Off the Beaten Path: Dionysus and his Panther

[David Atherton]

This coin depicts such an iconic image from the classical world, it is a wonder it took me so long to acquire one. Let the wine flow!

 

Domitian

Æ22, 5.56g
Cibyra (Phrygia) mint, Klau Bias high priest
Obv: ΔΟΜΙΤΙΑΝΟϹ ΚΑΙ ϹƐΒΑΥΟϹ (sic); Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r.
Rev: ƐΠΙ ΑΡΧΙƐΡΕΩϹ ΚΛΑΥ ΒΙΑΝΤΟϹ, ΚΙ ΒΥ; Dionysus standing, l., holding cantharus and thyrsus; to l., panther
RPC 1263 (9 spec.).
Acquired from Forvm Ancient Coins, November 2022.

Cibyra struck coins during the reign of Domitian under the authority of the high priest Klau Bias. Dräger proposes a date of c. 93-96 for the issue, although this cannot be certain. Previously, the city had produced coins under Augustus, Tiberius, and Vespasian. The Domitanic issue shows a marked improvement in style along with an increase in production. This coin shows one of the more popular reverse types from the issue depicting Dionysus the god of wine, fertility, and ritual madness pouring wine for his beloved panther companion. It is almost certainly based on a cult image.

Bacchus, the Roman name for Dionysus, is often shown in the same pose as depicted on the coin. This famous fresco from Pompeii celebrating the region's fertility is virtually identical (although Bacchus wearing a bunch of grapes is a neat touch!).

 

Please share your coins of Dionysus or Bacchus.

As always, thanks for looking!

Edited December 7, 2022 by David Atherton

[Al Kowsky]

17 minutes ago, David Atherton said:

This coin depicts such an iconic image from the classical world, it is a wonder it took me so long to acquire one. Let the wine flow!

 

Domitian

Æ22, 5.56g
Cibyra (Phrygia) mint, Klau Bias high priest
Obv: ΔΟΜΙΤΙΑΝΟϹ ΚΑΙ ϹƐΒΑΥΟϹ (sic); Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r.
Rev: ƐΠΙ ΑΡΧΙƐΡΕΩϹ ΚΛΑΥ ΒΙΑΝΤΟϹ, ΚΙ ΒΥ; Dionysus standing, l., holding cantharus and thyrsus; to l., panther
RPC 1263 (9 spec.).
Acquired from Forvm Ancient Coins, November 2022.

Cibyra struck coins during the reign of Domitian under the authority of the high priest Klau Bias. Dräger proposes a date of c. 93-96 for the issue, although this cannot be certain. Previously, the city had produced coins under Augustus, Tiberius, and Vespasian. The Domitanic issue shows a marked improvement in style along with an increase in production. This coin shows one of the more popular reverse types from the issue depicting Dionysus the god of wine, fertility, and ritual madness pouring wine for his beloved panther companion. It is almost certainly based on a cult image.

Bacchus, the Roman name for Dionysus, is often shown in the same pose as depicted on the coin. This famous fresco from Pompeii celebrating the region's fertility is virtually identical (although Bacchus wearing a bunch of grapes is a neat touch!).

 

Please share your coins of Dionysus or Bacchus.

As always, thanks for looking!

The sandy background enhances the eye appeal of this coin 😊.

[Al Kowsky]

I've posted this coin a number of times before but will post again since it fits this thread 😉. This provincial bronze has the same theme as David's coin with the addition of a 3-leged table supporting a trophy bowl containing a caduceus, a palm branch, & apluster. This coin is also enhanced with a sandy background 😊.

CILICIA, Corycus. Valerian I, AD 253-260. AE Octassiarion: 23.48 gm, 34 mm, 6 h. Obverse: Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Valerian I. SNG von Aulock 5686. Ex CNG E-Auction 112, lot 128, April 13, 2005.

 

[Roman Collector]

Lovely coin, @David Atherton, and I'm glad to see you are not neglecting the Roman provincial series! I have three coins with this iconography.

Faustina Jr., 147-175.
Roman provincial Æ 9.06 g, 24.7 mm, 7 h.
Thrace, Anchialus, AD 147-149.
Obv: ΦΑVCΤΕΙΝΑ ΝΕΑ CΕΒΑCΤΗ, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: ΑNΧΙΑΛΕΩΝ, Dionysus standing left, holding cantharus and thyrsus; panther at feet, left.
Refs: AMNG 434; RPC 4525; Varbanov 90; BMC --; SNG Copenhagen --.

