New Nerva Billon Tetradrachm of Egypt

Nerva (96-98 A.D.) became emperor at the age of 65, after years of service under Nero and the Flavian emperors. He was consul in 71 and 90. Upon the assassination of
Domitian he was declared, on the same day, emperor by the Senate, which was the first time an emperor had been voted into office by that body.

As emperor, he vowed to restore liberties that had been taken away under the reign of Domitian. Nerva's brief reign was characterized by his inability to control the Roman army, and because of pressure from the Praetorian guard, he decided to adopt an heir, the popular general Trajan. This wise selection was probably the best outcome of his reign, which ended upon his death of natural causes on January 27th, 98.

During the 15 months of his reign he managed to issue Imperial coinage in copper, orichalcum, silver, and gold. The mint of Alexandria also struck tetradrachms in his name. The following is a new acquisition...

Type: Billon Tetradrachm, 25mm, 12.7 grams, mint of Alexandria year 96-97 A.D.

Obverse: Bust of Nerva facing right, KAIS SEB AVT NEPOVAS

Reverse: Agathodaemon serpent coiled with head right, holding caduceus and grain ear within coils, wearing the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. In exergue, LA.

Reference: Milne 542, Dattari 638

This coin is listed as "rare".



Agathodaemon was a spirit of vineyards and grain fields in ancient Greek religion, and was associated in Ptolemaic and Roman periods with the Egyptian deity Set in the syncretic religious environment engendered by the Ptolemies. A Canopic branch of the Nile in the Nile delta was also referred to as the Agathodaemon branch, as reported in the scholar Ptolemy's work Geography.

Please post any coins you feel are relevant - Nervas or coins of Alexandria...Thanks for following along.

 

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Very nice @ancient coin hunter. I don't think I've seen an example of this coin before now.

 

A fellow I need in this denomination, great addition.

 

Great write up, thank you @ancient coin hunter ... very nice Tet! I think the snake REALLY identifies it as Alexandrian.

I do not have an Alexandrian Tet of Nerva, but I do have a Nerva from The Alexadrian Tet Lady @TIF :

She cured the goiter and he has been great ever since!

RI Nerva AE Dupondius 96-98 CE LIBERTAS PVBLICA -pileus TIF

Since Alexandria / Egypt always is known for BIIIiiiig coins, how about a LITTLE one?


Egypt Ptolemy III Euergetes 246-222 BCE AE Chalkous 12.0mm 2.0g Zeus-Ammon Eagle Svoronos 840 ex Righetti Collection

 

cool snake.

 

Thanks @Bing !

 

Yeah I think it's pretty cool too!

 

Thanks I'm glad you liked the prose and nice coins you have there!

 

I'm glad you like it @Mat !

 

I am wondering how many other emperors struck this type - checking wildwinds and the Dattari catalog, which is available online. Who can forget @TIF 's Agathadaemon on horseback?

 

Roman Egypt and Agathodaemon, two of my favorites! Nice pickup, @ancient coin hunter! I've bid on Nerva/Agathodaemon tets a few times but so far no luck. The Alexandria mint didn't issue a huge variety of Nerva tetradrachms (*see end of this post) and of the issues, your Agathodaemon is the type I most want.

Emmett's rarity rating (frequency in his surveyed collections) lists this coin type as 1, or most common. However, his rarity ratings and market availability sometimes do not align. This is one of those times. There are only thirteen different examples in ACsearch, no repeats. While ACsearch does not have every auction house and it doesn't include private dealers/retailers, it is a good barometer of the last ~17 years, plus a smattering of old or very old catalogs. I guess collectors hang onto these!

I have no Egyptian Nervas but I have several Agathodaemons, both straight and syncreted . I've shown some of these coins several times in the last week. Funny how things come in runs.

Plain, wearing a skhent (the double crown representing Upper and Lower Egypt), holding a grain ear in its coins (not well seen here):

EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian
billon tetradrachm, 22.5 mm, 12.9 gm
regnal year 5 (CE 120/1)
Obv: laureate head right, crescent in right field
Rev: Agathodaemon serpent standing erect right; L-E
Ref: Dattari-Savio plate 71, 1532 (this coin); RPC 5270; Emmett 803.5
ex Dattari Collection

Agathodaemon riding a horse (and oh how I love this coin )

