JAZ Numismatics

You're thinking of M Aemilius Scaurus, who basically extorted a bunch of silver from Aretas III around 57 BC, then went back to Rome and made denarii touting his "victory" over the Nabataeans. It's a story that deserves its own thread. Yes, most were melted down after 106 AD. Some were overstruck, others converted to bullion I imagine, although there wasn't much silver left to harvest. By the end of Rabbel II's reign, the drachms were only .400 fine. Also, as an an addendum, here's a beautiful video of the Roman ruins at Bostra...

The answer may be simpler. There are numerous instances of neighboring cities issuing coins of similar types, either because of aesthetic influence, or commercial interchangeability. I'm old enough to remember growing up in a city somewhat close to the Canadian border (Seattle), and routinely finding Canadian currency in circulation, which in the 60's and 70's was accepted at face value. The pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters were the same size and fabric as US issues, and you could even spend your Canadian paper money in the US if you had some left over from an trip across the border. If the mystery coin is from Gargara (and I don't know if it is), that may be at least part of the equation.

Awesome! First gold ancient coin = second greatest feeling in life. 😇

Tough break, but be sure to list it on FORVM's fake reports and/or ForgeryNetwork, if it isn't already there. It's important to keep the shysters at bay. I was recently stuck with three Toronto Group forgeries in a Canadian collection I bought. They are reasonably convincing, and they may have slipped through if it weren't for FORVM's fake reports. Fortunately the seller is willing to take them back...

Wonderful set of tetradrachms!

If he doesn't end up in the frying pan himself.

You should send them a strongly worded letter.

Oh that's easy. Somebody with a lot of money and political clout in Greece who collects coins suddenly wanted it for their own collection.

It's astonishing to me that you can't own ancient coins in Greece as a private citizen. Talk about regulatory overreach. Of course, if you're rich enough, I'm sure you can circumvent the rules intended for the peasantry, as anywhere. Are the coins in the cases even real? The Marc Antony denarii look like electrotypes.

When the last king of the Nabataeans died in 106 AD, Legio III Cyrenaica moved north into Petra from Egypt, while Legio VI Ferrata moved south from Syria into Bostra. The is no record of a struggle. By the first century, Nabataeans had become Romanized enough to accept a casual transition from vassal state to province. Neither did Trajan assume the title Arabicus, and the imperial coinage commemorating the event proclaimed Arabia Adquista rather than Arabia Devicta. The coinage featured the personification of Arabia holding a branch and bundle of cinnamon sticks, with a camel at her feet. These types were issued in denominations of aureus, denarius, sestertius, dupondius, and as... The already ancient city of Bostra was selected as the capital of Provincia Arabia, presumably because it was much better situated along eastern trade routes than Petra (particularly the Silk Road) and easier to access geographically. One of the provincial types struck at Bostra was a drachm that followed the imperial model... When I first began collecting Arabian coinage, some ten years ago, I came across a paper written by the Israeli archaeologist Avraham Negev, which mentioned that some of the earliest examples of these coins were struck over Nabataean drachms. Thus began my search. For years I combed through auction and fixed-price listings, looking for an example of the coin that evinced a Nabataean host. I had almost given up hope until one day a fellow forum member @ominus1 posted just such a coin on CoinTalk! He was gracious enough to sell it to me, and I acquired one of my minor holy grails. First, an example of the host coin from my collection... Nabataean Kingdom: Rabbel II, 70-106 CE AR Sela, 16mm, 3.45g; Petra mint, RY 22 (91/92 CE). Obv.: Laureate and draped bust of Rabbel II right; around, inscription, 22 רבאל מלכא מלך - נבטו שׂנת (Rabbel the king, king of the Nabataeans, Year 22). Rev.: Veiled and draped bust of Gamilat right; around, inscription, גמלתּ אחתה מלכת נבטו (Gamilat his sister, queen of the Nabataeans). Reference: Meshorer 154. You'll notice that Nabataean script is frequently transliterated into Hebrew, not only because of the close relationship between the alphabets, but also because many scholars of Nabataean archeology and numismatics have been Israeli. Like Hebrew, the Nabataean alphabet is an abjad, read right to left. Now for the overstruck coin... As you can see, this coin began as a Nabataean drachm which was flattened by a hammer, held by a pair of tongs, probably annealed, then restruck with the new dies. The part of the coin held by the tongs escaped striking, and left nice, clear Nabataean letters on the tab. On the obverse is the end of the king's inscription giving the regnal year, שׂנת 20. On the reverse is the end of the queen's legend, מלכת נבטו. Not the prettiest coin in the world, but these Bostran issues were not generally produced in a quality matching their imperial cousins. They are, however, plentiful and easy to collect (unless you're complete nerd and want an overstruck example). If you've got any of the coins listed in this thread, I'd love to see them!

