Anonymous, 40 Asses, Rome, ca. 211-207 BC
AV (g 2,24; mm 13; h 11)
Helmeted head of Mars r.; behind, XXXX, Rv. Eagle on thunderbolt r.; below, ROMA. Crawford 44/3; Sydenham 227.
Extremely rare, only 11 specimens known of which less than five are in private hands. Virtually as struck and almost fdc.

This coin it's part of the second gold coinage struck by Romans during the war against Hannibal. The first gold coinage had been issued ca. 218-216 BC, when Rome was pushed back on its heels after Hannibal’s initial successes on the battlefield. Though the Carthaginian army was still a menacing threat in Italy when this new coinage was struck ca. 211-207 BC, the tide of the war had shifted. This coinage was issued from a position of greater strength than the first. It is comprised of coins denominated at 60, 40 and 20 Asses, and its martial nature is made clear with the designs (the helmeted head of the war-god Mars, and the eagle of the supreme god Jupiter, standing upon his thunderbolt). Various resources had been tapped to issue these coins, including special levies and loot from Syracuse, which fell to the Romans in 212. Meanwhile, in 211 the Romans had forced Capua into submission, thus denying Hannibal his main supply depot in Southern Italy. Unlike the first gold coinage, which would appear to have been struck in a single place, and perhaps on a single occasion, the second gold coinage was struck in much larger quantities and demonstrates a variety that suggests portions were struck at moving mints ranging as far afield as Etruria and Sicily.