References for Roman Republican coins

I bought my first Roman coin in the 8^th grade. It was a Gallienus with a stag reverse, see below. I bought my second ancient coin after my children graduated from college, about 31 years later. It took some time to decide a collecting area. I became a Friend of the Rice library. They have an excellent selection of ancient coin books. I remember working hard to get the right RIC # for several 3^rd century coins. When I decided to concentrate on RR coins, I started buying books. For the first couple of years, I spent about as much on books as I did on coins. I have the following list and a few more. My thoughts on references for collectors of Roman Republican coins and pre-coin money are:

·         Roman Republican Coinage, Michael Crawford, 1974, two volumes. This is the standard reference and by far the best book on the subject.

o   Crawford has several other books that should be added later.

·         Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum, H. A. Grueber, 1910 (reprinted in 1970), three volumes. Lots of interesting facts / stories to go with descriptions of the coins. I use Grueber for history and stories to supplement the information in Crawford. A good companion for this book is the British Museum web site listing of their coins. http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/publications/online_research_catalogues/rrc/roman_republican_coins.aspx

·         The History and Coinage of the Roman Imperators 49 – 27 BC, David R Sear, 1998. The go to book for the Imperatorial period.

·         Italian Cast Coinage, Bradbury Thurlow and Italo Vecchi, 1979. The go to book for cast Roman Republican / Italian coins.

o   Italian Cast Coinage, Italo Vecchi, 2013. Revised with some new information and better pictures.

·         Roman Coins and their Values (Republic and 12 Caesars), David R Sear, 2000 (older versions can be found for lower prices). One of the Sear books is a good starting place for a new collector.

·         Roman Silver Coins, Volume I, Republic to Augustus, H A Seaby, 1967. Later publications are by David R Sear. I have an older version because it was $10.

·         The Coinage of the Roman Republic, Edward A Sydenham, 1952 (reprinted in 1975 & 1995). Sydenham numbers are still found in many auctions.

o   Aes Grave, Edward A Sydenham, 1926. An excellent reference, but not available and a bit pricey.

o   Collection of E A Sydenham, Aes Grave … This 1974 reprint of a 1928 auction catalog written in French has some excellent pictures. I am reminded that being mono-lingual is a problem when collecting coins produced in Europe.

·         Coins of the Roman Republic in the National Museum of Warsaw, Janina Wiercinska, 1996. I used this book a lot when I started collecting. It lists many of the common RR coins and has good pictures. It was helpful before pictures became more available on the internet. If I ran across a coin that did not have an attribution, I would start with this book.

·         http://www.acsearch.info/ This web site lists coins sold by over 100 companies. The pictures are exceptional. A good fraction of the coins are high end and the prices are thus skewed. You need to have a good guess to start searching, or finding something in 2.5 million files can be overwhelming.

·         http://www.cngcoins.com/Coins_sold.aspx CNG has sold ancient coins for many years and has a good archive. I have trouble at times making their search engine work.

·         http://www.deamoneta.com/history_search/index This is a smaller auction site, but has excellent archives. Cost to subscribe is modest.

·         http://stevebrinkman.ancients.info/anonymous/#H75-1c This web site shows how to differentiate anonymous denarius by Crawford number.

·         http://stevebrinkman.ancients.info/anonymous/AnonymousVictoriatii.html  This web site shows how to differentiate anonymous Victoraiti by Crawford number.

·         Essays in Honour of Roberto Russo, Ed. By P G van Alfen & R B Witschonke, 2013. Chapter IX by Andrew McCabe gives a provisional arrangement of struck anonymous bronze coins.

·         Aes Grave, E J Haeberlin, 1910, two volumes. An excellent resource, but is expensive and not very available. Reprints can be found at http://www.fornieditore.com The book can be downloaded online at http://gallica.bnf.fr/Search?ArianeWireIndex=index&p=1&lang=FR&q=Haeberlin

·         Le Monete dell’Italia antica, Raffaele Garrucci, 1885. Garrucci. I looked for this book because several pre-coin pieces (cast bars, aes rude, etc.) were described using plates from this book. The book is old, large and not very available. But… it can be downloaded online https://archive.org/details/lemonetedellital00garr

·         An excellent web site on Roman Republican Coins and Books by Andrew McCabe  http://andrewmccabe.ancients.info/ Be careful, I think this web site is the entry point for a black hole. I enter the site looking for a single piece of information and hours later I emerge better informed, but also dazed and confused. 

My Gallienus coin was similar to one listed by Forum Ancient Coins:

A couple of recent additions thanks to NAC. I will add more information as time allows.