JUDAEA, Herodians. Agrippa II, with Vespasian. Circa 50-100 CE. Caesarea Panias (as Neronias) mint. Dated RY 26 of Agrippa II's second era (85/6 CE). Laureate head of Vespasian right / Tyche-Demeter standing left, holding grain ears and cornucopia; small crescent to upper left, KS BA (date) to right. Meshorer 158a; Hendin 6312; RPC II 2275; Sofaer 225.

Ok but, um...oh, fine.

Great, thank you! He certainly had the resources to collect the best of the best of the best. Those plates are unreal.

Great provenance on a beautiful coin. I had no idea Caruso collected Roman coins.

Ah, the always popular thread about male hardware. Here's Priapus on a cistophoric tetradrachm of Ephesos. It's a bit difficult to make out his member as it blends in with the rest of the snakes... IONIA, Ephesos. Circa 180-67 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26.5mm, 12.67 g, 1h). Cistophoric standard. Dated CY 57 (78/7 BC). Cista mystica with serpent; all within ivy wreath / Two serpents entwined around bow and bowcase; above, Priapos facing; to left, NZ (date) above EΦE, torch to right. Kleiner, Dated 58; DCA 325; SNG Copenhagen 331. Lightly toned, scrape at edge on obverse. Good VF. Rare date, none in CoinArchives. Ex CNG eAuction 534 Lot 87.

The reverse has so much more detail than what you would expect from the still image. Congratulations on a superb find!

That looks super! I would agree that that's enough cleaning. The contrast betqeen the sand and devices is perfect.

Actually, if you drink enough beer, smoke a bit of maryjane, and squint your eyes, you can just make out the AETERNITAS on that as. 🤪 Seriously though, I know the frustration of seeing a particular type in a catalog and hunting for it (sometimes for years), only to deduce that the listing is spurious. But that also adds something important to the numismatic body of knowledge. Your as and sestertius are very nice indeed. Circulated, but evincing lots of detail, no damage, and attractive patinas. A+!

I knew what SC stood for, but I've only ever seen it combined with EX on a few early types of Nero. I guess EX is not an abbreviation, but simply the word "from" or "by." Curious that you never see it anywhere else.

What does the EX stand for? I've seen it on a few other early Nero types.

The Romans called the region of Saba Arabia Felix because of its abundant resources. Heureuse is a poor translation. In Latin, felix has many connotations, including blessed, fertile, prosperous, fortunate, etc. It doesn't mean simply "happy."

Also, the fineness seems to vary widely, even within one king's issue. Orodes I has coins from 41% to 75%. Reminds me of Gallienus ants. Some are good silver, some are really rotten. So apparently chronology isn't necessarily the deciding factor.

Check out this page at FORVM... https://www.forumancientcoins.com/NumisWiki/view.asp?key=Silver Content of Parthian Drachms Vologases VI is not on the list, but the general trend is debasement, as always with silver coins. If your coin isn't billon, it's gotta be pretty damn close.

Aren't they all Ekbatana mint issues?

Yes, Septimius Severus of Nikopolis.