coloseum

Anonymous Denarius
Of the highest rarity and possibly one of finest specimen known. Struck in high relief on a large flan.

Helmeted head of Roma r.; behind, X. Rev. The Dioscuri galloping r.;
below, ROMA totally incuse on tablet. Sydenham 166. Crawford 45/1. We believe that, logically speaking, this denarius must be the first to have been struck. It is reasonable to assume that this new issue would start with a totally incuse legend, moving to a partially incuse one, before settling on a legend in relief. Our assumption is corroborated by two features: the style and the flan diameter of the very few specimens known, among which this is by far the best.
The rare fully incuse ROMA issue is often confused with the relatively common semi-incuse denarius.