Yesterday's CNG Win - Sela of Obodas II

How does it come to be in my grubby paws already you might ask? Well, my office is only a 15-minute drive from their location, and why should you wait for a coin when you don't have to?



NABATAEA. Obodas II, with Hagaru I. Circa 30-9 BC.
AR Sela (drachm) 17mm, 4.52g, 1h; Petra mint.
Uncertain date but struck between 21/0 and 10/9 BC.
CNG 503 Lot 254

A few salient points for those unfamiliar with Nabataean coinage.

1. By the time this coin was minted, Petra was well established as the chief Nabataean stronghold and trading center.

2. On his coinage, Obodas II instituted the tradition of including the bust of the queen, sometimes jugate with with the king on the obverse, sometimes singly on the reverse. This tradition would continue until the end of the empire, even on the bronze coins. No other ancient coinage featured the queen on almost every type.

3. The busts on early Nabataean coins have simple facial details and a hairstyle that features ringlets. This is the "archaic" style.

4. After Obodas II, the coinage of Aretas IV evinces a more realistic style, as in this first-year sela (9 BC) with queen Huldu on the reverse (also from my collection)...



Post your Nabataeans, Morgan Dollars, etc.

 

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Nice pickup, John. Interesting coin background info as well.

I wonder if CNG allows you to preview upcoming auction coins in their office.

 

That's a good question. It's worth asking.

 

Very nice!

I don't have any Nabataean coins, but I do have some very modern (poorly made) replicas of ancient coins from Petra. One of these days I need to dig them up and post them.

Here's a photo I took.


I won two coins at the last CNG, both from relatively common issuers that I've been after for my "Philip II, Alexander III, and the Age of the Diadochi" story.

KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’. 336-323 BC. AR Drachm (16mm, 4.21 g, 12h). Abydos mint. Struck under Kalas or Demarchos, circa 325-323 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, Hermes standing left, holding kerykeion; monogram below throne. Price 1503; ADM II Series I. Lightly toned, minor porosity, light scratches.

KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III ‘the Great’. 336-323 BC. AR Drachm (16mm, 4.27 g, 12h). Miletos mint. Struck under Philoxenos, circa 325-323 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, legs parallel; monogram in left field. Price 2090; ADM I Series I. Lightly toned, graffito in field on reverse.

 

That's a good looking addition, John. I figured you were done collecting them.


Nabataean Kingdom
AR Drachm
O: Laureate and draped bust of Aretas right. RY30? (21 A.D.)
R: Veiled and draped bust of Shuqailat right; date at end of legend to left.
Petra Mint
4.2g
14mm
Meshorer, Nabataea 100


Malichos II, with Shaqilat (40 - 70 A.D.)
Nabataean Kingdom
AR Drachm
O: Laureate and draped bust of Malichus right.
R: Veiled and draped bust of Shaqilat right.
Petra Mint
3.6g
15mm


Rabbel II, with Gamilat (70/1 - 105/9 A.D.)
Nabataean Kingdom
AR Drachm
O: Laureate and draped bust of Rabbel II right; (RY 17).
R: Veiled and draped bust of Gamilat right.
Petra Mint
3.4g
14mm
Meshorer, Nabataea 149–51

 

..i can't post my Nabataean coin cause i sold it ...kool coin John!..i got outbid on there for an Aemillian denarius but i didn't figger it was worth much more than i bid..(and besides, i have 2 Karl Beckers of ole Amil...^^)

 

I collected most of the available bronze types and even a few rare ones. The drachms get pricey, especially the earlier ones. I put a low-ball bid on the OP coin and really didn't expect to win it. Surprise surprise!

 

If you're referring to the Trajan overstrike, I finally acquired a companion piece to that coin that will show the progression of all of Rabbel II's drachms. I'm working on a formal write-up for that.

 

...i was...and i figgered that too ^^ i lQQk 4ward to seeing that ya know...

 

I ended up with one coin from the auction, frankly all I bid on, and of no relevance here. But those are some Fantastic Nabataeans, @John Anthony.
...I have some AEs --I really like the borrowing from Maccabean and Ptolemaic prototypes (where I'm thinking, anyway, that the jugate portraits come from), but, Rats Take 47, no pics.

 

This is one of those little gems of events that quietly happen on CoinTalk. I’m looking forward to that write-up too!

nice new coin John!

 

Hater, only 15 minutes away from CNG.

 

Only a couple of nabataeans, here's one of Aretas I believe:

 

Malichus I (59-30 BC), minted year 27 = 34/3 BC. I got it in Petra many, many years ago, when the only accommodation was the old Petra Guest House with its bar inside a Nabataean tomb, when the access to the site was free, when there were few foreign tourists to whom Beduins proposed real ancient coins...
Meshorer 14



is it Obodas III (30-9 BC) or Aretas IV (9 BC - 40 AD)?
On the reverse I can read [...]ת מלך נבטו שנת[...], so I cannot decide if it is Obodas or Aretas...



This one is probably the commonest of all Nabataean coins. Aretas IV (9 BC - 40 AD) with Queen Shuqylat.



Rabbel II (70-106 AD), the last Nabataean king, with Queen Gamilat

 

@John Anthony....Very nic indeed!...Lovely portrait details!

Nabataean Kingdom. Aretas IV (Haritat), with Shaqilath..9BC-40AD AE unit Petra mint.
Obverse..Jugate draped busts of Aretas and Shaqilath (wife) right symbol in front (S?)
Reverse..Crossed cornucopias, Nabataean script (spelling Ruler and wifes names) in 3 lines, above, between and below the horns. Aretas name in Nabataean is 'Haritat' Spelt 'HRTT' and his wife 'Shaqilath' spelt 'SQYLT' See below..
Note the Nabataean script has a consonant based alphabet with no vowel indication...

 

You should try to clean the rev. just a little, the legend should be visible. With its square short flan and the king's curly hair, this coin is more probably a coin of Rabbel II and Gamilat, like this one :

 

Nice new coin! I've always found these Nabataean coins very interesting but only have one in my collection so far. I don't have the reference handy... but I think it's the same as one of the coins above as Nabataean Kingdom. Aretas IV (Haritat), with Shaqilath.

 

Many thanks, @Spaniard, for explicating the Nabataean script. Had to Wiki it. Sure enough, it's a direct descendant of Aramaic --relative to Hebrew, almost the prototype of Yiddish (there are even transliterations of Aramaic in the earliest Greek mss. of the Gospels). And, more widely, almost an ancient Middle Eastern equivalent (...along with Greek) of Swahili, up and down the East African coast, from vaguely medieval times. ...Fun Stuff!!!

 

Yeah that's the trouble of traveling these days in the middle east. In Egypt it's hard to get off the beaten track as the police don't want you to visit Sinai or towns like Assiut (afraid of repercussions if any more travelers lose their lives or otherwise have trouble with Islamists). I did manage to visit Siwa Oasis and many more sites off the usual tourist routes but it took a lot of effort and sleuthing. I also visited Wadi Rum in Jordan which was pretty cool and hung out in Aqaba. I'd love to go to Petra but its had a lot of trouble with hardliners tearing down the monuments.

 

Few more from Petra. These were taken 14 years ago. The hospitality was amazing there. I entered the ruins before sunrise and for most of my time had them all to myself.

Definitely need to get back to the Middle East. Other than an airport stop in Qatar, we haven't been there since Covid.