Two new Roman Egyptian coins: one ex. Dattari, and one possibly unpublished

Isn't the term tessera used broadly enough with respect to Roman Egypt that it could encompass almost any kind of exonumia that in more modern contexts would be classified as a token, including tickets and game-pieces and counters and souvenirs? Emmett certainly seems to.

The alternative would be some sort of small, entirely anepigraphic currency without an Emperor's portrait, about the size of a dichalkon but on an almost perfectly circular flan. Something that would probably be more unusual than a "tessera."

 

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I really am completely out of my depth with these. The size and iconography seem right for a tessera, but I suppose my impression was that they were typically made of lead, and the yellow on yours suggests brass?

 

Maybe there should be different names used for those and what in coin auctions are called tesserae.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessera

 

Lol, yeah, sorry. Twin Cities Ancient Coin Club. I do not share member names out of their privacy, but every dealer who specializes in Roman Egypt would know who it is. He has a great number of super rarities in the series, and untold hundreds of them all in pristine condition. He has great stories how he and Kerry Watterstrom competed for years for them when most of the rest of the hobby ignored them, then he attended Kerry's auction and bought many he lost to him back.

 

Once I receive it, maybe I'll take more photos, and maybe there'll be some way of figuring out exactly what it's made of.

 

I can't recall if I was the direct underbidder, but I did make a play for it. I'm happy to see it went to a good home!

 

I have the 1999 edition of Dattari-Savio which has the complete plate for your coin.

 

Tessera is a modern numismatic term for ancient token. The Latin term tessera was not used in antiquity to refer to tokens but rather to the chips in mosaics. In modern practice the term tessera is used for a huge range of material which is not obviously attributable and which may not necessarily be currency. There are many widely recognized numismatic tessera series’, like the eqyptian leads, but sometimes firms just use the term as a circumspect way to say ‘we have no idea’. I would add that some modern scholars do not like the term and prefer to refer to these pieces as tokens. Egyptian ae tesserae are rare, not well cataloged, and even less well understood as to what they were used for or even where they are from (the find context is almost always missing).

Gert Boersema and Bill Dalzell’s recent publication of Tom Vossen’s collection of lead tesserae is an excellent overview for those interested in tesserae.

 

Etymologically, tessera is Ionic Greek for the numeral "four". From there it goes into Latin meaning generally "square/cube" or more specifically, "square tablet with writing" used as a ticket. The word apparently enters English in the 1650s meaning "small square tile" as used in mosaics.

Google Translate renders Latin "tessera" as English "ticket".

As noted above, "tessera" in the modern numismatic context seems to be a catch-all for ancient exonumia.

Below are two examples of actual Roman era tesserae (in the strict sense). If I had to hazard a guess, I think @DonnaML's object may have served as counter on a counting board or perhaps a game piece. But as I say, only a guess. It seems better made and less ephemeral than something intended as a theater ticket.

 

Thanks!

 

Great coins and really like your tessera!



Rome.
Lead tessera c. 1st cent. AD
Fortuna standing left, resting rudder on ground with right hand, holding cornucopia in left
Large DP
Rostovtsev 2307; Ruggerio 808-9; 13mm, 1.39 g, 12h; good VF
Ex Tom Vossen collection of Roman lead objects.
Ex: Gert Boersema Ancient Coins (NL)

 

I just posted this in the Livia post, but here is mY DAKTARI



Dattari Collection



Egypt, Alexandria.
In the name of Livia, wife of Augustus Diobol
circa 1-2 (year 31),
Æ 23.5mm., 7.46g.
Draped bust r. Rev. Athena standing l., holding Nike and leaning on shield;
L-ΛA.
Dattari-Savio Pl. 3, 60 (this coin). RPC pag. 692, 5 (this coin cited).
Very rare. Nice brown-green tone. Very Fine
From the Dattari collection.
Naville Comments: In our opinion is correct the interpretation of Dattari on this coin and the date shown on the Rev. is L-ΛA and not LMA as suggested from RPC.
ex Dattari-Savio Pl. 3 60-this coin RPC page 692-5-this coin
RARE
Ex: Naville Numismatics

 

I did some searches on ACSearch for ancient Egyptian tesserae and tokens, not so much to try to find an exact match, but more to see if I could find anything that was at all similar in appearance and/or style. This example, offered by London Ancient Coins in 2017, was the closest, depicting Isis on one side and Nilus reclining on the other:

https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3638091



The description: Egypt, Roman Æ Tessera, c. 2nd-3rd century AD (13mm, 2.53g, 12h). Bust of Isis r.; to l., crescent over torch; to r., star over arm. R/ Nilus reclining l., holding reed and cornucopia.

It seems to have gone unsold, with a starting price of 100 GBP.

It's a bit smaller than mine (13 mm. vs. 15.6 mm.), but the weight is almost identical (2.53 g. vs. 2.52 g.). Like mine, it's described as AE rather than lead -- something true of only a tiny minority of the several hundred Egyptian tesserae on ACSearch. And, like mine, it's almost circular with a raised border, and seems to be more finely engraved than most of the lead tesserae.

It's by far the closest to mine of anything I looked at.

