No coins can be attributed to this region during the period of the dominion of the Umbrians, Etruscans, or Gauls. The Romans conquered the country about B.C. 290, between which date and B.C. 268 the issue of coins at Ancona, Asculum (?), Firmum, and Hatria took place.
Ancona. This town, which was founded from Syracuse in the time of Dionysius the Elder, obtained its name from its position in a bend of the coast, αγκων; cf. the canting type of its coins, a bent arm. It was the chief port for the Illyrian trade, and it possessed a famous temple of Aphro- dite. (Juvenal, iv. 40.) It was conquered by the Romans circ. B.C. 290.
| Bust of Aphrodite (B. M. C., Italy, p. 40). | AΓKΩN Bent arm holding palm;
above, two stars. Æ .8
|
Asculum (?) (Ascoli). It is doubtful whether the series of aes grave, with the letter A for type, belongs to Asculum in Picenum, or to Ausculum in Apulia. (Berlin Cat., III. i. 29.)
| Sescuncia. A | C • (= 1½ ounces). |
| Triens. Thunderbolt. | A ••••
|
| Quadrans. Id. | A •••
|
| Sextans. Id. | A ••
|
| Uncia. Id. | A •
|
| (?) Caduceus. | A |
| (?) No type. | A |
Firmum (Fermo) was colonized by the Romans at the beginning of the First Punic War, B.C. 264, and this appears to be about the time to which its coins (aes grave) belong (for references see Friedländer, Reper- torium, p. 65) :—
| Quadrans. Female head. | FIR Bull’s head. •••
|
| Sextans. Bipennis. | „ Spear-head. ••
|
Hatria (later Hadria, now Atri) was occupied by the Romans in B.C. 289. It is doubtful whether any of its coins (aes grave) are anterior to that date. The libral As sometimes weighs more than 401 grm. = 6,200 grs.
| As. Head of Seilenos facing. | HAT Dog sleeping. I or
 |
| Quincunx. HAT Human head in shell. | Pegasos. •••••
|
| Triens. Head of Apollo (?). | HAT Kantharos. ••••
|
| Quadrans. HAT Dolphin. | Fish (Ray?) •••
|
| Sextans. HAT Shoe. | Cock. ••
|
| Uncia. Anchor. | HAT •
|
| Semuncia. H | A Σ
|
With regard to the attribution of the Semuncia see Berlin Cat., III. i. 15.