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Research Coins: The Coin Shop

 
770504. Sold For $5750

Anonymous. 211-208 BC. AV 60 Asses (14mm, 3.37 g, 6h). Rome mint. Bearded head of Mars right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet; LX (mark of value) behind / Eagle standing right on thunderbolt with wings spread; ROMA below. Crawford 44/2; Bahrfeldt 4a; Sydenham 226. Superb EF, exceptional surfaces and strike. Among the finer-known examples extant.

Rome's military successes in the later stages of the Second Punic War, especially the capture and sack of Syracuse, enabled her to undertake a fundamental reform of the coinage in 211 BC. This included the introduction of a series of three small gold denominations valued at 60, 40, and 20 asses. The types were identical in each case, a bearded head of Mars, god of war, on obverse, and an eagle on thunderbolt (representing Jupiter) on reverse. The issue extended over a period of about three years and Rome seems to have been the principal mint.