I had a Egypt Pius tetradrachm that ended up on wildwinds, but I parted with it and picked this particular one up due mainly for the reverse that I liked better. Antoninus Pius (138 - 161 A.D.) Bilion Tetradrachm Egypt, Alexandria. O: ANTWNINOC CEB EVCEB, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind. R: Artemis advancing right, holding bow in left hand, drawing arrow from quiver with right; LE in left field. Dated RY 5 (141/2 AD) 21mm 10.93g Köln 1364; Dattari 2151; Milne 1705; BMC Alexandria -; Emmett 1362/5.
That's a very cool addition, Mat ... I love A-Pius coins Sadly, I don't have any AP Tets (just my usual drachms and sestertii) ... man, I need to buy more coins!!
I have two Pius tets that illustrate what I consider a problem with the silver of this period. These are low grade silver. Perhaps they are too good to call billon but they have a lot of base metal in the mix. This makes them suckers for corrosion in burial and being ruined by overcleaning. Acids that might help a 50% silver denarius can wreck a 25% coin. I do not know what the metal content of these is but we see many bright and rough tets and a few smooth and dark ones. My overcleaned Spes is a lot less worn than my toned Nilus. I wish people who batch process these would use care. As it is, I strongly prefer my worn coin.
A egypt vespasian I got 2 weeks ago is very over cleaned, white as a ghost & still has hard copper exposed on it. But won it cheap so I dont mind. Over cleaned ancients I can tolerate, alot!
I agree with Doug. Egyptian tets of Antoninus Pius seem to all be of poor quality metal. My first Roman Egyptian tet was an A-Pi from a small mixed lot. EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius year 11, CE 147/8 billion tetradrachm, 23 mm, 11.7 gm Obv: ANTΩNINOC CEBEVCEB; laureate head of Antoninus Pius right Rev: L-ENΔ-E-KATOV; Dikaiosyne seated left, holding scales and cornucopia Ref: Emmett 1377 (11), R1 The metal is ugly and it deterred me for seeking more Roman Egyptian coins. I got over that . There are bunches of fascinating issues from Roman Egypt, including the tremendous variety of A-Pi drachms-- wish I had more of those! EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius year 2, CE 138/9 billion tetradrachm, 24 mm, 12.63 gm Obv: AVT K T AIΛ AΔP ANTΩNINOC EV CEB, bare head right Rev: ETO VCB, canopus of Osiris right on cushion Ref: Emmett 1373 (2), R1
