33.30
34.9
Weight - avg
45.4
51.0
272
306
Weight - st dev
5.9
13.8
Number
14
38
note that Haeberline drops the lowest 7 weights, I added them back
note I droped the highest weight (108 grams), it was twice the next highest weight
Diameter - max
40.3
Diameter - min
35.9
Diameter - max
40.3
Diameter - min
36.0
Diameter - avg
37.417
Diameter - st dev
1.580



Note 1: Garrucci gave a weight for this coin, but I could not figure it out even with the help of google translate.
Pesa un' oncia e 22 denari (It weighs an ounce and 22 denier)