I know this is one of the more popular RR and I see them posted often, well, 12 years later I can finally join the camel party. I got it for a decent price due to having some off centering, but I am OK with it. Also, check out the little scorpion! I didn't even notice it till it arrived. Since many collectors here have one or more of these, feel free to pile on the camels! M. Aemilius Scaurus & P. Plautius Hypsaeus (58 B.C.) AR Denarius O: M. SCAVR. / AED. CVR., above king Aretas kneeling beside a camel right, EX., on left, S.C., on right, REX. ARETAS., in exergue. R: P. HVPSAE. / AED. CVR., above Jupiter in quadriga left, CAPTV., on right, but C. HVPSAE. COS. PREIVER., in exergue, scorpion below horses. 3.47g 19mm Rome Mint RCV #379 Aemilia 8
That's a cool coin. I have a fairly nice one but it's unphotographed. I wanted one badly at the time but I regret the large Ptolemaic coin I didn't buy in the coin store that day.
Congrats @Mat … nice find. Roman Republic Aemilius Scaurus and Plautius Hypsaeus 58 BCE AR Denarius camel scorpion quadriga 4.1g 19mm Rome Craw 422-1b
Here is my Aretas camel. It is in good condition but (there is always a but) it is off-centred so the exergue Rex Aretas is off-flan. At least one can see the round shape of the die, and say for sure that the Aretas side is the reverse and the quadriga the obverse. The Arab king is wearing a non-Roman robe, kneeling like in the attitude of supplication and extending a branch (which must symbolize peace). This image was noticed by the Romans when these coins were issued and put in circulation in 58 BC. Two years later in 56 it was imitated by Faustus Cornelius Sulla on his denarii showing Bocchus of Mauritania delivering Jugurtha handcuffed to the then young quaestor Sulla. The year after in 55 it was imitated again by Aulus Plautius who litterally copied the Aretas reverse with the camel, but with the legend Bacchius Iudaeus, probably Aristobulus. Kneeling and extending branch ( = begging for peace) was the conventional attitude of the foreign ruler asking to become "amicus et socius Populi Romani", a title granted by the Senate. In other terms, a client-king.
Welcome to the CSC (Camel and Scorpion Club) @Mat ! M. Aemilius Scaurus and P. Plautius Hypsaeus. Denarius - Rome mint, 58 BC M SCAVR AED CVR In two lines above camel, EX | SC, in exergue REX ARETAS, King Aretas of Nabataea, kneeling right beside a camel, holding an olive branch P HVPSAEVS AED CVR in two lines, CAPTVM in the right field, C HVPSAE COS PREIVER in two lines, Jupiter driving a quadriga left, holding a thunderbolt. Scorpion in lower left field. Ref : RCV #379 Q
Beautiful coins, I didn't realize the scorpion was fairly common, I thought it was a control mark of many like other RR have.
And most of the time it's the bugs and critters you want to see on coins, not nothing. Still, it's a neat and historical coin & nice to finally own one.
I've had a number of these types over the years - they are as popular today as they were in ancient Rome. Here is one of the nicest ones I sold a few years ago...
I have owned two of these. The first was a nice enough coin but bothered me because of the off flan REX ARETAS which IMO is the important part since the coin was issued to brag about the surrender of that king to the moneyer himself rather than an accomplishment of an ancestor as was considered normal. However I could make a case that I like the style better on the old coin. my first: my second: My replacement, which I consider of lesser style, was also an outcast from a 'name' collection whose owner was weeding out coins he had in duplicate. His standards were different than mine but I wanted the full legend more than a detailed camel head. I don't remember who bought my first but I believe it was someone then on Coin Talk. This is very much an example of how different coins can be and still be of the same type or even the same 'grade'. Slabs may grade strike but won't separate the dueling details when we get nit-picky about such things. That is probably why the mint made so many of the things. They are common enough we all can have what we want.
Here's an interesting variety of these moneyers' denarii. A hybrid with the obverse of Crawford 422/1a, the variety without REX ARETAS on the obverse and without the scorpion on the reverse, and the reverse of the more common Crawford 422/1b, the variety with REX ARETAS on the obverse and a scorpion on the reverse. Crawford mentions this variety in the appendix but all examples known to him were plated and as such rejected. This example was found to be of solid silver via specific gravity testing, and further is die-linked to examples of 422/1a and 422/1b that appear to also be of good silver and official and proves the existence of the variety. Richard Schaefer and I contributed a short paper about this to KOINON I, and that paper can be found here. At the time we were aware of 4 examples from 3 die pairs. I am now aware of a total of 6 examples, still from those same 3 die pairs, one of which was purchased by @rrdenarius some time ago. Roman Republic AR denarius(3.80g, 18.31mm). M. Aemilius Scaurus and P. Plautius Hypsaeus, 58 BC, Rome mint. Camel right; before, kneeling figure, holding reins in left hand and olive-branch tied with fillet in right hand; above, M SCAVR; on either side, EX SC; below, AED CVR. Border of dots / Jupiter in quadriga left, holding reins in left hand and hurling thunderbolt with right hand, ; above, P HVPSAEVS; AED CVR in two lines. Below, C HVPSAE COS; PREIVER in two lines. On right, CAPTVM upwards. Border of dots. Crawford 422/1-(obverse 422/1a, reverse 422/1b), cf. Bahrfeldt, Nachtrage i, pl. I, 9
I picked up this one from a @John Anthony sale because of the camel and REX ARETAS being fully on flan. Inevitably, though, other stuff was left off... My other example isn't much to look at but is interesting because of a cvrious inscription error.
This is a great type. Like you I'm missing some off the top, but I really liked the depiction of Aretas on this one: (and the toning too) I imagine complete ones go for megabucks.
These are really nice. I hope this is the right place to post this. Here is a Roman coin I bought yesterday at the Michigan State Numismatic Society Show. It is a VF coin issued under Antoninus Pius, 138-161 AD. From the holder; “AE: As Luar. hd. r. Rx: She-wolf suckling twins. As S-1274 2-96; GBRBTT” What do all the initials mean? I got better picture now.
My guess is that the previous owner bought it in February, 1996, and GBRBTT is his code for price paid. There are as many codes as there are collectors so I have no guess how it worked.
