Alte Roemer GbR
ROMAN REPUBLIC - 60 GOLD ASSES - ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN SPECIMEN
Bearded head of Mars, wearing crested Corinthian helmet. The reverse shows an eagle standing right on thunderbolt. Perfectly centered. Exported from Italy with permit of the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali.
© 2020 ALTE ROEMER
Details
Original value: 60 Asses (LX)
Material: Gold
Details: Diameter: 14 mm, weight: 3.36 gramm.
Rome mint, 211 - 208 BC
Obverse: Bearded head of Mars right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet with opened eyepiece.
Value LX (ligature) below
Reverse: Eagle with spread wings standing right on thunderbolt
ROMA below
Condition: Absolutely extremely fine. Uncirculated and perfectly centered piece from a fresh die.
Historical information: A fundamental coinage reform was undertaken at Rome in 211 BC, after the military successes in the later stages of the Second Punic War. Part of this reform was the introduction of three different gold coins valued at 60, 40 and 20 asses. All of them were of an identical type, showing a bearded head of Mars and an eagle on thunderbolt. The issue of this series was, however, rather short and was stopped again around 208 BC. These early Republican gold coins are generally quite rare, and a real rarity in the offered condition, with this piece being one of the best preserved known specimen.