Julia Domna, AD 193-217.
Roman provincial Æ tetrassarion, 13.76 g, 26 mm.
Moesia Inferior, Nicopolis ad Istrum; Legate Aurelius Gallus, AD 201-204.
Obv: ΙΟVΛΙΑ ΔΟ-ΜΝΑ CΕΒΑ, bare-headed and draped bust, right.
Rev: VΠ ΑVΡ ΓΑΛΛΟV-ΝΙΚΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ | ΠΡΟC ΙCΤΡΟ, Dionysus standing left,
naked except for boots, holding bunch of grapes and thyrsus, panther at foot left.
Refs: AMNG I 1456; Varbanov 2897; H&J, Nikopolis 8.17.8.1 corr. (rev. legend); Mionnet Sup. 2, p. 134, 457 and pl. III, no 6.

Septimius Severus, AD 193-211.
Roman AR Denarius, 3.22 g, 16.5 mm, 11 h.
Rome Mint, AD 194.
Obv: L SEPT SEV PERT AVG IMP III, laureate head, right.
Rev: LIBERO PATRI, Liber standing facing, head left, cloak over left shoulder, holding oenochoe and thyrsus; at feet left, panther standing left, catching drips from the jug.
Refs: RIC 32; BMCRE 64-65; Cohen 301; RCV 6307; Hill 84.

[dougsmit]

Roman collector showed one from Rome so I'll just add the Septimius from Alexandria.  It is one of my most recent additions to my SS group.  It is not common. I was surprised to see three on acsearch until I realized that two of them were my coin.  I don't plan on selling it soon. 

[AncientOne]

Voted #1 reverse type in AncientOne's collection for the past four months.

Pisidia, Baris. Severus Alexander AE20.

Obv: AYT K M AY CE AΛEXANΔΡOC CE, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Rev: BAΡHNΩN, Dionysos standing left, holding kantharos and thyrsos, panther at foot left.

 

Phrygia, Lysias. AE22, AD 238-244.

Obv: BOYΛH, veiled and draped bust of Boule right.
Rev: ΛYCIAΔEΩN, Dionysos, naked, standing left, holding kantharos and thyrsos, panther at foot left.
BMC 3; RPC VII 727.

 

 

Phrygia, Philomelium. Caracalla AE24. AD 198-217.

Obv: ANTωNЄINOC ΠЄ AY Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Caracalla to right, seen from behind.
Rev: ЄΠI AΔPIANO ΦΙΛOMHΛ Dionysos standing facing, head to left, kolding Kantharos in his right hand and thyrsos with his left; to left at feet, panther.
Magistrate Adrianos.

 

 

Pisidia, Termessus Major, Pseudo-autonomous AE18mm.

Obv: ΤЄΡΜΗϹϹЄΩΝ Radiate and draped bust of Helios to right.
Rev: MЄΙΖΟΝΩΝ Dionysos standing front, head to left, holding kantharos in his right hand and thyrsos in his left; at feet to left, panther seated left, head right.

 

Phrygia, Themisonium. AE18, AD 193-249.

Obv: Draped bust of Serapis right, polos on head.
Rev: ΘEMICΩNEΩN, Dionysos, naked, standing left, holding kantharos and thyrsos, panther at foot left.

 

Edited December 8, 2022 by AncientOne

[DonnaML]

Beautiful coins. Although, as I've strenuously argued in the past, that's no panther; that's a leopard! Look at the spots on all the depictions in mosaics. Never mind that there's no such actual species as a panther.

