The Mt. Argaeus reverse is one of my very favourite provincial types. As soon as I saw this didrachm listed I couldn't resist it. Domitian AR Didrachm, 6.47g Rome mint (for Cappadocia), 93-94 AD RPC 1672 (17 spec.). Obv: AYT KAI ΔOMITIANOC CЄBACTOC ΓЄPM; Head of Domitian, laureate, r. Rev: ЄTO ΙΓ; Mt Argaeus; on summit, radiate figure standing l., globe in r. hand, sceptre in l. hand During Domitian's reign, the mint at Rome struck silver drachms and didrachms for circulation in Cappadocia, all of which can be dated to 93-94 AD. They can be distinguished as Rome mint issues by style and their 6 o'clock die axis. This didrachm features the ethnic reverse type of Mt. Argaeus surmounted by a figure. The engravers at Rome presumably had never seen the mountain in person and likely based the design on a standardised model, possibly a cult image. The figure's identity atop the mountain is uncertain - perhaps it is either Helios or the personification of the mountain itself. The portrait style is similar to Domitian's contemporaneous denarii. And for comparison, the mountain as seen today. Post your Mt. Argaeus types!
Great coin David, another type I would like and the bigger one Didrachm like yours not a Drachma is it about 20-21 dia? Oh yeah that mountain pic looks just like the coin....give a rock or two.
..very kool coin David....i had to get some coin with the Mount on it too..Bronze Cappadoica (2)Severus Alexander
I believe this is the earliest numismatic portrait of the Mt. Argaeus: CAPPADOCIA, Caesaria (AKA Eusebia), 36 BC - 17 AD or 101-89 BC(?), 7.04g, AE17 Obv: Facing gorgoneion within aegis Rev: Mount Argaeus/Argaios (a volcano), below ΕΥΣΕΒΕΙΑ/Τ Ref: Lindgren III 945, Sear 5706 Ex: Purchased from H. C. Lindgren, Summer 2001. Imhoof-Blumer believed that this aegis copies aegis/Nike bronzes of Mithradates the Great. The authority who issued these coins is still unclear today. Most authorities attributed to Archelaus, a Roman client and Cappadocia’s last king. H. Herrli believes this coinage was struck after 101 BC when Mithradates the Great’s eight-year-old son Ariarathes IX governed Cappadocia. François de Callataÿ told me “... the attribution to Ariarathes IX is fragile to the extreme and unconvincing since it entirely lays on the reading of a monogram.” I can’t speak on the monogram but the Ariarathes IX attribution seems reasonable. It seems unlikely that Archelous, a Roman puppet, would use one of Mithradates’ coin types. Herrli’s assignment of the coin to Ariarathes IX, who reigned 101-89 BC, implies that the aegis design was used in Cappadocia directly before its adoption by Mithradates VI on his massive Pontic bronze issue. That is the opposite of Imhoof-Blumer and E. A. Sydenham’s speculation about the direction of the inspiration.
Thanks everyone for posting your Mt. Argaeus types! I really enjoy seeing how the type evolved over the years.
Fantastic didrachm David! Here's my favorite Mt. Argaeus. Tiberius Silver drachm, Caesarea mint Obverse TIBERIOS KAISAR SEBASTOS, laureate head right; Reverse QEOU SEBASTOU UIOS, Mount Argaeus, surmounted by radiate and nude statue holding globe in right and scepter in left. The imperial mint at Caesarea was founded by Tiberius c. 30 AD. - RPC I 3620; Sydenham 42; BMC Cappadocia p. 46, 11,
