ANCIENT ARABIAN COINAGE: Proto-Nabataean Bronzes

JAZ Numismatics · October 16, 2024

In the middle of the 3rd century BC, Ptolemaic power was waning in the Levant and the Nabataeans began striking their own anonymous coinage, modeled after the staters of Alexander III...

Rachel Barkay, author of Coinage of the Nabataeans (2019) has classified these issues into four groups. Group I consists of coins struck over Ptolemaic bronzes. I've collected a group that clearly demonstrate the under-types. Coin 1 is typical of the series - notice the remnants of Zeus on the obverse and the legend ΠTOΛEMAIOY on the reverse. Coin 2 was struck on a Denomination B coin - the ghost images of Zeus and the eagle are quite dramatic. (This is the only larger coin I've discovered in the series. They are typically Denomination B, 19-21mm, 3-4g.) Although the coins are usually overstruck obverse to obverse, reverse to reverse, Coin 3 is switched and flipped. You can see the upside-down eagle on the obverse, and Nike is trampling poor Zeus' head. Finally Coin 4 is the only known example struck over a Seleucid host (possibly a coin of Antiochus IV). These overstrikes, in addition to re-tariffing small change, may have been a pro-Seleucid statement by the Nabataeans, so Coin 4 may have been an accident.

Because I chose "glorious mess" examples, it's difficult to discern that the style of the overstriking dies is reasonably attractive. It doesn't ascend to Hellenistic artistry to be sure, but the dies are delicately rendered and pleasing. Group II coins are struck on fresh blanks, and you can see the style much better. Coin 5 is an unusually well-struck, well-preserved specimen. Coin 6 is more typical, struck on a tight flan.

The style changes considerably in Group III. The flans are reduced to about 15mm, Athena takes on a distinctly masculine visage and wears something akin to a Boeotian helmet, and Nike is less detailed. Coin 7 is slightly larger than normal for the series. Coins 8 and 9 show a monogram under Nike's wreath (which has now become two branches), consisting of a crescent over the letter Λ (possibly a version of the letter A). This may be the monogram of a Nabataean king, possibly Aretas II (103-96 BC). Some authors have suggested that this group was modeled after the similar types of Alexander Balas, see Coin 10. The Nabataean coins certainly do have a Seleucid flavor at this point. Were these a tribute to Antiochus III after he conquered Coele-Syria and granted the Nabataeans autonomy? We can only guess...

Group IV coins are carelessly executed. The die cutters were either hasty or unskilled, or both, and the striking was also poor. Coins 11 through 14 are typical. Coins of this group are common and easy to collect. The second most common are coins of Group III, in third place would be Group I, and well-preserved coins of Group II are scarce.

It's tempting to assign an exact chronology to the different groups, but the best scholars can say is that they began in the 230s or 220s BC, and continued into the middle or second half of the second century. However, they circulated alongside later issues for at least another two centuries - they are found in highly worn condition in coin hoards of later kings. The first true Nabataean coinage would be struck by Malichus I (59-30 BC).

In 2014, CNG sold a drachm of this type. A second example surfaced in 2019. My bids to acquire one of these coins (at $400 and $700 respectively) were unsuccessful, which only proves that no matter how crazy you think you are, there's someone out there crazier than you.