Which way is the dolphin swimming in these cast bronze coins? You get a different answer if you align the casting sprews or the lettering (velaθri, Etruscan for Volaterrae). The top 2 are dupondii (2 asses). The bottom 2 are asses. (At 3 asses per day the 4 coins are 2 days pay for a Roman soldier.) Note the position of θRI on the left and right coins where θ looks like an O. The casting sprews line up on the top left and lower right. They do not on the other coins. It is fun to hold big coins. I call this one a 4 finger coin.
The bottom one is: Anonymous aes grave As Luceria mint, Libral Series. Obv - Head of Minerva facing slightly right, wearing triple crested helmet Rev - ROMA, bull advancing right, vertical caduceus above. Crawford 37/1c. Sydenham 139. Vecchi 72. HN Italy 331. Thurlow/Vecchi 43a. Extremely rare; Mint State (seller's words). Full weight, with complete designs on both sides. Exhibiting a mix of earthy tones from deep green to burgundy. Incredible high relief on both sides. I saw a coin from the same series at the NYINC. It was impressive.... until I saw the one in Dallas.
I should have looked in a book or two before posting. There are 3 series of Volaterrae cast coins. Haeberlin and Vecchi put the O in the top left spot, about 11, for all 3 series. Garrucci, Sydenham, Marchi & others rotate the dolphin series 45 degrees. Vecchi follows Haeberlin's lead in Italian Cast Coinage, 2013. Aes Grave, EJ Haeberlin, 1910 Le Monete Dell' Italia Antica, P R Garrucci, 1885 Aes Grave, E A Sydenham, 1926 L'Aes Grave Del Museo Kircheriano, G Marchi, 1839 As my first bosses daughter said: "that's more than I wanted to know about penguins."
