My coin show Saturday produced three bronzes of which two were the same land and two of which were by a king named Rhoemetalkes but the two of the name were not from the same land. Rhoemetalkes of Thrace was a loyal puppet of Rome during the time of Augustus. We have had posts before here on Coin Talk showing his issues with four heads including his queen and Livia, the wife of Augustus. This AE18 shows only the two men. I was attracted to it by the legible legends. Rhoemetalkes of Thrace / Caesar Augustus AE18 11BC-12AD The second Rhoemetalkes coin is from the kingdom of the Bosporos 131-153 AD. I do not know the exact relationship between the two kings. The reverse shows a group of smaller objects: shield, spear, helmet, horsehead, axe and sword in scabbard. The AE 27 coin is marked MH for the denomination 48. Most Bosposos bronzes I have seen show signs of smoothing or tooling. This is no exception but is not as bad as some. I wonder if cleaning these coins is a cottage industry in that region. It is unusual to see a 'crustie'. Kingdom of the Bosporos, Rhoemetalkes, 48 nummi The other Bosporos coin is slightly later and has a legend P MΔ which is Greek for 144. The coin is a smaller diameter (25mm) making one wonder about the events relating to denominations in the 20 years between thee two coins. Is the P not for 100 so this is just a 44 nummi or was there a complete currency reorganization? These are coins requiring more study when time allows. Kingdom of the Boporos, Sauromates II 174-210AD / eagle I recall Stevex6 liked these. Did anyone here buy his? Update: Memo to self: Never bother posting on Bosporos again. This post made it off the first page with zero comments. Doing that over on Forvm is not all that hard but it is a bit unusual on Coin Talk.
Those are very interesting coins. I find Bosporos a region not many people collect in, I really like the second coin, a nice and busy reverse and a nice portrait with full inscription, I would love to have a coin like this. If I can ask, how much did you pay for that coin? I see a small trident next to his face, any idea why this is? Must be some kind of symbol related to the region as I saw them before, even on silver coins from Bosporos. The time period of your coins are not really my collection area but I would like to get in the future a nice Cimmerian Bosporos coin, for example this one: P.S. Very unusual indeed for coin talk to place no comment at all, but do show your collection about Bosporos, it is a very interesting region. Don't let yourself be demotivated to share your historical information.
Here's a similar coin, but it's unclear who is on the coin because experts disagree. Augustus or Tiberius? Rhoemetalkes I or his grandson, Rhoemetalkes II? Pythodoris, the wife of Rhoemetalkes I or some other Pythodoris? Kings of Thrace under Roman rule. AE 24 mm, 6.88 g. Obv: ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟ[ΡΟΣ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΟΣ ΣΕΒΑΣ]ΤΟΥ, bare head of Augustus or Tiberius, right. Rev: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩ[Σ ΡΟΙΜΗΤΑΛΚΟΥ], jugate bust of Rhoemetalkes I or II, diademed, and queen (Pythodorus?), right. Refs: BMC 3.209,23; Sear GI 5405; Youroukova 201; Forrer 207.
All look like very interesting coins, ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΟΣ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΟΣ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΥ means Imperator Caesar Augustus, but no idea if it means Augustus as the person Augustus or Augustus as the title? However I did thought the full name of Augustus is "Imperator Caesar Augustus".
I. too, have never considered the Tiberius option and, considering the death of Rhoemetalkes I in 12 AD, see that are requiring the Rhoemetalkes to be the younger. I never saw reason to argue over the ID of the woman shown but not named assuming her to be the wife of Rhoemetalkes I but I suppose we could consider the possibility that the four head coins could have been intended to show both Tiberius and Rhoemetalkes II owed their position to (grand)mother. A related but separate question for fans of the period: Augustus is commonly named only with titles but I am more accustomed to seeing Tiberius named (at least TI). What cities issued coins doubtlessly for Tiberius but bearing only titles? I question ID based on portrait alone. There is a lot of variation in portraits of Augustus. I suspect more artists were currying favor by showing him as he wished to look rather than as he actually was.
All sources agree that those with the ΚΑΙΣΑΡΟΣ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΥ obverse legend is Augustus/Rhoemetalkes I. Sear, however, attributes all coins with the ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΟΣ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΟΣ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΥ, such as mine, to Tiberius, while BMC does not. I don't know the basis for this attribution, however.
KINGS of THRACE, Sapaian. Rhoemetalces I, with Pythodoris, Augustus, and Livia (Late 1st century BC-AD) Æ 27 O: Heads of Augustus, laureate, and Livia, conjoined right; to right, capricorn right, holding globe. R: Diademed head of Rhoemetalces and draped bust of Pythodoris, conjoined right. 27mm 13.8g Youroukova 182-4, 186; RPC I 1708