My two examples of Dionysos/Bacchus with his leopard:

Lydia, Philadelphia, AE 17, Late 2^nd/Early 1^st Centuries BCE, Hermippos, son of Hermogenes, archiereus [magistrate]. Obv. Head of young Dionysos right, wearing ivy-wreath and band across forehead, [Φ]ΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΕ[ΩΝ] vertically behind / Rev. Spotted pantheress [leopard] walking left, with head turned back to right, cradling thyrsos bound with fillet (ribbon) against left shoulder, right foreleg raised; ΑΡΧΙΕΡ-ΕΥΣ above, ΕΡΜΙΠΠΟΣ in exergue. Seaby II 4720 [Sear, D., Greek Coins and their Values, Vol. II, Asia & Africa (Seaby 1979), at p. 430 (ill.)]; BMC 22 Lydia 16 [Head, B.V. A Catalogue of Greek Coins in the British Museum, Lydia (London 1901) at p. 189]; SNG Von Aulock II 3057 [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Deutschland, Sammlung Hans Von Aulock, Vol. 2: Caria, Lydia, Phrygia, Lycia, Pamphylia  (Berlin 1962)]; SNG Copenhagen 340 [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Copenhagen, The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Danish National Museum, Part 27, Lydia Part 1 (Copenhagen 1947)]; Imhoof-Blumer 8 [Imhoof-Blumer, Friedrich, Lydische Stadtmünzen, neue Untersuchungen (Leipzig 1897) at pp. 114-115]; Mionnet IV No. 536 [Mionnet, Théodore E., Description de Médailles antiques grecques et romaines, Vol. IV, Lydie (Paris 1809) at p. 98]. 17 mm., 5.02 g.  [With old collector’s envelope.]

Roman Republic/Imperatorial Period, C. Vibius Varus, AR Denarius, 42 BCE, Rome Mint. Obv. Head of Bacchus (or Liber)* right, wearing earring and wreath of ivy and grapes / Rev. Spotted panther [leopard]** springing left towards garlanded altar on top of which lies a bearded mask of Silenus or Pan,*** and against which leans a thyrsus with fillet (ribbon); C • VIBIVS in exergue, VARVS upwards to right. Crawford 494/36, RSC I Vibia 24, Sear RCV I 496, Sear Roman Imperators 192 (ill. p. 116), Sydenham 1138, BMCRR 4295. 17 mm., 3.60 g.  Purchased from Edward J. Waddell, Ltd., Nov. 2020; ex Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG, Auction 83, May 20, 2015, Lot 83; ex Frank Sternberg Auction 17, Zurich, May 1986, Lot 519.

 

*The identification of the obverse head as Bacchus or Liber is essentially immaterial. See Jones, John Melville, A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins (Seaby, London, 1990) at p. 33 (entry for “Bacchus”): “For the Romans . . . . [Bacchus] was generally identified with the Italian deity Liber, whose name is probably derived from the same root as the word ‘libation,’ suggesting that in Italy he was an earth or vegetation spirit who could be worshipped by pouring offerings upon the ground. . . . Bacchus appears rarely upon Roman imperial coins (and when he is given a name, he is called Liber). He is shown as a youthful male figure, nude or partly draped, perhaps with a wreath of ivy leaves. He may bear a thyrsus and be accompanied by Ariadne, a bacchant or maenad, or a panther.”

 ** There is little doubt that the big cats generally referred to as “panthers” in ancient coin reference works are actually leopards (or, occasionally, cheetahs), particularly when their spots are visible, as on this coin. There is, of course, no such separate species as a panther; even a black panther is simply a leopard (or, in the Western Hemisphere, a jaguar or cougar) with black fur obscuring the spots  The classical world was well aware that pantherae usually had spots. See the many ancient mosaics and other art depicting Dionysos/Bacchus with a leopard, such as this mosaic from the House of the Masks in Delos, from ca. 100 BCE, in the Archaeological Museum of Delos:

 

See https://www.pinterest.dk/pin/441423200974714028/; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaics_of_Delos#House_of_the_Masks. See also the following passage from Pliny the Elder’s Natural History at 8.23, concerning the spots on the panthera:

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D8%3Achapter%3D23

 “The spots of the panther are like small eyes, upon a white ground. It is said that all quadrupeds are attracted in a most wonderful manner by their odour, while they are terrified by the fierceness of their aspect; for which reason the creature conceals its head, and then seizes upon the animals that are attracted to it by the sweetness of the odour. It is said by some, that the panther has, on the shoulder, a spot which bears the form of the moon; and that, like it, it regularly increases to full, and then diminishes to a crescent. At present, we apply the general names of varia and pardus (which last belongs to the males), to all the numerous species of this animal, which is very common in Africa and Syria.”

