Anonymous. ca. 280-250 BC. AE aes signatum half-ingot (91mm, 596.80 gm). Fine. Two chickens feeding and facing each other; star with eight rays in center field, above and below chickens' heads / Two tridents pointing inwards; two dolphins swimming toward each other between them. The ingot was cut in half in antiquity. Crawford 12/1. HN Italy 265. Thurlow-Vecchi AS 24, pl. 23. Vecchi, currency bar 24 (ca. 255 BC). Beautiful blue green patina. Among the many customs borrowed by the Romans from the Etruscans when they were under the latter's domination was the art of divination, a particular branch of that science being the pullaria auguria. Augurs were appointed to study the feeding patterns of selected chickens before a battle in order to better judge the likely outcome of the engagement. The two stars in the field are perhaps to be associated with the Dioscuri. The reverse trident and dolphins with their clear allusion to Neptune are to be associated with Rome's rise as a naval power during the course of the First Punic War (261-241 BC) (Vecchi 2013, p. 31).

HID09801242017

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