I've posted my AE type set of Rabbel II before, but recently cherry-picked a coin that I thought I might never come across. Rabbel ascended the throne in 70 AD as a young man, under the regency of his mother, Shaqilat II. The bronzes struck from 70 to 75/76 are engraved in a delicate, classical style (Coin 1). After he marries Gamilat in 76 AD, the style becomes coarse and thick (Coin 3), and eventually rather primitive (Coin 4). The new coin in my collection is Coin 2, which represents the earliest engraving style among the Rabbel/Gamilat bronzes. In fact, Meshorer thought these were mules, wherein some of the leftover Rabbel/Shaqilat obverse dies were used to mint the coins of the new queen. I'm not so sure. The reverse of Coin 2 also exhibits the delicate style of the earlier pieces, particularly in the lettering. I believe these "classical style" Rabbel/Gamilat units are extremely rare. Meshorer cataloged one, and I've only seen one other in real life. Viewing the coins in a row demonstrates the progression of the style... I was also surprised to find a rare bronze of Obodas II on the market recently, the second coin with eagle reverse. I've paired it with another type that I posted earlier in my broken coins thread. Any of the bronze types of Obodas are scarce, to say the least, and to find one of the eagle types with a sizable chunk of lettering on the reverse is a small coup. I know you guys aren't as titillated with Nabataeans as I am, but I do know, as fellow collectors, that you can appreciate my smug satisfaction at filling two important holes.
Thats right, I skip right over them on VC or ebay, but I could say I just leave them for you. I still read and enjoy your threads though. It is interesting coinage. Who's to say I wont get into them later on. Still trying to get more into byzantine but is hard. What I really like is we pretty much all have our specialties and interests.
I must say I know very little about Nabataean coins but enjoy reading your posts every time I see them. They do have a very interesting history though. I look forward to reading more!
Nabataeans ... ummm, I may have gotten side-tracked? (*sigh*) .... I'm glad that you're so smitten by your Nabobeans (I love ya , brother)
John i love these coins, the color and style, very cool. i've been picking a few of these coins myself, before you buy them all..
There won't be any shortage. Both my contacts in Israel and UAE assure me Nabataean coins are sprinkled all over the Levant and Arabian Peninsula. They just keep finding them. Barely 25% of Petra has been excavated. New varieties keep being discovered - one was just posted at FORVM recently. What we see of Nabataean coins on the market today is really just the tip of the iceberg.
congrats to you JA. i really like the eagle coin, reminds me of the ptolemy reverses....inspired by them maybe?
Yes, unquestionably. The Nabataeans used Ptolemaic coinage extensively in their shipping trade between Gaza and Alexandria during the 3rd-century BC. This Ptolemaic eagle is found even into the coinage of Aretas IV, in the 1st-century AD. It no doubt had some special significance to the Nabataeans, but what that is we can only guess.
A couple of really nice pickups John, congrats! The Obodas coin really adds to the mystery of the field symbols with the O H combination being found on many examples of Aretas IV. I'm interested in the coin that you mentioned on Forum, where is it posted?
It's gordian_guy's coin, a dated bronze of Aretas IV/Shaqilat with an engraver's error, and in superb condition to boot... https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=96402.0