For a detailed discussion of this passage in Pliny, and the terms panthera and pardus in general as used in the classical world, see the dissertation by Benjamin Moser of the University of Western Ontario, entitled The Ethnozoological Tradition: Identifying Exotic Animals in Pliny's Natural History (available at https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2566&context=etd), Chapter 3.1 at pp. 86-96, “Identification of the Panthera and Pardus.” (Moser argues, among other things, that while the term pardus -- from which the word leopard derives, after being combined with “leo” -- was used in the ancient world in Pliny’s time to refer only to male pantherae,  the term varia “was not reserved for females but [was] just another word to describe the panthera which arose from the spotted nature of these cats.”)

 ***The mask has more frequently been identified with Pan than with Silenus, but because the moneyer’s branch of the gens Vibia lacks the cognomen “Pansa” (a reason for the appearance of Pan on the coins of moneyers with that cognomen, as a pun), Silenus appears to be a more likely identification, given the association of Silenus with Bacchus. See Jones, supra at p, 289, identifying Silenus as “[a]n elderly attendant of Bacchus.” See also id. at p. 234 (entry for “Pan”), noting that “[a] bearded head which appears on [the obverse of] a silver sestertius of T. Carisius [46 BC), with a reverse type of a panther bearing a thyrsus, has been identified as Pan but is more likely to be a Silenus, matching the Bacchic reverse type.”

 

Edited December 8, 2022 by DonnaML

[Al Kowsky]

5 hours ago, DonnaML said:

Beautiful coins. Although, as I've strenuously argued in the past, that's no panther; that's a leopard! Look at the spots on all the depictions in mosaics. Never mind that there's no such actual species as a panther.

My two examples of Dionysos/Bacchus with his leopard:

Lydia, Philadelphia, AE 17, Late 2^nd/Early 1^st Centuries BCE, Hermippos, son of Hermogenes, archiereus [magistrate]. Obv. Head of young Dionysos right, wearing ivy-wreath and band across forehead, [Φ]ΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΕ[ΩΝ] vertically behind / Rev. Spotted pantheress [leopard] walking left, with head turned back to right, cradling thyrsos bound with fillet (ribbon) against left shoulder, right foreleg raised; ΑΡΧΙΕΡ-ΕΥΣ above, ΕΡΜΙΠΠΟΣ in exergue. Seaby II 4720 [Sear, D., Greek Coins and their Values, Vol. II, Asia & Africa (Seaby 1979), at p. 430 (ill.)]; BMC 22 Lydia 16 [Head, B.V. A Catalogue of Greek Coins in the British Museum, Lydia (London 1901) at p. 189]; SNG Von Aulock II 3057 [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Deutschland, Sammlung Hans Von Aulock, Vol. 2: Caria, Lydia, Phrygia, Lycia, Pamphylia  (Berlin 1962)]; SNG Copenhagen 340 [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Copenhagen, The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Danish National Museum, Part 27, Lydia Part 1 (Copenhagen 1947)]; Imhoof-Blumer 8 [Imhoof-Blumer, Friedrich, Lydische Stadtmünzen, neue Untersuchungen (Leipzig 1897) at pp. 114-115]; Mionnet IV No. 536 [Mionnet, Théodore E., Description de Médailles antiques grecques et romaines, Vol. IV, Lydie (Paris 1809) at p. 98]. 17 mm., 5.02 g.  [With old collector’s envelope.]

Roman Republic/Imperatorial Period, C. Vibius Varus, AR Denarius, 42 BCE, Rome Mint. Obv. Head of Bacchus (or Liber)* right, wearing earring and wreath of ivy and grapes / Rev. Spotted panther [leopard]** springing left towards garlanded altar on top of which lies a bearded mask of Silenus or Pan,*** and against which leans a thyrsus with fillet (ribbon); C • VIBIVS in exergue, VARVS upwards to right. Crawford 494/36, RSC I Vibia 24, Sear RCV I 496, Sear Roman Imperators 192 (ill. p. 116), Sydenham 1138, BMCRR 4295. 17 mm., 3.60 g.  Purchased from Edward J. Waddell, Ltd., Nov. 2020; ex Numismatica Ars Classica NAC AG, Auction 83, May 20, 2015, Lot 83; ex Frank Sternberg Auction 17, Zurich, May 1986, Lot 519.

