This provincial bronze (AE 22) arrived today from Israel. I think it is one of Marcus Aurelius' provincial coins, probably from Egypt. Here are the specs: Metal : Bronze Diameter: 22 mm Weight: 11 grams Orientation: 11 h Obv: Portrait (Marcus Aurelius?), facing right, surrounded by Greek legend (can't decipher any letters) Rev: Serapis?, facing right, surrounded by Greek legend, ..........Σ (?) AV............ The Σ could be a T What do you think? Thanks
Yeah, you got it. Interestingly a poster yesterday asked about a similar coin. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/augustus-reverse.357967/ Caesarea Maritima, Samaria.
A while back I got 2 similar Provincial AEs but with non-bearded emperors. I never did get the attribution nailed down beyond a guess, but I settled on Aelia Capitolina rather than Caesarea Maritima. My train-of-guessing is below. Elagabalus? Æ 21 (c. 218-222 A.D.) Judea, Aelia Capitolina IM C M AVR ANTONINVS ? radiate head right / COL AEL [CAP COMM] around, [P F in exergue], Draped bust of Serapis right wearing calathus. Rosenberger 71 (?); Meshorer, Aelia 135 (?) (7.32 grams / 21 mm) Elagabalus? Æ 17 (c. 218-222 A.D.) Judea, Aelia Capitolina IM C M AVR ANTONINVS radiate head right / COL AEL [CAP COMM] around, [P F in exergue], Draped bust of Serapis right wearing calathus. Rosenberger 71 (?); Meshorer, Aelia 135 (?) (6.00 grams / 17 mm) Attribution note: Posted on CoinTalk March 15, 2019; Caesarea Maritima was suggested, but because the inscriptions are shorter on mine, and based on other examples found online, I went with Aelia Capitolina for both. This is a guess.
Well, both coins are actually of Caesarea and indeed of Elagabalus. The bigger one, you can see COL FL in the legend, clearly Caesarea. The bottom one as well, just by style. Sofaer 74 and Sofaer 76, respectively.
Thank you Factor. I appreciate the help - I am very fond of these, and it bugged me that I was unsure just what they were. Just to make sure - the big one is Sofaer 74 and the little one is 76?