 Denarius, Cr 89/2

Quinarius, Cr85/1a

A Few Cast Bronze Pieces

Anonymous Cast Sextans, Tortoise

Rome, 230 BC, TV-35, Cr 24/7

Anonymous Cast Semis, Post Semilibral

Rome, 215 – 212 BC, Cr 41/6, TV 71

This coin is only 20 grams, lower than the lowest specimen sited in T&V (22 gr). 

Aes Formatum - Cockle-shell

Central Italy, 5th-3rd century BC

 

Cast AE Uncia, Astragalus Club

Rome, with mintmark, Cr 27/10 260 BC

  

Anonymous, Cast Sextans

Shell and Caduceus

Rome, 280-276 BC; Cr 14/5; TV 5

I obtained these recently. The cast shell is similar to the one shown on the coin, but is "dated" earlier. The cast shell may have been used in trade, or cast as an artistic piece.  

I bought this lot of  aes signatum before the two pieces above. One of the pieces is a fraction of  a cast shell / caduceus, TV5, coin.

Roman Republic Cast Triens, "heavy" Janus-Mercury series, 289 - 245 BC, Thunderbolt; on either side two pellets. Rev. Dolphin swimming r.; below, four pellets. Cr 14/3, H pl. 39, 10. Syd. 38. TV 3.

I have a few more to post when time allows. I have moved my Roman Republican collection from mostly silver denarii to some struck bronze and older pieces like aes rude, aes formatum and aes grave. I have avoided the Imperatorial period due to the higher cost.

Italian Coin Import Restrictions - Request For Your Help

I received two e-mail requests this week asking for input on import restrictions on ancient coins entering the US from Italy. All US ancient collectors should consider the following request from Ed Waddell -

Italian Coin Import Restrictions - Request For Your Help


Dear Client,

The M.O.U. (Memorandum of Understanding) between the United States and Italy that restricts the import of certain Italian coins without provenance is now up for its five year review and renewal at the U.S. State Department.  If you wish to register a comment to the appropriate committee in order to protect your rights as an American Collector, you may do so through the link below.   The deadline for the submission of all comments is MARCH 20, 2015 at 11:59 PM.

If the M.O.U. is extended, Americans will still be able to actively pursue collecting Roman coins, but the number of coins available for import will continue to be limited to those with sufficient pedigrees.  This limitation tends to add costs and precludes certain coins from reaching American collectors that can be freely collected elsewhere.   

Currently in place since January 2011 are restrictions regarding the import of Greek coins struck in Italy, Punic coins, Etruscan coins, and Republican coins struck prior to 211 B.C.  This M.O.U. also covers Italian artifacts.  There is however reason to believe that the current renewal will also seek to restrict late Republican and Roman Imperial coins.  The current restrictions have already made it difficult to import such coins legally, and many cannot be imported at all due to lack of paperwork.  New restrictions on late Republican and Roman Imperial coins would raise the same issues.  This would be an unwelcome and unjustified extension of the regulations, particularly due to the fact that so many Roman coins of this later period traveled widely in antiquity. Therefore, Italy has no legitimate claim for their repatriation.  In fact, an academic study submitted to the 2010 committee considering the current Italian M.O.U. lists 39 modern countries where Roman coins have been found. 

Italian Finds Report 

The other important point to stress is that many Roman coins that have been in collections for decades or even centuries do not have published or preserved pedigrees.  This is due to their low value in the past and the relatively high cost of photographing coins in the older catalogs.  Thus, both the current regulation which is up for review and especially any extension to cover later Republican and Roman Imperial coins is extremely unfair to American coin collectors who are engaged in the study and preservation of the coins.  For more information on the background of this restriction, please see:http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2015/02/enough-already-oppose-yet-another.html by Peter Tompa, a cultural property attorney who is representing the professional coin dealer organizations (IAPN and PNG) in this matter.

If you wish to register a comment prior to the March 20 deadline, you may do so by copying this to your browserhttp://www.regulations.gov#!documentDetail;D=DOS-2015-0010-0001.  Even though we have had limited success in the past with submitting comments, we have  achieved some limitations on import restrictions.  Our silence would be construed as complete acquiescence.  

Please note that your comments will be listed on the public web site of the State Department and there is no expectation of privacy, however you are not required to list your contact information.     

