Over the past few months I've been picked up some cool (to me) Roman Alexandrians. I wanted to do some fancy write-up, but never narrowed in on a specific topic and haven't had the time to really sit down and write. So before these simply never get posted, I thought I'd just share them sans fancy write-up. I've got 3 drachms, one of which is a little "rarer" according to Emmett, and though they are pretty worn they are still fun to have and hold. First, is a well-worn Trajan riding an elephant quadriga: Trajan, Ruled 98-117 AD AE Drachm, Egypt, Alexandria Dated RY 15, Struck 111-112 AD Obverse: AVT TPAIAN C-ЄB ΓERM ΔAKIK, laureate bust right, aegis on left shoulder Reverse: Trajan, holding eagle-tipped scepter and laurel branch, driving quadriga of elephants right; L IE (RY 15) in exergue. References: Emmett 462 Size: 33mm, 20.09g Second, going in chronological order, is a Hadrian that was mislabeled as Trajan, in a similar elephant quadriga, but this one is a more rare date (R4), RY 3: Hadrian, Ruled 117-138 AD AE Drachm, Egypt, Alexandria Dated RY 3, Struck 118-119 AD Obverse: AVT KAIC TPAIANOC AΔRIANOC ϹƐΒ, laureate head right, slight drapery over far shoulder. Reverse: Emperor standing right in elephant quadriga, laureate-headed, wearing toga, holding eagle-tipped scepter and branch; LΓ (RY 3) above. References: Emmett 961 R4, RPC 5163 Size: 32.5mm, 16.63g And third, is a Antoninus Pius with Isis holding Harpokrates in temple: Antoninus Pius, Ruled 138-161 AD AE Drachm, Egypt, Alexandria Dated RY 12, Struck 148-149 AD Obverse: ΑVΤ Κ Τ ΑΙΛ ΑΔΡ ΑΝΤⲰΝΙΝΟϹ ϹƐΒ ƐΥϹ, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right. Reverse: Isis seated right on throne, holding infant Harpokrates, within distyle Egyptian-style temple façade, disk and uraei in pediment; L ΔωΔ[Є KATOV] (RY 12) around. References: Emmett 1587 Size: 32.5mm, 24.39g In addition to the drachms, I picked up 5 tetradrachms, one being an R2 and another being an R5. (I know, I know... the rarity doesn't hold too much water relatively speaking... but it's fun to see if you can get anything other than R1's!) We'll go chronologically again... First, a R5 rare year (RY 3) Claudius with Antonia (it's not going to win any beauty prizes!). I could only find one other photo of this type in RPC to compare it to. I tried to see if it was a die match in any way, but I was struggling to make it align well enough to feel confident in it: Claudius, Ruled 41-54 AD BL Tetradrachm, Egypt, Alexandria Dated RY 3, Struck 42/43 AD Obverse: ΤΙ ΚΛΑVΔΙ ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒΑ ΓΕΡΜΑΝΙ ΑVΤΟΚP, laureate head right, LΓ (RY 3) at lower right. Reverse: ΑΝΤΩΝΙΑ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΗ, bust of Antonia right. References: Emmett 73 R5, RPC 5133 Size: 26.5mm, 9.0g Next up is an R2 Nero with Eirene (I love the helmet!). I appreciate the different style of obverse bust compared to Nero's radiate style later in his reign. This coin was difficult to photograph and I'm not really happy with this photo at the moment... it's better in hand: Nero, Ruled 54-68 AD BL Tetradrachm, Egypt, Alexandria Dated RY 3, Struck 56-57 AD Obverse: ΝΕΡ ΚΛΑΥ ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒ ΓΕΡ ΑΥΤΟ, laureate head right. Reverse: ΙΡΗΝΗ, Eirene standing, right with caduceus and helmet, LΓ (RY 3) at lower right. References: Emmett 119 R2, RPC 5207 Size: 24mm, 12.1g Followed by a common Hadrian with clasped hands. I enjoyed translating the Greek on the reverse and seeing it said "Pater Patriae" or "Father of the Country/Fatherland": Hadrian, Ruled 117-138 AD BL Tetradrachm, Egypt, Alexandria Dated RY 12, Struck 127-128 AD Obverse: ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙ - ΤΡΑΙ ΑΔΡΙΑ ϹƐΒ, laureate draped and cuirassed bust of right, seen from rear. Reverse: ΠΑΤΗΡ ΠΑΤΡΙΔΟϹ surrounding clasped hands, L/ΙΒ (RY 12) above and below. References: Emmett 848, RPC 5715 Size: 24mm, 6.0g Then jump ahead over a century to Aurelian, that looks like the outer edge was trimmed or scraped flat at sometime in it's past: Aurelian, Ruled 270-275 AD AE Tetradrachm, Egypt, Alexandria Dated RY 6, Struck 274-275 AD Obverse: A K Λ ΔOM AVPHΛIANOC CEB, laureate and cuirassed bust right. Reverse: ETOVC, eagle standing left, head right, holding wreath in beak; S (RY 6) in right field. References: Emmett 3924 Size: 20mm, 6.2g And finally, a Carinus with Elpis: Carinus, Ruled 283-285 AD AE Tetradrachm, Egypt, Alexandria Dated RY2, Struck 283-284 AD Obverse: A K MA KAPINOC CEB, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right. Reverse: Elpis advancing left, holding flower and raising hem of skirt, L-B (RY 2) across field. References: Emmett 4007 Size: 19.5, 7.2g Please share any recent Alexandrians you got, or any coins you have like the ones above, or anything you feel is relevant!
Interesting group of coins, Justin. I still haven't got around to any Alexandrian coins yet. From my casual observations it seems a really interesting niche with wildly varying prices.
@Justin Lee switching from Antioch to Alexandria??? Here's one I've never posted before. Pretty worn but a nice & detailed portrait : Claudius II Potin tetradrachm 270 AD 21mm 8.18g
Very cool collection from Alexandria, @Justin Lee ! Fun collecting focus, and great coins. Here is an VRBS ROMA Commemorative from Alexandria: RI URBS ROMA 223-336 CE Romulus Remus She-wolf S R Alexandria mint AE 15mm 1.5g RIC VIII 8 C2 Left Rare VRBS CONSTANTINOPOLIS from Alexandria: RI Commem AE 17 Constantinopolis 227-340 Victory Alexandria RIC VIII 17 Left
