Roman Republic, As

The obverse of this bronze as from the time of the late Roman Republic bears the head of Janus, the two-faced god of beginnings and ends. Janus had already been depicted on the very first asses of the 3rd century BC.

The reverse shows a prow with the goddess Victoria in it. The inscription above the prow reads L. PISO, the one below FRVGI; it is the abbreviated name of the moneyer Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi, the Roman official responsible for the issue of this coin.