It is best to comment in your own words, but you may freely use or adapt the following: 

"Dear CPAC:

Enough is enough. This MOU should be allowed to lapse. Its negative impacts on collecting and the appreciation of Italian culture and people to people contacts, collecting brings now far outweigh any benefits. At a minimum, please free all ancient coins from restriction. Such coins are openly and legally available for sale worldwide, including within Italy itself. It makes absolutely no sense to continue to restrict American access to what Italians themselves have enjoyed since the Renaissance. Finally, please do not recommend new restrictions on Roman Imperial Coins. As the products of a great empire, these coins circulated throughout Europe, the Middle East and beyond. They "belong" not to Italy, but to us all."

Thank you for your assistance in our attempt to keep open the ability to import all Roman coins.  

Ed Waddell

A link to the ACCG is:
http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2015/02/enough-already-oppose-yet-another.html

Plumb Bobs on Roman Republican Coins

I recently purchased a plumb bob from a site that normally sells ancient coins. The piece was described as, "Roman bronze bilder weight II Cent A.D." I am an engineer and thought the pumb bob would fit in well in my office.
About the same time, I saw a coin of L Papius, Cr 384/1, that used a plumb bob as a die marker. The plumb bob on the coin looked nothing like the one I bought. The symbol on the obverse is a plumb bob. The symbol on the reverse is a Roman Level with a plumb bob in the center. Place the A frame on a wall and the top of the wall is level when the plumb bob hits its mark.

I did a bit of looking on line and found a plumb bob web site run by Wolf Ruecker, or Plumb Bob Wolf - plumbbobcollectors.info. Turns out mine is an Ottoman plumb bob. Wolf was interested in the plumb bob on the L Papius coin. I said I would look for similar die markers. I found them on two more coin types - M. Volteius Cr 385/3 and Cr 385/4, see below.

Triton IX, Lot: 1291

British Museum on line 

I found another level on a coin by M. Plaetorius M.f. Cestianus, 67 BC, Cr 409/2. The coin is in the British Museum. They have not identified the symbol. I sent them the note below suggesting they call the symbol a level.

British Museum on line

Hello from El Lago, Texas.

I have identified the symbol on your roman Republican coin: 409.2.42, a Roman Republican denarius of M. Plaetorius M.f. Cestianus, 67 BC, Cr 409/2. The symbol is a Roman Level with a plumb bob in the center. An example of the level on your coin and in a picture is below.

Greek Numbers on coins of M·VOLTEI·M·F

 M·VOLTEI·M·F

Marcus Volteius M.f.

AR Denarius. Rome, 75 BC. Crawford 385/4

M. Volteius M.f. AR Denarius. Rome, 75 BC.

Obverse - Laureate, helmeted, and draped bust of Attis right; thunderbolt behind, control symbol

Reverse - Cybele driving biga of lions right; ΞΒ above - control number (in Greek letters); in ex - M·VOLTEI·M·F

Crawford 385/4; Sydenham 777; Volteia 4. 3.87g, 18mm, 8h. Good Very Fine. Scarce.

There is some disagreement on the identity of the person on the obverse.

Grueber in BMCRR – Mommsen said, Attis, the beautiful Phrygian shepherd who was beloved by Cybele and had a cult following in Asia Minor. Cavedoni said, it is Corybas, son of Cybele.

Sydenham and Seaby quote Grueber.

Crawford and Sear say bust right. Crawford gives at least 3 probabilities.

RBW Collection – this attribution says female head, R.

Volteius minted five types. The theme of the five types relate to the five major celebrations in Rome. This issue has control symbols on the obverse and numbers (Greek letters) on the reverse. Crawford states that the obverse control symbol is always paired with the same reverse control number. He gives a table of 85 symbol / number combinations. He has symbols for all but 13 numbers. The British museum web site has 42 different symbols. I found examples of all but 28 symbols on line plus one not listed in Crawford. I found two examples of die number symbol combinations where the pairing was different than Crawford. A table of my findings is below.

