Lot 321:
Anonymous light series. AE Triens, c. 211 BC, Sardinia. Obv. Helmeted head of Minerva right; above, four pellets. Rev. Prow right; below, four pellets. Cr. 56/4. 6.82 g. 23.00 mm. VF. Quoting a note by Roberto Russo in the RBW catalog: “This...belong[s] to an anonymous light series which includes triens, quadrans and sextans. In our opinion, this series was not identified by Crawford. The coins in this series are always overstruck and almost always on Sardo-Punic coins. Not only does this serve as unequivocal proof that they should be dated slightly after 212 and that the mint is Sardinian, but it also confirms the fiduciary value of bronze and proves that the light and heavy series were entirely contemporaneous. The Sardinian populations were accustomed to a fiduciary system which would explain why they decided to use the flans of the abundant Sardo-Punic bronze coins already at their disposal rather than melt them down to produce new flans of more precise weight.”.