Rare Provincial "Captives" AE26: Elagablus Nikopolis. (RPC, HHJ, Wildwinds Plate Coin)

Here's a relatively rare new addition to my "Captives" collection.

Elagabalus AE26 from Moesia Inferior, Nikopolis ad Istrum. One captive can be seen under Elagabalus' foot and another cowers under a shield.

In general, captives reverse types are much less common on Provincial coins than Imperial coins, so it's always interesting to consider why they used them here, now.

Also, this is a very unusual reverse design. I haven't see it elsewhere. Does anyone recognize it?

ONLY THIS COIN IS MINE, THE OTHER THREE JUST FOR REFERENCE

ELAGABALUS AE Tetrassarion (11.89g, 26.1mm), MOESIA INFERIOR, Nicopolis ad Istrum, circa 218-222, Novius Rufus, consular legate.
Obv: AVT K M AVPH ANTΩNEINOC. Laureate and draped bust right.
Rev: VΠ NOBIOV POV ΦOV NIKOΠOΛITΩN ΠPOC ICTP-O-N. Emperor standing left, foot on captive, crowned by Nike, between them a captive cowering beneath shield.
Ex: @zumbly; George Spradling (Coinproject 38-074); J. Winnett Collection (Tantalus 16683, 26 Jun 2006); Heather Howard Collection (Elag.125 on her archived Elagabalus Page).
Published: This coin = HHJ (8.26.34.2, 2015-2021 eds.), RPC VI 1197 (Temp.) ex. 1, and Wildwinds (first entry under Elagabalus on Moesia, Niko.).​

For comparison, a better example of the same reverse but with a different obverse type showing the captives detail:

NOT MY COIN





I wonder if these are supposed to be Dacian captives -- or perhaps Parthian and Arabian?

Nikopolis ad Istrum (which means Danube) was founded by Trajan on the spot of his victory over the Dacians (who traditionally lived beyond the Danube). Roman coins are packed with images of Dacian captives.

But the city also enjoyed a special relationship with the Severans *, having supported Septimius Severus in the civil wars. Septimius' coins at Nicopolis are vast in number and varied in type. Several types illustrated bound captives on either side of a trophy in much the same design as his famous PART ARAB PART AIDAB Sestertii struck in Rome. [Examples on ACSearch.] These may be continuous with that design.

* Apparently they angered Caracalla, who shut down the mint for a time.


A Septimius Type from Nikopolis, clearly modeled on the Sestertius below.
[NOT MY COIN]

The Septimius RIC Sestertius from Rome
[NOT MY COIN]

 

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That's a great addition, congrats.

 

Terrific coin - i have not seen this type before - anywhere. Interesting but no way to tell who he is stomping on.

 

Really nice coin @Curtis . As you say it’s a very unusual design that I have not seen before.

Here is my favorite captive coin.

Roman Empire
Marcus Aurelius
AR denarius, Rome mint, struck AD 173
Dia.: 19 mm
Wt.: 3.31 g
Obv.: M ANTONINVS AVG TR P XXVII; Laureate head right
Rev.: IMP VI COS III; German captive seated left at foot of trophy
Rev.: RIC 280
Ex Walter Stoecklin Collection (1888-1975); Ex Orfew Collection, private purchase Nov. 2019.

 

Hi All,

Captive with trophy.



Lucius Verus (7 Mar 161 - 169 CE)
Alexandria, Egypt Year 05 (164/165 CE)

Bi Tetradrachm
Size: 21x23 mm
Weight: 10.4 grams
Axis: 0

OBV: Lucius Verus diademmed and laureate head facing right. Indistinct letter (Λ ?) under neck. Legend: AVPHΛI• - •OVHPOCCЄB. Dotted border.
REV: Trophy with captive sitting below facing right, hands tied behind back. Legend: APMЄ - NIA. In left field: L; In right field: Є. Dotted border.
Refs: Emmett-2362.05; Geissen-2163; Dattari-3692 var: Obv legend; Milne-2519a var: Obv legend; Curtis-770 var: Obv legend; Mionnet 2254var: Obv legend; Vogt II 96; Vogt I 133 f.
Prov: Ex-Gemini, LLC, Auction VI (01 Oct 2010), Lot #626 (Unsold)

- Broucheion

 

Some wonderful coins shown.
My fav "captive"

 

Dear @Curtis!

Yes. a nice coin I would be happy to have it in my own collection. But I have a correction: Because HrHJ (2021) 8.26.9.2 and HrHJ (2021) 8.26.20.14, both from the same die, have AV K M AVP - ANTWNINOC, your coin has too AV K M AVP - ANTWINOC.

But it appears that your coin was struck over a previously used coin; for I can see a shadowy CTP behind the obv. legend AV K M AVP.

Nike crowning the emperor is a usual motif, a standard motif so to say. Wether it stands for a special victory over a special enemy I don't know. In Nikopolis this type is known for Severus and Geta too, however without captive. I think this type will also show up for Caracalla at some point.

Best regards
Jochen

 

@Jochen1 -- many thanks for the update! I may have mentioned before, but I think of my collection of coins as a sort of annotated bibliography of numismatic literature. So this one is my representative of the HHJ Nicopolis series, and I prize every extra bit of information like that! (Also a "collective biography," so this coin also represents the several collectors who previously owned it, H. Howard, G. Spradling, J. Winnett, @zumbly ).

@Curtisimo -- that is a spectacular Marcus Aurelius denarius. Given the prior collection history, I suspect that specimen was on my Watchlist at one point.

This is getting really deep into the weeds of "captives" coinage, but I suspect that's the first reverse showing a single captive seated left directly under a trophy. (And very few after that.)

I have a low grade M. Aurelius Denarius with the German captive seated right. And the Trajan denarius, which may have been the prototype, modifying Vespasian's Judaea Capta Denarius/Aureus by sliding the Dacian captive directly under the trophy (there had previously been kneeling captives under the trophy from Titus and a Fundanius Republican Quinarius and a seated captive just left of the trophy on a Cloelius Republican Quinarius):



That's a great Alexandrian captive coin, @Broucheion ! Similar design, but your captive has bound hands and is looking left. It's very interesting that the legend is ARMENIA (APMЄ - NIA), presumably identifying the captive as Armenian rather than Parthian. (Historically, and on Imperial captives coinage, Parthian captives & Armenia were closely related. But on RIC, I don't know if Armenia is ever bound; usually she's mourning, making her more "personification" than "captive" in some ways; usually the bound captive is Parthian.)




Nice Constantine SARMATIA DEVICTA, @expat ! I really like that type. Notice how Victory is using her foot to press down on the Sarmatian captive's bound hands, forcing him into a "stress position."

The deliberate discomfort of the captive seems to have become a standard feature in the mid-3rd century. Constantine's captives coinage actually borrows a lot artistically from that period.

Here's mine:


She "spurns" the captive just as Sol often did on many coins of Aurelian:


Another Constantine "captives" type, borrowing from another mid-3rd century design (Probus' ADVENTVS w/ captive under horse's hoof):

 

@Curtis this thread, the examples shown and your explanations of types has opened my eyes. I had never before given much thought to the positioning and attitude of the captives and the messages such designs portrayed.It has made me look again with fresh eyes at some coins I purchased just because of the image, not their message. You just showed an example, and I submit the same