Ancient Roman Republic - 225-214/2 BCE Anonymous AR Quadrigatus NGC AU Fine Style

From the Faces in Time Collection of Ancient coinage (35).

Anonymous. Ca. 225-214 BC. AR didrachm or quadrigatus (22mm, 6.73 gm, 6h). Obverse: Laureate head of youthful Janus. Beaded border, slightly off center. Dramatic die crack on left from rim (slightly above 3 o'clock) into nose bridge and ending at hair. Reverse: Jupiter, hurling thunderbolt with right hand and holding scepter in left, in quadriga right driven by Victory; ROMA incuse on raised tablet below. Crawford 28/3. Sydenham 64a. RSC 23. A superior example of this popular type, struck on a large flan in good metal, with gorgeous old cabinet toning.

Helios in his quadriga, early 4th century BC, Athena's temple in Ilion.

Quadrigatus coins were issued by the Roman Republic in the 3rd century BC before the standardization of the denarius. The obverse presents Janus, the god of beginnings and endings, who is represented by having two faces. One peers into the future while the other observes the past. The reverse offers the king of the gods, Jupiter, who is the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Zeus. He is depicted riding on a quadriga, a chariot led by four horses; this coin derives its name from that chariot.