Not bad at all, for under 20 bucks (Seleucis & Pieria tessera; Asclepius)

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I never heard of bronze tesserae either, but the pairing of the motifs is Sweet. Like it.

 

That is a nice looking coin, but is it really from Antioch? As far as I know that type is attributed to Pergamon.
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4302365

The Antioch version is with the portrait to the left and the reverse is slightly different.
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4337844

Tessera is four in Greek (hence why these "cubic aka four cornered" mosaics are called like that), so perhaps it is another name for a tetrachalkon? No clue.

A serpent/Asklepios coin from my collection:

Mysia, Pergamon. Asklepios bronze coin. (Mid-late 2nd century B.C.)
Obverse: Laureate head of Asklepios right
Reverse: Serpent entwined around staff of Asklepios. ΑΣΚΛΗΠΙΟΥ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ.
Reference: SNG von Aulock 1373, SNG Cop. 370-376.
4.03g; 15mm

 

Tessera does refer to a small piece of a hard material that was cut into a shape (often a cube) to be used to construct a mosaic.

For commerce, the Romans used the word tessera to convey the Greek term σύμβολον (token). They were made out of several different materials - mostly lead, but also bronze, bone, ivory, clay, glass, and wood. They functioned as tickets (some were even marked with seat locations) and as vouchers for the poor that were distributed by the government to be exchanged for something of assistance such as grain (tesserae frumentariae) or money (tesserae nummariae).

Here's my unusually-shaped example. I don't know for what it may have been exchanged. The thunderbolt was a symbol of Jupiter or Zeus. Perhaps it granted entrance to a religious festival, ceremony, or banquet?





ASIA MINOR. Uncertain. Circa 2nd to 1st centuries BC. Tessera (Lead, 22x10 mm, 3.42 g). Thunderbolt between two stars. Rev. Blank.


@Alegandron started a thread on Tessera in April 2020 that is located here:
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/tessera-coins-tokens.358135/

 

Rome.
Lead Tessera
c. 1st cent. AD
Fortuna standing left, resting rudder on ground with right hand, holding cornucopia in left
Large DP
13mm, 1.39 g, 12h
Rostovtsev 2307; Ruggerio 808-9
Ex: Tom Vossen collection of Roman lead objects.
Ex: Gert Boersema Ancient Coins

 

Here's my Asklepios from Pergamon:

 

Let's keep adding to the den!

 

Cool. You're looking at a real reptile here.
Any chance of your helping out with the legends?

 

ΑΣΚΛΗΠΙΟΥ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ, "Asklepios the savior."

 

Thanks for that! ...Just looked up the transliteration (sorry, not enough Coin Greek), and it's "Soter." Like the title of however many Ptolemies were involved. (Did some of the Seleucids use that, too? No worries; I can find that out.)
Really, Thanks.

 

Translation is correct but just something informative for most people here at the forum that does not know that. The "OY" instead of "OΣ" in the name of Asklepios means it is "Of", possessive. So the full translation is "Of Asklepios the Savior", the coin is basically of Asklepios.

Soter aka Saviour is used for both kings and gods. The gods that are a saviour of a city often has a cult around it. For Thasos island it is "Herakles the Saviour", for Maroneia in Thrace it is "Dionysos the Saviour". For Pergamon it is "Askelpios the Saviour".
It is also used for kings of the Ptolemaic Empire, Seleukid Empire and Bactrian Empire. For example Antiochos I Soter and Demetrios I Soter.

Yours is a different type as all the coins above, indeed without any inscription.

 

I only have one featuring Aesculapius:

(However, NOT a Tessera)

RR Rubrius AR Quinarius Donnsenus 87 BCE Neptune Victory alter snake Aesculapius Sear 261 Craw 348/4

 

Some info about Aesculapius and 2 coins:

 

Many thanks! That's more stuff I never knew, in as little space as that, than I've seen in recent memory!
...And that was the background of the passage in the book of Acts, where a silversmith gets Paul run out of Ephesus, with half the town chanting, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" It was effectively an issue of competing saviors.