JA's Levantine

I haven't seen too many silver Nabotenerans ... usually it's the two-faced obverse and the double corn reverse

=> I agree => it's super-nice seeing a silver version with some eye-appeal (I would welcome that baby into my collection, open arms)

 

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Here's another addition to my Nabataeans, a civic issue of Damascus, minted by Aretas III (83-62 BC). Aretas III defeated the Seleucid king Antiochus XII, which came as a pleasant surprise to the citizens of Damascus. They forthwith invited him to be their new king, as they were constantly faced with Ituraean harassment.

This isn't a Nabataean coin per se - it's a Damascene city issue, closely following the previous Seleucid model: bust of king on obverse, Nike standing on reverse. The difference between this coin and all of its Seleucid cousins is the inscription APETOY, and Aretas' monogram AP to the left.

It's not pretty, but it's exceedingly rare. Meshorer recorded two examples. This one may be the third known, although I'm sure there are others out there, probably mixed in with their common Seleucid lookalikes. This is the dealer's pic, which I've added to the catalog of coins of Aretas III on my website here. I'll be updating the image when the coin arrives. I don't expect any accolades for this coin, but it does make for a very important addition to my Nabataean research...



Arètas III (84-71 av. J-C). Bronze. Damas. Sa tête diadémée à droite.
R/: Niké tourelée debout à gauche, tenant un sceptre et une couronne.
Meshorer 8. 3,56 g.
Ex Jacquier, Kehl, liste 8, printemps 1988, n° 130

Note that the dealer's date reflects the time period during which the coin was minted, not that of Aretas III's reign. At some point during the reign of this king, the Nabataeans abandoned Damascus without a fight, and officially moved their capitol to Petra. I discuss the dating of these coins in detail on this page.

 

I snagged two crusty Levantine Provincials at CNG today, adding two more mints to my collection. The first is Hadrian of Tiberias. Tiberias is on the western shore of the Sea of Gallilee, founded around AD 20 by Herod Antipas, named after Roman emperor Tiberius.



There's a very fine article on this city at wiki. This coin isn't rare, but I haven't seen too many in much better shape. Actually, mine has a much crisper reverse than most, and cost me 1/3 as much as current retail offerings. Sometimes it works just to sit on the opening bid and hope everybody else is distracted by other stuff - not often, but sometimes. As you can see, I dressed up CNG's typically desaturated image (not a criticism - I understand their need to be conservative)...



JUDAEA, Tiberias. Hadrian. AD 117-138. Æ (22mm, 9.18 g, 12h). Dated CY 101 (AD 119/20). Laureate head right, with slight drapery / Female figure (Fortuna?) standing left, with foot on prow, holding bust and scepter; L-AP (date) across field. Kindler, Tiberias 11; Rosenberger 13; SNG ANS 1114. VF, green patina.

 

Well done!

 

Thanks bro. The second win is also not rare, but quite nice for the type. (Levantine Provincials can get pretty nasty.) This is Gallienus from Heliopolis, the City of the Sun - modern day Baalbek, Lebanon...



There are some truly astonishing Roman ruins in this city, like the Temple of Bacchus...



Do yourself a favor and check out some of the other ruins on wiki. Again, this coin is quite nice for the type - rough surfaces from all that desert wandering, but strong detail and inscriptions...



SYRIA, Coele-Syria. Heliopolis. Gallienus. AD 253-268. Æ (21mm, 8.24 g, 6h). Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Caduceus between crossed cornucopias. Sawaya – (D110/R280 [unlisted die combination]). VF, dusty green patina.

 

Nice pickups, JA ... couple a rough, but sweet lookin' additions (cool eye-appeal)

=> hey, I'll trade ya for a Phil-II sestertius?

 

I like the coin you won very much, but no thanks. Gotta keep checking off these mints.

 

those are cool new coins JA! and you're correct, the pics of the ruins are pretty awesome.

so you first coin is year 101..of what? roman rule of judea?

 

Founding of the city by Herod Antipas.

 

Well my CNG coins arrived today. It's obvious Ardy was handling these things while eating dessert. One's covered in butterscotch syrup and the other is powdered with confectioner's sugar. I don't know - I expected a little more professionalism. Anyway, I love 'em!

 

Well then, they must be sweet. They sure look sweet to me, especially the butterscotch coated.

 

mmmmmmmmmmmm......coins.

 

Neato additions! It looks like they spelled Gallienus with an extra I at Heliopolis. GALLIENIVS?

 

Yes, and I don't think it's an error because I found several coins, of this type and others, that use the spelling. Furthermore, the spelling is not confined to one die. But there are plenty of other coins of Heliopolis that don't have the extra I, so it was obviously a regional variant: sometimes GALLIENVS, sometimes GALLIENIVS. It's significant to note that this is a provincial coin that uses a Latin inscription, which is curious, as it's minted deep into Greek-speaking territory.

Also, some varieties don't include the AVG at the end of the obverse legend. Unfortunately, I have none of the references in which these coins live, so the best I can do is compare it to examples on the web.

 

This mighty tetradrachm of Tyre arrived today, with Ancientnoob provenance. Many thanks to Nathan for offering it at a price I could not refuse. Here is Trajan with the quintessential jock-head Melqart (the Levantine version of Hercules)...

 

Melqart is looking beefy!

 

He looks like a lineman. It's a big fat, righteous coin. I have no idea what its spending power was back in the day, but I'm guessing it would have bought a lot more than a loaf of bread.

 

Jim Otto, Offensive Center, Oakland Raiders...Old Bucket Head... my inspiration when I was playing in school, LOL... Kinda has that same look!

 

Yup, dead ringer...



I had his cards when I was a kid. We grew up in Seattle before the Seahawks, so my brother and I adopted the Raiders as our home team.

 

Antiochus VI serrate elephant. Y'all have to take my word for it - this is a great coin in hand. After two shoots, I still can't get a good image of it. Maybe I'll try an in-hand pic with incandescent lighting later.

The elephant holding a torch is a military symbol on these coins, as the Seleucids maintained a stable of 600(!) war elephants at Antioch - the ancient version of shock and awe. Imagine that coming at you on the battlefield.



I liked this coin because of the excellent detail in the elephant and the lettering on the reverse. It also has wonderful teeth. I don't have the exact attribution yet - they come with a number of different dates and control marks.