For a rejection of the term "tessera," see this Phd thesis for the University of Warwick, entitled Wilding, Denise (2020) Tokens and communities in the Roman provinces: an exploration of Egypt, Gaul and Britain. It's available online at http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/160242/1/WRAP_Theses_Wilding_2020_Redacted.pdf -- unfortunately, with all the illustrations removed, so it's not terribly useful in that respect. Still, this is what the author says at p. 39 in explaining why she uses the term "token" rather than "tessera" (footnotes omitted):

"The term tessera (from the Greek τεσσαρες, meaning ‘four’) may have been used to refer to tokens in the Roman period, as well as the terms missilia and nomismata. There are accounts of emperors throwing, or distributing, such items to the crowd who could then exchange them for prizes or their allotment of grain.81 Missilia refers to something that is thrown, while nomismata implies that the distributed item is monetiform.82 Other sources describe little wooden balls that are distributed.83 Tessera is the term that has been applied to tokens most frequently in recent scholarship, but the problem with the term is that its inherent meaning implies that it should refer to objects that are quadrangular."

Hence, she uses the term "token" to refer to the round objects, most often made of lead, that are the subject of her thesis.

This is the author's introduction to the section on Roman Egypt, beginning at p. 58:

"Chapter 2: Tokens in Roman Egypt
This chapter focuses on the lead tokens of Roman Egypt and aims to assess the sites on which they are found, their imagery and legends, and how they functioned. In Egypt the Roman era can be defined as the period from which Octavian annexed the province in 30 BC, to the reign of Diocletian in c.AD 300.1 The term ‘Roman Egypt’ is used in this thesis to define the period of the tokens relevance, as they were manufactured and in use after the Roman conquest. However, the tokens of the Roman period depict iconography that is influenced by classical imagery, due not only to the Roman presence, but also to the preceding Greek rule. The term ‘Graeco-Roman’ therefore perhaps better defines the social context of these tokens, and is used when discussing imagery or deities from the classical milieu.

Tokens from Roman Egypt are primarily made from lead and comprise a highly
diverse range of types. There are both local series and series that are widespread across the province. The local series include those of Athena-Thoeris at Oxyrhynchus, the tokens from Abydos with iconography that includes an Egyptian Mongooge, Athena and a male bust, and those from Saqqara that depict the Apis bull and are inscribed with the legend ΜΕΜΦΙC. Token types that are widespread across the province include Nilus types and Serapis types, which are found at most sites discussed in this thesis, with some of these types from the same series.

Their purpose is not always clear, and they are largely ignored in current literature.

This chapter will discuss the different archaeological contexts in which tokens are
found in Egypt, combined with consideration of the types of token discovered at each site. The iconography and legends of tokens will be explored through case studies that contrast the local nature of the imagery found on the Athena-Thoeris tokens at Οxyrhynchus with that of the imagery of Nilus, which is found on multiple sites throughout the province. The possibilities for their function will then be considered, through an assessment of their dating, imagery and findspots."

There's one reference at p. 83 to a token depicting Isis-Thermouthis, unfortunately with the image deleted like all the others:

Figure 25: Token depicting Isis as Isis-Thermouthis. Obverse: Jugate busts of Isis and Osiris, right. Border of dots. Reverse: Isis Thermouthis right, torch to left and right; crescent in field to top left, star in field to top right. Border of dots. Metal: Lead. Diameter: 16mm. Weight: 3.85g. Die axis: 12. Egypt no. 174. ANS accession no. 1935.117.1114. Image: ANS.

Perhaps it's available somewhere on the ANS website.

 

Donna, you’re wanna my kind….

 

First, needs saying, all of this is completely out of my depth. I've yet to get my first colonial issue from Egypt, besides the later-3rd-c. tets that were available when I was a kid.
But I'm really liking the discussion of the word, tesserae, with all of its connotations, both in terms of the original, Greek etymology and its current usage in numismatic contexts. Thanks to everyone for getting into all of the pertinent weeds about that.
Except, Nope, @Alegandron, you gave me some traction where none existed before. As in, Yep, between the age of something like 4 and 7, Daktari, the tv show, was a Thing. ...On a (now, you would say) tiny black and white tv.
(Faux German accent ensues: ) I haff an Ear Vorm.

By way of antidote, there's this, from the opposite side of the continent.

Thanks, @Alegandron, even for the ear worm!

 

The ANS listing has no photo and little description.
http://numismatics.org/collection/1935.117.1114
The item itself is only a subway ride downtown (Canal & Varick).

[edit] I don't want to suggest that the public can just 'show up'. I visited the library once, by appointment. Felt a bit like entering North Korea. Very secure premises.

 

Yup, same here. B&W Admiral TV and Daktari! Fun show, I remember the Dance of the Baby Elephant scene!

 

I wonder if the thesis author went there all the way from the UK and took the photo herself, or if the ANS has photos that it doesn't place online.

 

It looks like they will photograph objects in the collection for a fee. https://numismatics.org/our-collections/photography-permissions/

 

...With apologies to everyone else for my (as in, Not @Alegandron) having put the really serious discussion here on that level.