The nearest coin to this Tet of Caracalla is attributed as Prieur 224. The reverse shows the famous eagle with letters Delta and Epsilon to left and right respectively. On Wildwinds, only one thing is missing. It's the star between the legs of the eagle. Thus it might not perhaps be listed, unless it was not struck in Antioch. Besides, the star seems to have eight points. Finally, I wonder whether the visible flaw to the upper left of the obverse may be considered as a PMD. The coin weighs 12.82 g.
It's elagabalus.... Elagabalus (218 - 222 A.D.) SYRIA, Seleucis and Pieria. Antioch Billon Tetradrachm O: ΑΥΤ Κ Μ Α ΑΝΤWΝΕΙΝΟC CEB Laureate bust right, drapery on left shoulder. R: ∆ΗΜΑΡΧ. ΕΞ. ΥΠΑΤΟC. TO. B. Eagle standing facing, head turned to r., wings spread, holding wreath in beak; ∆ − Ε across upper fields, star between legs. Antioch Mint 13.99 g 24 mm McAlee 761; Prieur 254. Elagabalus (218 - 222 A.D.) SYRIA, Seleucis and Pieria. Antioch Billon Tetradrachm Obv.: AVT K M A ANTWNEINOC, Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right Rev.: ΔHMAPX EΞYΠATOC TOB, Eagle standing facing, head and tail left, holding wreath in beak, Δ Є above wings, star between legs. Billon, 14.46g, 24mm Ref.: Prieur 264
Very nice 7-C But Mat seems to have part of the answer......My billon Tet of Elagabalus, below. I can't offer any reliable opinion on the 'flaw/damage', but I'm sure others will be able to.
Certainly Elagabalus! I'm no expert in these so I dug out my copy of Bellinger, The Syrian Tetradrachms of Caracalla and Macrinus which, oddly, also has Elagabalus. His coin 43 seems a match except his description does not list the DE (none of the series do) but his plate IV, 11 clearly shows the letter. All of his listings in this section mention the star and the plates show 5,6 and 8 pointed ones without mention of the difference in the text. Bellinger was written in 1940 with my copy being the 1981 Durst reissue. Things were different back then. Not all olden day scholars saw the need to mention minor variations like star points. I am surprised about the DE not making the list but Bellinger was a name university scholar and could do things his way. Today, we are a bit dot crazy by their standards. Moral: Books are wonderful but no better than the scholarship that produced them. By 'flaw' do you mean the hangnail? You have to realize that ancient coins were not made on machine prepared round blanks. Things like this happen. Enough people want their coins round that you should get a discount for taking a coin like this but the people who made it did not see it as a big deal. I must admit this is odd on Syrian tets I've seen but common of some denarii of the early 3rd century.
Its worth about $40. Super common but decent. I also like the term, "hang nail", never heard it for that kind of flan flaw.
Hello again. While researching, I found out that this coin of mine is attributed as Prieur 266, SGI 3096. It is described as an " Unknown Engraver Type ".
