I found this attractive and rare little Roman Provincial bronze at a Belgian coin show. It was issued in the important port of Cyzicus, on the Anatolian side of the Sea of Marmora - during the reign of the emperor Claudius (41-54). The cozy, sociable mini coin shows the three surviving children of the emperor, Brittannicus (called Germanicus the Younger) on the obverse and Antonia and Octavia on the reverse. None of these was going to survive the violence of their step brother's Nero's reign. AE11 Cyzicus, Brittannicus, Antonia and Octavia (under Claudius). Obv. Head of Britannicus right. [Unreadable text: NEOS GERMANIKOS]. K-Y in the field. Rev. Busts of his sisters facing each other. AN-OKTA. 12 mm, 1.63 gr. RPC 2248. Not on Acsearch or Coinarchives, but it is on Wildwinds. To show the size of this tiny coin, here it is on the nail of my thumb:
WOW! A THREE-pack! What a GREAT deal! All in a tiny coin... congrats!!! And hard to find... Nice capture @Pellinore !!! I don't have a Three-Pack... but, I DO have one of each? This is a break-pack: RI Octavia Augusta AE 27 7.6g 54-62 CE married to Nero Thrace Perinthus Hera Samos RPC 1755 RI ANTONIA Minor AVGVSTA daughter of-Marc Antony wife of-Nero Claudius Drusus AE Dupondius 28mm 11.8g togate holding simpulum S-C RI Judaea Claudius w-Britannicus CE 41-54 Æ Prutah 17mm 2.8g Antonius Felix-procurator Dated RY 14 54 CE 2-crossed shields spears - Palm tree BPIT K AI L IΔ date Hendin 1348
That's really cool! It's important to note that this is Claudia Antonia, AD 27-66, daughter of Claudius (by Aelia Paetina), the half-sister of Claudia Octavia and Britannicus and step-sister of Nero. All coins portraying her were struck by her father Claudius. In every case she shares the canvas with her half-sister Claudia Octavia and/or her half-brother Britannicus, as on this coin. For this reason, I don't have a single coin of Claudia Antonia. She is not to be confused with Antonia Minor, the daughter of Marc Antony, who was 63 years older. Claudia Octavia was born sometime in late AD 39 to Emperor Claudius and his third wife, Valeria Messalina, who also happened to be his second cousin. Though she was Nero's step-sister, she was married off by her father to Nero in AD 53, when she was 13 or 14 years old. Here she is with her half-brother/husband on a tetradrachm from Alexandria: Nero and Claudia Octavia. Roman provincial billon tetradrachm, 11.1 g, 25.0 mm. Egypt, Alexandria, AD 56-57. Obv: ΝΕΡ ΚΛΑΥ ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒ ΓΕΡ ΑΥΤΟ, laureate head of Nero, right. Rev: ΟΚΤΑΟΥΙΑ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΥ, bare-headed and draped bust of Octavia, right; L Γ before. Refs: RPC 5202; BMC 119; SGI 657; Cologne 122; Milne 133; Emmett 127. Putting the fun in dysfunctional family, Nero went on to murder his mom, Agrippina II. With mommy out of the way, Nero tried to strangle Octavia on several occasions and had a well-known affair with Poppaea Sabina. When Poppaea became pregnant, Nero divorced Octavia, claiming she was barren, and married his mistress. The newly married couple tried to hide Octavia from the public, by having her exiled to the island of Pandateria (now Ventotene) on charges of adultery. Yes, his mistress was already pregnant with his child, but Octavia was the one charged with adultery. When Octavia complained, her friends were tortured. Unjust, right? The Romans thought so too, so the manifestations of sympathy for Octavia increased, and people demanded to have her back, thus forcing Nero's hand to use the ultimate solution: he had her killed in AD 62, when she was just 22 years old. There was a pathetic attempt to make it look like a suicide, by cutting her veins in a hot bath, but it was kind of hard to buy the suicide version, considering that Octavia's head was subsequently cut off and sent to Rome, as a gift for Poppaea. I can’t help but wonder what she did with the head.
Very cool! And great detail!! Even better than mine. Funny enough I just won one in the last Kairos auction. I was gonna do a write up this weekend. Haha! You beat me to it. Brittanicis with Octavia and Antonia Mysia, Kyzikos, AD.41-55. AE (12mm, 1.29g). NЄOC ΓЄPMANIKOC / K - Y. Bare head of Britannicus right. / AN OKTA. Confronted and draped busts of Antonia and Octavia. RPC 2248. Rare! Former Kairos