#	Greek Number	Obverse Control Mark	BMC web site #, acsearch.info (ACS), deamoneta.com (DEA), CNG, EEM, OS - other source	number found
1	Α			0
2	Β	Winged caduceus	385.4.1, .2, ACS,	3
3	Γ	Crescent	385.4.3, 30, OT,
4	Δ
5	Ε
6	Ϛ	Butterfly	385.4.4, .5, ACS,	3
7	Ζ
8	Η	Wreath	385.4.6, 31, ACS,	3
9	Θ	Thyrsus	385.4.7, ACS, ACS,	3
10	Ι	Strigil	385.4.8,	1`
11	ΙΑ	Tongs	385.4.9, CNG, WW	3
12	ΙΒ	Axe	385.4.32, ACS,	2
13	ΙΓ	Tortoise		0
14	ΙΔ			0
15	ΙΕ			0
16	ΙϚ			0
17	ΙΖ	Frog	385.4.37, CNG,	2
18	ΙΗ	Heron walking		0
19	ΙΘ			0
20	Κ	?		0
21	ΚΑ	Owl		0
22	ΚΒ	Peacock r	385.4.36	1
23	ΚΓ	Amphora	CNG (top of Γ off flan),	1
24	ΚΔ	Anchor	ACS,	1
25	ΚΕ	Club	ACS, OT,	2
26	ΚϚ	Lecythus, round squat vase	385.4.35, ACS, OT,	Jug – 3
27	ΚΖ			0
28	ΚΗ	Candelabrum		0
29	ΚΘ	Cock	385.4.11, 34, ACS, DEA, CNG, CNG,	6	34
30	Λ	Palm branch	385.4.12, 13, CNG,	3	39
31	ΛΑ	Piercer	385.4.14, ACS,	Spear? – 2	41
32	ΛΒ	Simpulum	385.4.15, 33, ACS, CNG,	4	45
33	ΛΓ	?		0
34	ΛΔ			0
35	ΛΕ	Stilus	385.4.16	1
36	ΛϚ	Pentagram	ACS,	Star – 1
37	ΛΖ	Pileus	385.4.17, 38, ACS,	3	50
38	ΛΗ	Boot, r	385.4.39, ACS,	2
39	ΛΘ	Wheel	385.4.40, ACS, ACS,	3	55
40	Μ	Perfume jar	385.4.41	1
41	ΜΑ	Staff with double hook	385.4.18, CNG,	2
42	ΜΒ	Pelta, small crescent-shaped shield of Thrace	385.4.19	1
43	ΜΓ	Macedonian shield	385.4.20, ACS, ACS (MZ?), CNG,	4	62
44	ΜΔ	Pear shaped shield	ACS, CNG, CNG,	3
45	ΜΕ	Oval shield	385.4.42, ACS, CNG,	3
46	ΜϚ	Oblong shield with rounded corners	CNG,	1
47	ΜΖ	Oblong shield with square corners	ACS,	1	70
48	ΜΗ	Small round shield	385.4.43, ACS,	2
49	ΜΘ	Large round shield	385.4.21, 44, ACS, OT, CNG,	5
50	Ν	Ear		0
51	ΝΑ	Lyre key	385.4.22, 45, 56	3	80
52	ΝΒ	Leaf		0
53	ΝΓ	Lighted alter		0
54	ΝΔ	Alter	ACS,	1
55	ΝΕ	Axe	OT, CNG, CNG,	3
56	ΝϚ	Duck’s head	385.4.46, CNG, CNG,	3
57	ΝΖ	Dolphin	385.4.23, ACS,	2
58	ΝΗ	Crab	385.4.24, ACS, ACS, CNG, CNG,	5	94
59	ΝΘ	Scorpion		0
60	Ξ	Stove	385.4.25, ACS,	2
61	ΞΑ	Oil lamp	ACS,	1
62	ΞΒ	Thunderbolt	EEM,	1
63	ΞΓ	Plumb bob	385.4.53 (o delta)	1
64	ΞΔ	Dagger		0
65	ΞΕ	Dividers	385.4.47, DEA, CNG,	3	102
66	ΞϚ	Short boot	ACS, ACS,	2
67	ΞΖ	Foot r	385.4.26, ACS, ACS,	3
68	ΞΗ	Knife blade		0
69	ΞΘ			0
70	Ο	Bow and quiver	385.4.27, 51, ACS, DEA,	4	111
71	ΟΑ	Hoop	385.4.50, ACS,	2
72	ΟΒ	Fish	385.4.49, CNG, CNG [OB],
73	ΟΓ	?
74	ΟΔ	Plumb Bob	385.4.53
75	ΟΕ	Bunch grapes	385.4.54, ACS,	3
76	ΟϚ	Pedium, staff with crook	CNG,	1
77	ΟΖ	Ladder	385.4.28, ACS,	2
78	ΟΗ	Poppy head	OT, DEA [OH], ACS [OH]	3	122
79	ΟΘ	Shovel	ACS, DEA, WW	3
80	Π	Comb	385.4.29, 48, CNG,	3
81	ΠΑ	Mask of Pan	385.4.52 (pi B), ACS,	2	130
82	ΠΒ			0
83	ΠΓ	Crested helmet		0
84	ΠΔ	Cornucopiae		0
85	ΠΕ	Tripod		0
	Winged caduceus	A	385.4.55	1	131