EGYPT, Alexandria. Domitian. Regnal year 10, CE 90/91. Æ diobol (25mm, 10.86 g, 12h). AVT KAICAP ΔΟ ΜΙΤ CEB ΓΕΡΜ, laureate head right / Agathodaemon serpent, wearing the skhent crown (emblematic of upper and lower Egypt), on horseback galloping left; L I (date) below. Köln –; Dattari (Savio) –; K&G 24.109; RPC II 2585; SNG Copenhagen 214; Emmett 277.10 (R5).
Ex Giovanni Maria Staffieri Collection
Ex West Coast/Lloyd Beauchaine Collection (Classical Numismatic Group 41, 19 March 1997), lot 1110
Ex Classical Numismatic Review Vol. XVI, No. 1 (January 1991), lot 31
Ex Numismatic Fine Arts Fall Mail Bid Sale (18 October 1990), lot 2365
Appearances:
Staffieri, Alexandria In Nummis 39 (this coin)
Obverse illustrated in Emmett as the header for the Domitian section, p. 24 (this coin)
Fully illustrated in Emmett, p. 26 (this coin, discussing the unusual reverse).
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/so-these-exist-snake-cowboys.314032/

Agathodaemon with the head of Serapis:

EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius
Regnal year 17
AE drachm, 33mm
Obv: laureate bust right
Rev: Serapis-Agathodaemon standing erect right
Ref: Dattari 2829; Emmett 1678.17
Ex Robert L. Grover Collection of Roman Egyptian Coinage, previously held by the Art Institute of Chicago (1982.1988, G.781)

Agathodaemon with the head of Serapis, riding a horse:

EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius
Æ drachm (32mm, 23.0 g, 12h); RY 23 (CE 159/60)
Obv: Laureate bust right, slight drapery
Rev: Serapis-Agathodaemon serpent erect right on horseback advancing right; L K Γ (date) across field. Only the K is visible on this coin but this is the only year of issue for the type
Ref: Cf. Köln 1852-3; Dattari (Savio) 8939; K&G 35.820; Emmett 1679
Ex X6 Collection.

...

*Alexandrian Tetradrachm reverses for Nerva:

Agathodaemon standing erect right
Alexandria bust right, wearing elephant headdress
Dikaiosyne standing left, holding scales and cornucopia
Eagle standing right
Eirene standing left, holding caduceus and corn
Isis bust right
Nilus bust right, cornucopia
Serapis bust right
Tyche standing right, holding cornucopia, hand on rudder

There are two types of dichalkons for Nerva (cornucopia, ibis standing right) but that's it for his denominations.

 

EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian Drachm 134-35 AD Triptolemos in chariot
Reference.
Emmett 1060.18; RPC III, 5920; Köln 1143

Issue L IH = year 18

Obv. ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙС ΤΡΑΙΑΝ - ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟС СƐΒ
Laureate draped and cuirassed bust of Hadrian, r., seen from rear.

Rev. L ΙΗ
Triptolemos in chariot, right, pulled by two winged serpents.

25.62 gr
32 mm
6h

 

EGYPT, Alexandria. Hadrian Tetradrachm 125-26 AD Agathodaemon
Reference.
Emmett 804.10; Köln 894; Dattari 1552; RPC III, 5596

Issue L ΔΕΚΑΤΟΥ or L ΔΕ = year 10

Obv. ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙ - ΤΡΑΙAN ΑΔΡ CΕΒ
Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, seen from behind.

Rev. L ΔEKATOY
Agathodaemon erect right at left, wearing skhent and enfolding caduceus, facing Uraeus erect left at right, wearing disk and horns, enfolding sistrum, their tails knotted together and holding a club erect

13.35 gr
23 mm

 

Very nice @Okidoki, impressive even.

 

Thanks @TIF for the research. I'm surprised that he was able to strike 9 different reverse types for tetradrachms - that speaks to the activity of the Alexandria mint!

 

Oh man, cool tet @ancient coin hunter (and everyone else)...that snake/demo/spirit thing is aweosme!

 

Cool! I still need a coin with Agathodaemon.

 

Super cool! Love the addition @ancient coin hunter !

None of my serpentine coins have been described as an agathodaemon...what are the qualifiers for that?

A coin featuring a snake:


Septimius Severus, 193 - 211 AD
Æ 8 Assaria, 32mm, 15.31g, 8h; Thrace, Pautalia Mint.
Obv.: AV K A CEΠTI CEVHPOC ΠEP; Laureate head of Septimius right.
Rev.: OVΛΠIAC ΠAVTAΛIAC; Fourfold coiled serpent with erect head right

 

Nice find

 

Great coin - I am not sure about the qualifiers though @Jwt708 !