I posted this item a few days ago, having well-appreciated response from some of you. I also posted this lead tessera/token/amulet on another forum, and emailed some friends numismatists... Some said : great find ! An Antinoös lead portret tessera ! Wow ! Others stated this not to be Hadrian's gay friend... Balance is now 50/50, although I wouldn't dare to question our forum's specialist, who said : nope. Not Antinoös, not even from Egypt Origin... Here's two of the replies I had on another forum : Obverse : I do not believe it is Antinoos. There is a palm? to the left, so I am thinking something like Hermanubis (if it is Alexandrian, which I am not at all sure it is). The headdress looks strange, though. There looks like a snake to the right, similar to that on the head. Reverse: The standing figure holds a vase on a stick/paddle, not a pomegranate. There looks to be a boat? on a base with a tower/structure with a window (perhaps part of a pharos picture?). There is an animal standing right with a curved horn (ram?/bull?). There appear to be other animals, which I can not make out, perhaps ascorpion or triton. The standing figure appears to hold another vase in his other hand.An extremely interesting coin, probably unique... I have some doubts that is ancient. I have seen well over 150 lead pieces from Egypt and each has had much more surface corrosion and a white, off-white, or whitish tan patina. This is just a little dark, and lead can pick up that much color in a very short time. The surface looks more battered than corroded. Perhaps I am being overly suspicious... Let's give it a final look...
It's beyond my understanding. I still think it has the look of Antinoos, but, hey, I'm no scholar especially on this topic.
There is a chance it is Antinoös. But there is an equal chance it is some other guy. What I can say with the utmost certainty is that this is not Egyptian. One other thing to note - Egyptian lead tesserae are not known for the city of Alexandria. Anyone selling one as such is wrong.
Well, I had some positive ID's on Antinoös, although some saying it's not him... I might take a risk here, but i will contact the seller right now to agree on this one
You should also realize that the other person who doesn't think its Antinoös literally wrote the reference on Roman-Egyptian coins.
I see. Dont know their real names, only their forum ones... Am writing to the seller this instant, telling him i will take it. If it's not A, it still remains a fascinating and interesting item...
Rudi maybe this comes across as odd but I am an absolute zero when it comes to provincial coinage. If I had this coin in hand I wouldn't honestly know where to even begin! Sorry I'm useless here :dismay: Ras
