Roman Republic

Anonymous, Ca. 225-214 BC

Crawford 29/3; Sydenham 64d; RSC 23/24,

Rome. Laureate head of Janus. Reverse: ROMA raised on solid tablet below, Jupiter, hurling thunderbolt and holding scepter, in quadriga right driven by Victory; in exergue, ROMA raised on solid tablet. Crawford 29/3; Sydenham 64d; RSC 23/24; RBW 75 (this coin). EF, attractive find patina. Well centered and struck..

As the Roman Republic expanded its power over the Italian peninsula over the course of the third century BC, it became increasingly exposed to the silver coinage commonly used by the Greek colonies of the south. The quadrigatus didrachm, introduced around 225 BC, was the most enduring and influential of Rome’s early silver coins. It was named for the reverse type depicting Jupiter in a four-horse chariot and carried Rome into the first years of the Second Punic War (218-201 BC). However, the immense financial strains of the war against Hannibal led to the collapse of the coinage around 214 BC and its subsequent replacement by the Roman denarius.