I finally got around to photographing my 1st addition of the year, another Tet from Antioch, Syria pictured below . SELEUCIS & PIERIA, Antioch Mint, Quintus Caecilius Bassus, Dated Year 4 of the Caesarean Era (46-45 BC). AR Tetradrachm: 27 mm, 15.58 gm, 12 h. Obverse: Diademed head of Philip I facing right within a fillet border. Reverse: Zeus Nicephorus seated facing left holding a figure of Nike presenting him with a laurel wreath while he holds a long scepter. In exergue the Greek date letter delta. McAlee 5a. Prieur 5, 12 cited. This coin is by no means rare, however, it is not common like the Tets of Aulus Gabinius, 57-55 BC. This coin is well struck & centered with little wear & has attractive toning. Bassus was a supporter of Pompey, & led an insurrection against the Governor of Syria, Julius Caesar's cousin Sextus. After Sextus was murdered by his own soldiers, Bassus took control of Antioch & became the commandant of Roman forces in Syria. He maintained control for a short while during the turmoil of Caesar's assassination. When Cassius, one of Caesar's assassins, arrived in Syria he took command of the Roman forces & Bassus disappeared .
Awesome tetradrachm @Al Kowsky! I recently did a write up about the coinages of Philip if anyone is interested: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-life-of-philip-and-his-thick-footed-son.377276/ This is my issue under Roman authority, mine is issued under the governor Sextus that you mentioned in your write up, poor him. Seleucis and Pieria, Antioch. temp. Sextus Julius Caesar. Proconsul, 47-46 BC. AR Tetradrachm. In the name and types of Philip I Philadelphos. Dated year 3 of the Caesarean Era (47/6 BC). Obverse: Diademed head of Philip I right within fillet border. Reverse: Zeus Nicephorus seated left; monogram to inner left and below throne, Γ (date) and thunderbolt in exergue; all within wreath. Reference: McAlee 4; Prieur 4; RPC I 4127; SC 2491.1; HGC 9, 1360a. 14.85g; 26mm
Pavlos, I remember your excellent article & enjoyed reading it again . There were some great looking coins posted in that article . Your Tet of Sextus is of unusually fine style with an excellent portrait & depiction of Zeus. This whole series varies greatly in quality & finding attractive coins is a real challenge .
One important detail I forgot to add to this thread is the difference between McAlee 5a & 5b, illustrated below. The coin on the left side is the rare variety 5a, with a dot to the right of Nike's head. The coin on the right side variety 5b, has a dot inside the crook of Zeus's arm. The coin pictured below is an example of McAlee 5a that I sold in a Heritage auction 10 years ago for the astonishing price of $4,887.50 !. Another example of McAlee 5a recently sold at Heritage for less than $400.00, & I'm sorry I missed it .
I have absolutely zero knowledge about these coins. But I do wonder, as these coins shown have mainly dots and stripes and more dots, is this specific dot an intended difference? Or a mistake by a die-engraver who got a bit dizzy from all the dots?
No doubt the two dots I pointed out are intentional & not something that was the whim of the engraver. Richard McAlee discovered this variety that wasn't known to Michel Prieur. It's possible these dots indicate a specific workshop (officina) within the mint but we really don't know for sure. Your confusion in trying to interpret the inscriptions is certainly justified . There are two methods used for lettering a die; using a punch made with an individual letter, or engraving directly into the die itself. The Syrian engravers preferred engraving directly into the die, & they would first cut dots into the die to guide their incisions. When the dots were larger in diameter than the actual incisions the letters are nearly impossible to read . The later issues from the Antioch mint used the single letter punches to create the inscriptions as seen on the example pictured below of a Tet from Philip II, AD 247-249. Notice the 3 dots below the bust of Philip II, they indicate this coin was minted in the 3rd officina. Pictured below is an older Tet from Syria that uses the dot guide technique to engrave the lettering that is much easier to read because the dots are not so large . Seleukis & Pieria, Seleukeia. Dated Year 18 (92/91 BC). AR Tetradrachm: 15.00 gm, 34 mm, 12 h. Sometimes the single letter die-punch technique wasn't entirely successful too as can be seen on the Roman sestertius of Maximus pictured below. Notice how some of the lettering is doubled, & some of the letters were punched with such force that they displaced metal around them . Overall Roman lettering on coins is far superior to the lettering seen on Greek coins . The Romans made lettering into a sophisticated art form that still influences modern coin design today .
Great coin @Al Kowsky - Here's my write-up of this coin: Julius Caesar in Antioch and here's another coin: Syria, Seleucis and Pieria, Antiochia ad Orontem, Q. Caecilius Bassus, rebel governor, 46/5 BC, AR tetradrachm in the name of Philip I Philadelphos of Syria, recognizing the era of Julius Caesar, minted 46/5 BC, Year 4 of the Caesarean Era Obv: Diademed head of Philip I right Rev: BAΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΦIΛIΠΠOV ΦIΛAΔEΛΦOV EΠIΦANOVΣ, Zeus seated on high-backed throne left, holding Nike on outstretched right hand and sceptre in left Size: 26mm, 15.55g Ref: Seleucid Coins (part 2) 2491
Sulla80, That's an excellent example & a wonderful writeup that I missed ! Thanks for posting . Tets from Antioch have always been of great interest to me & they seem to be taken more seriously by collectors since Prieur & McAlee published their books. The auction prices for high-grade examples are getting out of reach .
