Not the highest-grade example of this scarce empress but I didn't have an example of any coin bearing a portrait of Trajan's niece and I had to get one! The coin is easy to attribute because it was issued in only a single year and with a very limited set of dies. It was issued as one of a set of three coins in AD 113/114, each depicting Trajan on the obverse and one of his female relatives – Plotina (RPC III 3369), Marciana (Von Aulock 5476), and Matidia (this coin) – on the reverse. Post your coins of Matidia, Marciana, Plotina, of Anazarbus, or whatever you feel is relevant. Caesarea ad Anazarbus (Greek Ἀναζαρβός, modern Ağaçli) was a city of the ancient province of Cilicia in what is now south-central Turkey. It was originally founded by the Assyrians but was largely abandoned by Roman imperial times. The original native settlement was refounded by the Romans in 19 BC, following a visit by Augustus. The coinage of this city is typically dated relative to the year of its refounding. Among cities in Cilicia, it was second only to Tarsus in population. The city was home to Oppian (Greek Ὀππιανός), a minor Greco-Roman poet active during the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Under Diocletian, Cilicia was divided into two provinces and Anazarbus was made capital of one of them, Cilicia Secunda. Anazarbus was an archbishopric under the Byzantine Empire. After its devastation by earthquakes in the 6th century, it was rebuilt, first as Justinopolis, later as Justinianopolis. Trajan and Matidia, Augusta AD 112/114? - 119. Roman Æ triassarion, 10.99 g, 26 mm, 1 h. Cilicia, Anazarbos, year 132 = AD 113-114. Obv: AYTO KAI NЄP TPAIANOC CЄ ΓЄPM ΔA, laureate head of Trajan, right. Rev: KAICAPЄ ΠΡ ANAZAPBΩ ΜΑΤΙΔΙΑΝ CЄB, bare-headed and draped bust of Matidia, right; in field, ЄT - BΛP (year 132). Refs: RPC III 3370; SNG Levante 1385; Von Aulock 5477; SGI 1103; Ziegler 110-114. Here is one of its companion pieces from the set -- depicting Trajan and Plotina: Trajan and Plotina, AD 98-117. Roman Æ triassarion, 19.72 g, 28.7 mm, 1 h. Cilicia, Anazarbos, year 132 = AD 113-114. Obv: AYTO KAI NЄP TPAIANOC CЄ ΓЄP ΔA, laureate head of Trajan, right. Rev: KAICAPЄ ANAZAPBΩ ΠΛΩTЄINAN CЄ, diademed and draped bust of Plotina, right; in field, ЄT - BΛP (year 132). Refs: SNG Levante 1384; RPC III 3369; Ziegler 115-121.
How bizarre... I posted a note stating these are great coins, and that both are on my target list. It did not post! Congrats, @Roman Collector ... fantastic.
Interesting writeup on Anazarbus, RC. Here's a less than stellar denarius with Matidia sporting the distinctive hairstyle her mother Marciana wears on coins, a variation of which was also used by Matidia's daughter Sabina on some of her coins.Although Matidia was never married to a Roman emperor, she was awarded the title Augusta upon the death of her sister Marciana, hence the obverse inscription: MATIDIA AVG DIVAE MARCIANAE The reverse is a common type for her showing Matidia as Pietas with her two daughters Sabina and Matidia Minor.
I'm blown away by the beauty of Matidia on this portrait. I had always an image of here being very severe on her representations. Lovely Q
