Catalog
1 As With caduceus
| Issuer | Praeneste |
|---|---|
| Year | 275 BC - 225 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | ICC#254, HN Italy#249, Haeberlin#p.151, Thurlow-Ve#45, Syd#95 |
| Obverse description | Facing lion's head rendered in high relief, depicted en face with a pronounced mane radiating outward in deeply modeled, stylized locks filling the field. A dagger is held in the creature's open mouth, its blade directed to the left. The rendering is bold and archaic in character, consistent with central Italian aes grave casting traditions of the late 4th to early 3rd century BC. No legend or inscription appears in the field. |
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| Reverse description | A horse's head in left profile, rendered in a schematic, archaic style typical of central Italian cast bronze coinage. Above the horse's head appears a caduceus, the herald's staff entwined with serpents, serving as the mint or value mark associated with this series. The design is set within a plain, unbordered field on a broad, irregularly shaped flan characteristic of heavy aes grave production. No legend or inscription is present. |
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| Additional information |
Praeneste — modern Palestrina, roughly 35 kilometers east of Rome — operated as a Latin ally city with enough autonomy in the mid-Republican period to strike its own heavy bronze coinage. The caduceus type places this piece within a relatively narrow window of Praenestine monetary activity before Roman consolidation effectively ended allied civic minting in central Italy. At nearly 250 grams, this is aes grave at its most literal: cast, not struck, in a tradition that was already becoming obsolete as Rome's denarius system took hold.