Putting a period on 2024 with a Sardinian Dot quinarius

[red_spork]

I won this at Ibercoin this morning, a Sardinian "dot" or "pellet" quinarius, in the style of the C, MA and AVR "Sardinian Praetor" quinarii of 211-209 BC but rather than having letters on the back it has a small dot or pellet under the bust of Roma. This is the third known example of Crawford 66/1, the other two being in the BNF(the unique example known to Crawford) and an example which showed up at Peus and later Oslo Myntgalleri some years ago. Crawford called the type "anonymous" but the dot, which is faint but exists on this example directly below the neck and also on the BNF example(which shares its obverse die with the Peus/Oslo example) proves that it was an intentional addition and likely served to mark this issue similar to the C, MA and AVR of the other issues. That said, I can't really fault Crawford for overlooking the dot as I overlooked it on this example at first as well, assuming based on the style that it was a C, MA or AVR with the letters off flan until I had spent so much time staring at it that I convinced myself it could not be one and had to consult my references where I was reminded of this "dot" issue.

Interestingly, this is not the only issue known with the "dot", there is also a Crawford 44 group with a dot below the truncation, quadrigati with a dot and Mars/Eagle XX asses gold pieces with a dot as well. Pierluigi Debernardi and Mark Passehl have suggested this dot may actually be a "lentil", connecting all these issues with members of the Cornelii Lentuli, of which multiple men commanded armies during the Second Punic War, one of whom was a Praetor of Sardinia in 211 BC.

This will almost certainly be my last coin of 2024 - my watchlist is clear and while I'll be browsing auctions and retail sales it's unlikely I'll add anything else between now and New Years(plus I'm headed to NYINC in January and will need the spare cash), so this "dot" quinarius puts a period on my acquisitions and now I feel comfortable finalizing and posting my "top 10" list in the coming days, knowing that this coin, which will certainly make the list, is heading my way.

Roman Republic AR Quinarius(16mm, 1.49g). Anonymous "dot" or "pellet" series. 212-208 B.C, Sardinian mint. Head of Roma right, wearing winged helmet; behind, V; below, pellet. Border of dots / Dioscuri on horseback riding right, each holding couched spear and wearing chlamys, cuirass and pileus surmounted by star; on tablet, ROMA. Line border. Crawford 66/1(this reverse die); RBW -

As a small footnote I'd like to add that there is now known to be a denarius of this series as well, see the excellent guide by Steve Brinkman and Pierluigi Debernardi for more details. The denarius is similarly rare with 3 examples known today.