Otho AE As of Antiochia

After I recently "accidentally" bought my first Tetradrachm from Antiochia, I realized that I already have a coin from Syria´s provincial capital in my inventory.

I have posted this provincial AE of Otho before, but I did not really know anything about it´s background as it was my first Roman Provincial coin and the only reason I got it was to have an otherwise unavailable bronze portrait coin of this emperor who famously did not strike any imperial bronze coinage.

In the beginning I wondered if I should have gotten a Roman Denarius instead, but last week I received the certification for it from Sear and now I think it deserves a write up .

As I have nothing to add to what the great David Sear wrote, I´ll just share it for your enlightenment:

"Destined to become one of the greatest cities of the ancient world, Antioch-on-the-Orontes, the capital of Seleucid and later of Roman Syria, was founded in 300 BC by Seleucus I Nicator. Named after the king's father Antiochus, a Macedonian noble, the city was situated on the left bank of the Orontes some fifteen miles from the sea, on the edge of a large and fertile plain. Strategically, it was ideally placed between the Anatolian and Eastern possessions of Seleucus' kingdom. The city of Seleucia, founded about the same time at the mouth of the Orontes, became the harbor of its more important neighbor. Originally populated by 5,300 Athenian and Macedonian settlers whom Antigonus had planted at nearby Antigoneia, Antioch, like most capital cities, soon developed a very cosmopolitan population. This included a large Jewish community whose privileges were said to date from the time of Seleucus himself. As the royal capital, Antioch-on-the-Orontes naturally became the principal mint for the Seleucid coinage and remained so throughout the two and a half centuries of the kingdom's existence. Pompey the Great annexed the city in 64 BC and it became the capital of the Roman province of Syria and the seat of its proconsular governor. Its coinage continued on a large scale and under the emperors the Antiochene mint became one of the most important in the eastern half of the Empire, supplying local currency in both silver and bronze for circulation over a wide area. In periods of emergency, such as civil wars and foreign invasion, the mint was also utilized for the striking of regular Roman denominations in silver and gold, especially under Vespasian and several of the Severan emperors. Eventually, in the later 3rd century, Antioch became a regular Roman mint as part of the decentralization of currency production. It was to remain an important supplier of coinage to the eastern provinces down to the time of the Persian and Arab invasions of the early 7th century. This nicely preserved bronze denomination was issued from Antioch during the reign of Marcus Salvius Otho, one of the emperors who held power briefly during the period of civil wars following the suicide of Nero in AD 68. It belongs to a large class of Antiochene bronzes lacking the mint name but bearing the formula S C (Senatus Consulto, “by Decree of the Senate”) on the reverse. The denomination is uncertain but it may have circulated as the equivalent of an as in the Roman currency system (cf. RPC I, pp. 623-4)."



IMP M OTHO CAE AVG , laureate head of Otho right / large S C within laurel wreath
Bronze As or 4 Chalkoi (?)
Antiochia, February-April 69
RPC 4319 and plate 164 (6 specimens cited); McAlee (The Coins of Roman Antioch) 323; MBCG p. 177, 213
"nearly EF with excellent portrait and nice brown patina, rare" (according to Sear)

 

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Wow - that must be one of the nicest portraits of Otho existing in bronze!!

 

Agree with SA, great portrait.


Otho (69 A.D.)
AR Denarius
O: IMP M OTHO CAESAR AVG TRP - Bare head right.
R: SECVRITAS PR - Securitas standing left, holding wreath and scepter
Rome Mint, Feb- Mar. 69 A.D.
18mm
3.2g
RIC 8, BMC 18, S 2162, C 17

 

Wonderful portrait. What an unusual flan!

 

here's a nice example that I sold last year.

 

@Julius Germanicus

That is a superb portrait of Otho-great coin. Here is my denarius. It was the first ancient coin I ever bought.

 

Denarius be hanged, that is a wonderful portrait! You made the right choice, IMHO.

 

Great AE @Julius Germanicus !

I have one of those Half-n-Half Billon things. Not enough Silver nor Bronze...


RI Otho 69 CE BI AR Tet 23mm Egypt Helmeted Roma Emmet 186

 

I bet there are not many whose first ancient was an Otho!

 

that's a cool looking coin! pretty sweet style, but a cool flan...conical with the sides filed like crazy? what's the size and weight?

 

Fantastic coin Julius Germanicus, specially the bust, I have a couple of Alexandrian Otho nowhere near as nice as the Antioch type.

 

I agree half-n-half things I got a couple below poor man's Antioch Tet's.

 

Size is 24.76 mm; weight is 9.28 grams.

The flan shape with the sloping sides exactly matches that of the specimen posted by Victor Clark, so I suppose they were all struck that way

May I ask how much you sold yours for? Mine ended up costing me ten times the opening bid .

 

Nice!

 

Nice, looks like higher silver content than usual.

 

That flan is the result of blanks poured in an open top mold (perhaps stone?). The taper allows them the be removed more easily. These are standard for Alexandrian bronzes as well. I do not know why they made the billon blanks in a different way. Perhaps closed molds allowed better weight control???

The problem I have always seen with the Antioch and Alexandria Otho issues is that he looks nothing like the effeminate, pudgy wig wearing Roman Otho. The picture history has painted of the man is not consistent with the heroic portrait on these bronzes.

I don't have a bronze but below is a billon tetradrachm of Antioch. I don't think the tetradrachm portraits match the bronzes, the denarii, the Alexandrians or anything else. What did Otho look like?

 

During the Renaissance antiquarians used denarii to help identify unknown marble busts and statues as emperors. Certainly, they had their work cut out for them with variable results. Otho's denarii are much closer to the 'effeminate, pudgy wig wearing' emperor we all know so well. It probably had something to do with the Roman engraver's proximity to their subject the provincials lacked.

 

Julius, what an amazing portrait!

Here is my tetradrachm of Otho. It is very similar to Doug's only that the wear makes him look like a cartoon character - even more removed from what he probably looked like in life.

 

I sold it for $375.

 

a really nice winner you have got here