On 4/27/2024 at 6:35 PM, DonnaML said:

Here is a newly-arrived tetradrachm of Nero to add to my very modest collection of Syro-Phoenician tetradrachms with eagles on the reverse (all minted in Antioch with one exception, the Septimius Severus, struck in Tyre). My current total of nine hardly compares to the wonderful collections of @Al Kowsky and other members here, but I enjoy looking at all of them nonetheless. And I had been specifically looking for a relatively inexpensive Antioch tetradrachm of Nero for quite some time.

Nero AR* Tetradrachm, AD 60/61 (Year 7), Syria, Seleucis & Pieria, Antioch Mint. Obv. Laureate beardless bust of Nero right, wearing aegis with snake rising up along the side of his neck (see McAlee p. 137 n. 203), ΝΕΡΩΝΟΣ [ΚΑΙΣΑΡΟΣ – ΣΕΒ]ΑΣΤΟΥ (Nero Caesar Augustus) around from upper right / Rev. Eagle** standing on a thunderbolt, head left, wings spread; to left, palm branch upright; to right, Ζ (retrograde) over ΘΡ ( = Regnal Year 7 / Year 109 [9 + 100] of Caesarian era, calculated from 49 BCE). 24.9 mm., 14.596 g. RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. I  4181 (1992); RPC I Online 4181 (see https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/1/4181 ); McAlee 257 (ill. p. 137) [McAlee, Richard, The Coins of Roman Antioch (2007)]; Prieur 81 [Michel and Karin Prieur, Syro-Phoenician Tetradrachms (London, 2000)]; BMC 20 Syria 190 p. 174 (ill. Pl. xxi.8) [Warwick Wroth, A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Vol. 20, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Syria (London, 1899)]. Purchased April 20, 2024 from Forvm Ancient Coins, Morehead City, NC.  

 

*See McAlee Table 2 p. 17, stating that the mean percentage of silver in Nero’s Antioch tetradrachms from AD 59-63 was 79.39% (subsequently declining after the reign of Marcus Aurelius to a low of 10.77% under Trebonianus Gallus).

**See McAlee p. 133 on the introduction of the standing eagle reverse to Antioch tetradrachms under Nero: “In 59/60 there was an important reform of the silver coinage: the standing eagle became the standard reverse type, and continued as such for the nearly two centuries during which Antioch continued to coin this denomination. This change coincided with an increase in the silver content from 9.15 g. in the tetradrachms of 56/57 to 11.63 g. in the new coins. . . . [T]here is little doubt that the eagle tetradrachms struck from 59/60 to the end of Nero’s reign were worth four denarii.” See also id. p. 6, explaining that the “original significance [of the eagle] was as a symbol of Zeus, and it first came into common usage on coinage used in the east on the Hellenistic tetradrachms issued by the Ptolemaic kings. Later, it became the standard reverse type on the autonomous tetradrachms (or shekels) of Tyre, which contained more silver than most other contemporary tetradrachms and were valued at four Attic drachms, which were probably equal to four denarii. The adoption of the eagle as a reverse type on the Roman Syrian silver, under Nero, coincideds with an increase in the silver content of the tetradrachm and the cessation of the Tyrian shekels. Consequently, it is likely that the eagle on the tetradrachm was meant to signify that they were struck on the Tyrian standard, and thereby to indicate that they were valued at four Attic drachms.”

The other 8, without the writeups:

Septimius Severus

Caracalla

Macrinus

Gordian III

Philip I

Otacilia Severa

Philip II

Trajan Decius

Wonderful set of tetradrachms!

19 minutes ago, DLTcoins said:

I believe reports at the time stated that the circumstances of the looting had been revealed by an informant. Rumor has it that photographs exist of the coin in situ at the time of its discovery. As far as the Beale case goes, Mr. Bragg has bigger fish to fry at the moment...

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

1 minute ago, Furryfrog02 said:

It was looted from my collection!  demand that the Greek government return it post haste. 

You should send them a strongly worded letter.

53 minutes ago, Ocatarinetabellatchitchix said:

My last question: the Greek authorities had known about the existence of the Roma specimen since at least 2006, so why did they wait until 2023 to make a request for confiscation and repatriation ? So many questions and so few answers... and unfortunately, I am convinced that the trial of R. Beale and I.Vecchi will not provide us with more information... Please share your comments or thoughts!

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. There 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 Capta. 

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 (particularly the Silk Road) than Petra, 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...

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...

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 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 a 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.

10 minutes ago, Phil Anthos said:

Cales, Campania

265-240 BC AE 22 (22mm, 6.32g) O: Head of Athena left, wearing crested Corinthian helmet, all within dotted border. R: Cock standing right, star behind; CALENΩ downward to right, all within dotted border. Sambon 916; HN Italy 435; SNG ANS 188; SNG Cop 322; Sear 548 ex Forvm Ancient Coins

Ok but, um...oh, fine.

2 minutes ago, Roman Collector said:

Here's the auction catalog from his collection at the Canessa sale a century ago.

