Rome’s First War with Carthage // Among the Finest Known

Sale: Triton X, Lot: 508. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Monday, 8 January 2007.  Sold For $4250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Anonymous. Circa 264 BC. Æ 25mm (14.35 g, 9h). Messana (Sicily) mint. ROMANO, head of Minerva left, wearing crested Corinthian helmet decorated with griffin; helmet behind / ROMA-NO, eagle standing left on thunderbolt, head right, wings open; short sword to left. Crawford 23/1; Sydenham 30; Kestner -; BMCRR Romano-Campanian 5. Good VF, brown and olive patina, minor roughness. Very rare. Exceptional detail. This is only the fourth example we have handled. Among the finest specimens known.

Crawford assigned this issue to Sicily in the early stages of the First Punic War, based on the provenance of extant specimens and the similarity of style and weight to contemporary Mamertine issues. It was the decision to intervene on behalf of the Mamertini that sparked Rome's first war with Carthage. An important historical coin.