Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 817. Estimate $3000.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $2200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Anonymous. 211-208 BC. AV 60 Asses (3.33 gm, 10h). Rome mint. Bearded head of Mars right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet; LX (mark of value) behind / Eagle standing right on thunderbolt; ROMA below. Crawford 44/2; Sydenham 226; Kestner 285; BMCRR Rome 185; Bahrfeldt 4a. EF, obverse slightly double struck, underlying lustre. Rare. ($3000)

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.