Canessa 1923 06 28 Caruso : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

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

6 hours ago, Meander said:

Hi, not really my most recent purchase, but due to export licensing requirements in France I received this coin only 4 months after the auction. Still worth the wait. An issue of Trajan honoring Nerva and Trajan's father on the reverse. In addition, a nice pedigree to the collection of a famous tenor Enrico Caruso.

Trajan, with Trajan Pater and Nerva. AD 98-117. AV Aureus. Rome mint. Struck AD 112-113. IMP TRAIANVS AVG GER • DAC P M TR P COS VI P P, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / DIVI • NERVA • ET • TRAIANVS • PAT, laureate bust of Nerva right, slight drapery and bareheaded and draped bust of Trajan the Elder left, vis-à-vis. Calicó 1138a

From the Enrico Caruso collection, Canessa, 28 June 2023, lot 296, and J. Tyszkiewicz, R. Serrure, Paris 25.6.1901, lot 78

 

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+!

1 hour ago, ambr0zie said:

Latin abbreviation: Ex senatus consulto, by special decree of the Senate. On coins of the Roman Republic EX S C indicates a special mint issue authorized by the senate.

 

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.

23 minutes ago, mcwyler said:

Interesting coins, to add to the long "must get one of those" list. Your map represents the south as Arabie Heureuse, so I suppose those northeastern issues are from Arabie Triste. 

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.

On 4/22/2024 at 2:00 AM, robinjojo said:

Nice posting and a very nice example of a BI tetradrachm from Mleiha!

I was fortunate to be able to acquire two coins of this unusual very localized imitative type. 

Eastern Arabia, Oman Peninsula, Mleiha, Abi'el, BI tetsdrachms, 1st century BC - 1st century AD.

14.98 g (l) 15.01 g (r)

These coins are scarce enough that I expected another forum member to have maybe one, but not two! How did you come by the pair?

I did manage to hunt down the disposition of the Bahrain Hoard, and it consisted of 215 tetradrachms of Gerrha, 77 of Hagar. (Published in Coin Hoards, RNS, London, 1975.) No coins from from Mleiha, so that's a small bit of evidence that the billon issues did not circulate widely. I also discovered that Polybius wrote about the Gerrhaeans, of which we have the following fragments...

13.9.1 Chattenia in the Persian Gulf is the third district belonging to the Gerraeans. It is a poor district in other respects, but villages and towers have been established in it for the convenience of the Gerraeans who cultivate it...

4. The Gerraeans begged the king not to abolish the gifts the gods had bestowed on them, perpetual peace and freedom. The king, when the letter had been interpreted to him, said that he granted their request...

5. When their freedom had been established, the Gerraeans passed a decree honoring Antiochus with a gift of five hundred talents of silver, a thousand talents of frankincense, and two hundred talents of so-called "stacte" [oil of myrrh or cinnamon]. He then sailed to the island of Tylus [modern Bahrain], and left for Seleucia. The spices were from the Persian Gulf.

The Seleucid king in question here is Antiochus III, who threatened to conquer the region in 205/4 BC, but once he had extorted his booty, he withdrew. It's likely that part of the payment consisted of the good silver imitation tetradrachms. Huth and Potts (ANJ 14) explained the surprising findspots of some of the tetradrachms along the route taken by the Seleucid army upon its return.

Plato's greatest student was Aristotle, but history has largely forgotten his worst student, Mediocrates.

Great find! 😉

14 hours ago, singig said:

This is my last set of Probus coins from the large lot of coins I started to post in february, I'm a little late but I hope you will like them.

Probus AE antoninianus, Ticinum mint.RIC 509, I star     
VIRTVS PROBI AVG, Radiate, helmeted, cuirassed bust left, holding spear over shoulder, and shield on left arm / 
MARTI PACIF, Mars walking left, holding branch, spear and shield. I in left field, star in right field. Mintmark QXXI. 

Probus Silvered AE Antoninianus. Rome mint.RIC 183     
IMP PROBVS P F AVG, radiate consular bust left holding eagle-tipped sceptre / 
ROMAE AETER, Roma seated, facing, in temple of six columns, holding victory and sceptre, R(winged thunderbolt)A below.

Probus AE Antoninianus. Lyons mint, 276 AD. RIC 28     
IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right / 
FIDES MILITVM, Fides standing left, holding two standards, Mintmark III. 

Probus Silvered AE Antoninianus. Lyons mint, 281 AD.RIC 107     
IMP C PROBVS P F AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right / 
TEMPOR FELICIT, Felicitas standing right, holding caduceus and cornucopiae. Mintmark II. 

 

Probus, AE Antoninianus, Rome, AD 279. RIC 155 Wreath Z. 
IMP PROBVS P F AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right. / 
ADVENTVS AVG, Probus on horseback left, holding sceptre and raising right hand, captive under the horse's hooves left. Mintmark R-wreath-Z.

Probus Silvered AE Antoninianus. Rome Mint, 276 AD. RIC 151    
IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG, radiate, cuirassed bust right / 
FIDES MILIT, Fides standing, holding sceptre and transverse ensign. Mintmark XXIE.

Wonderful variety of types in beautiful grades!