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1 Obol Without legend, closed wings
| Issuer | Alba Fucens |
|---|---|
| Year | 280 BC - 275 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | HN Italy#244, SambonArt#162, Campana#5, Stazio#4, SNG Munich 1#63 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | An eagle standing to the left with wings closed, depicted in three-quarter view perched upon a ground line. The bird is rendered with careful attention to feather detail across the body, tail, and folded wings, consistent with the iconographic conventions of Oscan and Latin coinage of the period. The eagle occupies the full field of the incuse or slightly recessed reverse, with no surrounding legend. This type, attributed to Alba Fucens, reflects the influence of Tarentine coinage on the coinage of Latin colonies in the early third century BC. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Alba Fucens was a Latin colony planted by Rome in 303 BC squarely in Aequian territory, its position in the central Apennines giving it strategic control over routes into Samnium. The date range of this obol places it squarely within the crisis of the Pyrrhic War, when Roman allied communities in the region were expected to contribute materially to the war effort — and some briefly issued their own small silver coinages, possibly to pay local troops or settle municipal accounts when Roman coin was scarce in the highlands.
The "closed wings" variety is the distinguishing typological detail separating this from related issues, as catalogued under Stazio's classification.