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Roman Rep. Decussis or denarius ca 215, Æ 1075g.

Currency:CHF Category:Coins & Paper Money / Coins: Ancient Start Price:96,000.00 CHF Estimated At:120,000.00 CHF
Roman Rep. Decussis or denarius ca 215, Æ 1075g.
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The Roman Republic. Decussis or denarius ca. 215, Æ 1075g. Head of Roma r., wearing Phrygian helmet; behind, X. Rev. Prow l.; above, X. Haeberlin pl. 46, 1-3. Sydenham Aes Grave 67. Kent-Hirmer pl. 7, 15. Sydenham 98. Crawford 41/1. Of the highest rarity, only the fourth specimen known and the only one in private hands. One of the most prestigious and historically important Roman coins in existence, green patina and extremely fine. The decussis is the largest and heaviest coin in the Roman series besides the quadrilateri, and is the equivalent of a silver denarius in bronze. It belongs to Crawford’s series 41, which he places between c.215 and 212 B.C., during the Second Punic War, just at the time when the silver denarius was introduced. At this point bronze coins became fiduciary and were no longer tied to their intrinsic value, causing the asses and all the nominals to rapidly decrease in weight in a short period until the as settled at around 60.50 grams. The issue to which this coin belongs is a remarkable point of transition, as it includes both cast and struck bronzes. It seems likely that the cast pieces belong to the early part of Crawford’s period, whereas the struck ones might all have been produced between c. 213 and 212 B.C. The cast coins were denominated as the decussis, quincussis, tripondius, dupondius, as and semis, and the struck pieces include the as (not mentioned by Crawford), semis, triens, quadrans, sextans, uncia and semuncia.