 

*The identification of the obverse head as Bacchus or Liber is essentially immaterial. See Jones, John Melville, A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins (Seaby, London, 1990) at p. 33 (entry for “Bacchus”): “For the Romans . . . . [Bacchus] was generally identified with the Italian deity Liber, whose name is probably derived from the same root as the word ‘libation,’ suggesting that in Italy he was an earth or vegetation spirit who could be worshipped by pouring offerings upon the ground. . . . Bacchus appears rarely upon Roman imperial coins (and when he is given a name, he is called Liber). He is shown as a youthful male figure, nude or partly draped, perhaps with a wreath of ivy leaves. He may bear a thyrsus and be accompanied by Ariadne, a bacchant or maenad, or a panther.”

 ** There is little doubt that the big cats generally referred to as “panthers” in ancient coin reference works are actually leopards (or, occasionally, cheetahs), particularly when their spots are visible, as on this coin. There is, of course, no such separate species as a panther; even a black panther is simply a leopard (or, in the Western Hemisphere, a jaguar or cougar) with black fur obscuring the spots  The classical world was well aware that pantherae usually had spots. See the many ancient mosaics and other art depicting Dionysos/Bacchus with a leopard, such as this mosaic from the House of the Masks in Delos, from ca. 100 BCE, in the Archaeological Museum of Delos:

 

See https://www.pinterest.dk/pin/441423200974714028/; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaics_of_Delos#House_of_the_Masks. See also the following passage from Pliny the Elder’s Natural History at 8.23, concerning the spots on the panthera:

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D8%3Achapter%3D23

 “The spots of the panther are like small eyes, upon a white ground. It is said that all quadrupeds are attracted in a most wonderful manner by their odour, while they are terrified by the fierceness of their aspect; for which reason the creature conceals its head, and then seizes upon the animals that are attracted to it by the sweetness of the odour. It is said by some, that the panther has, on the shoulder, a spot which bears the form of the moon; and that, like it, it regularly increases to full, and then diminishes to a crescent. At present, we apply the general names of varia and pardus (which last belongs to the males), to all the numerous species of this animal, which is very common in Africa and Syria.”

For a detailed discussion of this passage in Pliny, and the terms panthera and pardus in general as used in the classical world, see the dissertation by Benjamin Moser of the University of Western Ontario, entitled The Ethnozoological Tradition: Identifying Exotic Animals in Pliny's Natural History (available at https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2566&context=etd), Chapter 3.1 at pp. 86-96, “Identifcation of the Panthera and Pardus.” (Moser argues, among other things, that while the term pardus -- from which the word leopard derives, after being combined with “leo” -- was used in the ancient world in Pliny’s time to refer only to male pantherae,  the term varia “was not reserved for females but [was] just another word to describe the panthera which arose from the spotted nature of these cats.”)

 ***The mask has more frequently been identified with Pan than with Silenus, but because the moneyer’s branch of the gens Vibia lacks the cognomen “Pansa” (a reason for the appearance of Pan on the coins of moneyers with that cognomen, as a pun), Silenus appears to be a more likely identification, given the association of Silenus with Bacchus. See Jones, supra at p, 289, identifying Silenus as “[a]n elderly attendant of Bacchus.” See also id. at p. 234 (entry for “Pan”), noting that “[a] bearded head which appears on [the obverse of] a silver sestertius of T. Carisius [46 BC), with a reverse type of a panther bearing a thyrsus, has been identified as Pan but is more likely to be a Silenus, matching the Bacchic reverse type.”

 

Your post is a very convincing argument 🤔! All the other coins posted on this thread show no leopard spots except the Julia Domna tetrassarion posted by R.C. His provincial bronze may indeed depict a spotted leopard 😉.

[shanxi]

Another example with  leopard spots.

Valerian I
Cilicia, Anazarbus
Æ 30mm
Dated CY 272 (253/4).
Obv.: AVT K Π ΛIK OVAΛЄPIANOC CЄ, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Rev.: ANASAPBOV MHTPO / Γ - Γ / ЄT BOC A M K, Dionysos, raising hand over head and holding filleted thyrsus, reclining on panther right, head left.
AE, 30mm, 18.34g
Ref.: Ziegler, Anazarbos, 829.1 [dies Vs2/Rs4] (this coin cited), SNG BN 2158

 

Edited December 8, 2022 by shanxi

[Spaniard]

@David Atherton...Very nice addition...

