New Alexandria Tetradrachm of Nero

Nice reverse, indeed.

Although not usually the most expensive coins and sometimes crudely made, these tetradrachms are my favorite and are dripping with history.

It is amazing to think that Alexandria was the most enlightened and dynamic city in the Roman Empire. If Marc Antony had defeated Octavian, ....

 

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We would be Walk Like An Egyptian...




Egypt Cleopatra VII Cyprus ? AE 11 1.8g obol Paphos mint as Isis dbl-corunc SNG Cop 649

 

Nice OP coin, and some very good examples, despite the style being somwhat weird sometimes


Nero and Poppaea, tetradrachm Alexandria mint, AD 63-64
NERO KLAY KAIS SEB TEP AY, radiate head of Nero right
TTOTTTTAIA SEBASTH, draped bust of Poppaea right, LI in right field
12.3 gr
Ref : RCV # 2002 v, Emmett # 129

Q

 

Great coins everybody!
Mine is the only Nero Tet that I have. But it was my first roman provincial coin.
Sorry about the poor quality of images.

 

So my tet is about .5 on the noodly scale @TIF ?

 

I think yours is a solid 5, maybe 6, on the Noodle Scale

 

May I suggestwhen using this resource that you start by clicking on 'Greek Letters' on the bottom row and then clicking on the letters you want. That saves you learning some of the oddities of the font like Q is used to make Theta. There are also some letters missing that you will want to insert in your normal font. I would have preferred they had included a lunate Sigma (C) and a couple other letters commonly found on coins but this is a great resource. Just copy and paste in your CT thread!

 

I don't have alexandria mint but I have Antioch tetradrachm of Nero

 

Nice Alexandrian tet's everyone. Here are a few of mine.



Nero Billon Tetradrachm

NEPΩ KΛAV KAIΣ ΣEB ΓEP AV
Radiate bust left, wearing aegis. Date LIΔ.

ΠYΘEIOΣ AΠOΛΛΩN.
Laureate bust of Apollo Aktios right, quiver over shoulder; star before.

Alexandria mint, Year 14= 67-68 AD

12.18g

RPC 5318, Köln 195; Dattari 207; Milne 300; Emmett 111

Ex-ANE



Nero Billon tetradrachm

NEΡΩ KΛAΥ KAIΣ ΣEB ΓEΡ AΥ
radiate bust left with aegis LIΔ year

ΠOΣEIΔΩN IΣΘMIOΣ
bust of Poseidon right, wearing taenia, trident behind shoulder

14.21g
Alexandria mint, 29 Aug 67 - 9 Jun 68 A.D

Dattari 244; Milne 298; Curtis 152, Sear 2014

Ex-Zurgieh

This type is from a series of tetradrachms depicting and naming a variety of Greek deities; issued to commemorate Nero's sojourn in Greece in 67 - 68 A.D.



Titus Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm

AYTOK TITOY KAIΣO YEΣΠAΣIANOY ΣEB
laureate head of Titus right

ΣAPAΠIΣ
bust of Serapis right, wearing taenia, modius on head ornamented with branches of laurel, date LB (year 2) right

Alexandria mint, 29 Aug 79 - 28 Aug 80 A.D
12.254g, 25.4mm

Milne 456 - 457; Geissen 319; Dattari 426; cf. BMC Alexandria p. 34, 281 (year 3); Emmett 235

Ex-Forum

2011 Forum Best of Type winner

This is the Wildwinds example

Ptolemy Soter, wanting to integrate Egyptian religion with that of their Hellenic rulers, by promoted worship of Serapis as a deity that would win the reverence of both groups alike. This was despite the curses of the Egyptian priests against the gods of previous foreign rulers (i.e Set who was lauded by the Hyksos). Alexander the Great had attempted to use Amun for this purpose, but Amum was more prominent in Upper Egypt, and not as popular in Lower Egypt, where the Greeks had stronger influence. The Greeks had little respect for animal-headed figures, and so an anthropomorphic statue was chosen as the idol, and proclaimed as the equivalent of the highly popular Apis. It was named Aser-hapi (i.e. Osiris-Apis), which became Serapis, and was said to be Osiris in full, rather than just his Ka (life force). Ptolemy's efforts were successful - in time Serapis was held by the Egyptians in the highest reverence above all other deities, and he was adored in Athens and other Greek cities.

 

And in even in the Western provinces, witness Postumus' Serapis type...SERAPI COMITI AVG (Serapis companion of the Augustus)

 

Hey, I also have a Titus...





Not quite as nice as Nero. Should I fill out my 12 Caesars with tets of Alexandria?

 

On the way back from a meeting today I drove past a little coin/gold pawn shop that I have bought some coins from about 5 or 6 years ago. I walked in and it noticed it now has a new owner, and was selling mostly modern mint coins with a side of other collectible like comics and Hot Wheels.

I took a long shot and asked if he had any ancients. The guy pulled out small roman collection that he said was from a very old dealer. By the yellow colour of the pages I could tell it dated back quite a few years, and as most collections that predated the metal detector most of the 20 or 30 coins were in very poor condition.

However, one coin caught my eye, it looked like an Alexandrian tetradrachm of Nero, but as my knowledge on provincial coins are not the best so I couldn't say for sure.

I offered the dealer the equivalent of about $20 US and the coin was mine.

As soon as I got into my car I Googled "Nero Alexandria AYTO" and to my pleasant surprise this Thread popped up, and it had a lot of familiar names!

Well here are some of my typical poor quality iPhone photos that do not do the coin justice (it is a lot better in hand).




Nero (54-68). Egypt, Alexandria. BI Tetradrachm , year 10 (AD 63/4). Radiate head r. R/ Draped bust of Serapis r., wearing taenia and calathus. RPC I 5274; Dattari (Savio) 251–2; Emmett 133.

The above is my very dodgy attribution copied from VC coins as my library is not fully developed and the only book that I assumed would have any likelihood of identifying (Greek Imperial Coins - David.R.Sear) doesn't reference it.

Not a coin that I would normally seek but what fun it was to find it and search for it. It had the right eye appeal, and I feel like I bought it at a fair price.

Any help on the attribution would be greatly appreciated.

 

My guess is that they kept the same obverse die and rotated different reverse dies? so Nero's face has gotten more crude over time while whoever on the reverse stayed looking good?!