ROMAN REPUBLIC — Anonymous. Bronze Uncia, Rome mint, 217-215 BC.

ROMAN REPUBLIC — Anonymous. Bronze Uncia, Rome mint, 217-215 BC. 25 mm, 14.00 g. Obverse: Helmeted head of Roma left, wearing crested Attic helmet; single pellet behind. Reverse: ROMA above a war-galley prow right; single pellet below. Crawford 38/6; Sydenham 86. Rich olive-green patina with lighter earthen highlights; attractive metal and smooth surfaces. Ex. CNG / NAC Auction 40, 1996. Lot 1229

Struck at the height of the Second Punic War, this uncia belongs to the short-lived sextantal bronze standard introduced when Hannibal’s invasion strained Rome’s silver reserves. The pellets on either side served as value marks (one ounce, i.e. one-twelfth of an as) and helped an illiterate soldiery distinguish denominations in the field. The prow reverse, a patriotic emblem of Rome’s naval resurgence since the First Punic War, pairs here with the martial head of Roma to proclaim the city’s resolve at one of the darkest moments in its history.