This is one of my most recent pick ups...

Thrace, Philippopolis. Antoninus Pius. 138-161 AD. AE As­sarion (3.94 gm, 18mm). Obv.: [ΑΥ Τ ΑΙ ΑΔΡΙ] ΑΝΤΩΝΕΙΝ, laureate head right. Rev.: ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΠΟΛEΙΤΩΝ, nude Dionysus standing left, holding cantharus over leopard and long filleted thyrsus. Mouchmov, Philippopolis 66-70 and 75, BMC 9: RPC Online 7441. VF.

[jdmKY]

Here’s my Vibius Varus, with the alleged panther. Please see @DonnaML’s excellent (as always) discussion of this type above

[DonnaML]

10 hours ago, Al Kowsky said:

Your post is a very convincing argument 🤔! All the other coins posted on this thread show no leopard spots except the Julia Domna tetrassarion posted by R.C. His provincial bronze may indeed depict a spotted leopard 😉.

Thank you! I would suggest that perhaps the coins showed leopard spots when they were in pristine condition, although I haven't researched other examples. And, even if they didn't, exactly what kind of other, non-spotted animal could these so-called "panthers" have been if they weren't leopards (or, possibly, cheetahs)? I don't think a self-respecting deity like Dionysos/Bacchus would have associated himself with a mere domestic cat, no matter how large, or even a North African wildcat! It isn't as if American mountain lions/cougars/pumas/panthers (all the same species) existed in the Roman Empire, after all.

[Roman Collector]

[dougsmit]

On 12/7/2022 at 10:41 PM, DonnaML said:

Never mind that there's no such actual species as a panther.

Semantics!   They are all genus Panthera which name was derived from the Greek πάνθηρ. 

Meanwhile I spend less time on coins and more time looking for cute kittens.  Can you ID this one?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthera 

[Spaniard]

@dougsmit...

The coin is.. 

Chach: Tarnavch, 7th-8th century, AE cash (20 mm, 3.08 grams), cf. Zeno-39570,
S&K-6.8 (type IV), lion right // tamgha of Chach surrounded by the
ruler's name in Sogdian

[dougsmit]

Did lions live in the mountains near Chach?

[happy_collector]

Nice addition, @David Atherton.
Dionysus can also drive a panther biga !!  🙂


PHRYGIA. Sebaste. Severus Alexander. 235 AD. Tetrassarion (30 mm, 10.41 g, 1 h).
Obv: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Severus Alexander.
Rev: CЄΒΑCΤΗΝΩΝ Dionysus driving biga of panthers to right, holding a long thyrsos in in his right hand and reins in his left.
30mm, 10.41g, 1h.
BMC 38. RPC VI online 5672. 
Leu Numismatik. July 2022.

 

Edited December 14, 2022 by happy_collector

[Broucheion]

 

11 hours ago, happy_collector said:

Dionysus can also drive a panther biga !!  🙂

Hi All,

An Alexandrian panther(esses) biga.

TRAJAN (27 Jan 98 - 9 Aug 117 CE)
ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT Year 19 (115/116 CE)

Æ Drachma
Size: 33x34 mm
Weight: 14.4 g
Axis: 00:00
Broucheion Collection R-2020-02-14.001

OBV: Trajan head wreathed with ears of corn, facing right. Aegis on left shoulder. Legend: [AY]TTPAIANAPI - CЄB[ΓEPMΔΑΚIKΠAP]. Dotted border not visible.
REV: Dionysus holding thyrsus, reclining in a biga of pantheresses moving left. The closer of the two pantheresses is looking back at emperor. Above: L [I]Θ. Dotted border.
Refs: Emmett-442.19; Geissen-Unlisted; Dattari-849; RPC III-4897.2; SNG France-1233.

Provenance: Bought from eBay. Ex Heritage Auction #61151, Lot #97064 (2020 January 26 Ancient Coin Selections from the Morris Collection, Part III World Coins Monthly Online Auction). Ex HJ Berk, with his ticket (inverntory #B23).
Notes: Notation on HJ Berk ticket states: "Probably the same OBV die as Cologne 701 (rev LIΘ Jupiter seated)."

- Broucheion

Edited December 14, 2022 by Broucheion