Hi CT folks While roman provincial from Alexandria seem trendy lately ), I was flabbily browsing through mine when I realized one of them hadn't it's Emmett reference properly determined. Opening the book at the right page (hopefully) i still couldn't find the right one for the right year Hadrian, Drachm struck in Alexandria, c. 131-132 CE AVT KAI TRAI ADRIA CEB, Draped and laureate bust of Hadrian right Nilus leaning left. Behind an hippopotamus. L IS in field (regnal year 16) 23.87 gr Ref : Sear #1259, RCV #3763 Correct me if I'm wrong, but I still think LIS stands for regnal year 16 (131-132 CE) and there is nothing in Emmet for that year featuring Nilus, whatever the animal behind him is. Edit to add : I found a reference in RCV though... Any tips from you ACN* would be much appreciated Q * Alexandrian Coins Nuts !
What a nice drachm!! It is listed in Emmett: 1017.16, R1 "Nilus seated left on rock, hippopotamus below"
At least you knew what it was you were looking for. Sometimes we just cant see the obvious. I cant tell you how many times I just cant seem to properly read late Roman mintmarks. It should be obvious, but sometimes we look too closely I guess. Happens to the best of us (yea, we are all in that category!).
This drachm is very worn, corroded and has a crack. At the ANA convention last week it was in laying in a cheap box with a lot of other coins and I felt very sorry for this almost 2000 old year drachm of Hadrian. So I "rescued" it. Problem with attribution is that there is no readable legend on the obverse. On the reverse there are three letters, which I read as FRI. Can somebody confirm if this is an Africa drachm from Hadrian's travel series or should I just let it go and move on? 32 x 32 mm, 14.16 g; Rome(?) 134 - 138 AD Ob.: laureate head to right Rev: [..]FRI[..] Africa (?) reclining left
I don't think so - but thank you very much for your heads-up. There is no way I can attribute it, but it is a Hadrian - and it needed a home.
I'm thinking it's Nilus reclining holding a Reed, Emmett 1013 or 1014, like this one: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3222830 Or this one: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=4884364
@Justin Lee At first I thought that too, however on the Nilus drachms there is no lettering around. On the one I got, there is a FRI or DRI starting at 10 o'clock
Could it be this one with the date L ENΔEK A TOY around? https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3307861 I feel like I can maybe see the remains of the upside down TO in exergue on yours? Or any possibility that it is L IH, L IS, or L K at the upper left?
That could be, if in ex there is TO. Turning the coin and using different angles for the light, it looks more like an M or a K in ex. which doesn't make much sense And now I can see what maybe a T or the remains of an N like on the Euthenia drachm or the remains of an A - but definitely there is no L IH, L IS, or L K at the upper left. Very confusing, maybe I should have left Hadrian to his fate in the box where it was, no good deed goes unpunished
Do you mean the Imperial sestertii from his travels? They are typically much heavier, at around 25-27g, and the motif on the reverse of the AFRICA one has her with her hand extended with a scorpion, where yours appears to have something (like a reed) moving back upwards to the right. So to answer your specific earlier question, this leads me to believe it is not one of the imperial travel series, but is a provincial Alexandrian drachm. I like that you saved him! Keep looking and maybe you can find a die match??
I did a search for Alexandrian Nilus AEs of Hadrian and came up with a couple possibilities. I can't recommend the new RPC site enough (https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk). I think it can't be Euthenia, since I didn't see any depicting her holding a reed in the position of the one on this coin, so it must be one of the Nilus coins. Anyway, the exact ID would depend on the inscription and what is in the exergue (area beneath Nilus), and I can't see enough in the picture to say. Here are a couple options: https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/5601 https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/6017 https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/6016
I mean this type:http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.2.hdn.841d_as or this one http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.2.hdn.841f_as Thanks for the heads up
Totally agree with you in all you say: they certainly did a great job with the new RPC site! The stance of the figure on the reverse looks like Nilus, especially the position of the reed and the form of the thing where Nilus is reclining on. What threw me off was the partial legend on the reverse. Looking at the options you suggest it could be this type: https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coin/65150 because the legend on the reverse is on the upper outer left and what is there on my coin could well be ΑΚ Δ. Unfortunately, whatever is in exergue is not readable. For now the most plausible attribution is RPC III, 6017 and I will keep looking if there are other possibilities Thank you so very much @SeptimusT and @Justin Lee for all your help, it is very much appreciated.
