I was really thrilled to have recently acquired this very rare tiny bronze struck for Domitian at Alexandria. Domitian Æ Dichalkon, 1.58g Alexandria mint, 91-92 AD Obv: No legend; Head of Domitian, laureate, r. Rev: LΙΑ; Crocodile, r., with sun disc RPC 2750. Emmett 333.11. Dattari-Savio 6815-16. Acquired from Athena, March 2021. A series of small bronzes were struck at Alexandria without obverse inscriptions. Identifying which reign they belong to is down to identifying the obverse portrait and the regnal year date on the reverse. We are on firm ground with this dichalkon which unmistakably features a portrait of Domitian on the obverse and regnal year 11 on the reverse. This ethnic type featuring a Nile crocodile is fairly rare, being struck for just a handful of regnal years. It almost certainly depicts the ancient Egyptian crocodile god Sobek, god of the Nile and fertility. Sobek was particularly venerated during the Roman period in the Fayum, a swampy area west of the Nile Valley that was a natural home for crocodiles. A Roman period ritual offering box featuring a king making an offering to Sobek. A present day Nile crocodile basking in the sun. This species can grow up to 20 ft. in length, disproportionately larger than the tiny Alexandrian coin which depicts them! And you knew this was coming. At least there are crocodiles in this version. Feel free to show off your numismatic reptiles!
Congrats on your latest Flavian rarity, I'll add a favorite crocodile from Nemausus with a write up: Crocodiles & Roman Gaul, Colonia Nemausus, Augustus, 27 BC-AD 14, with Agrippa, AE As(?), struck circa 9/8-3 BC Obv: IMP, heads of Agrippa, wearing rostral crown and wreath, left and Augustus, wearing oak wreath, right, back to back, DIVI F Below Rev: Crocodile right chained to palm branch with short fronds; wreath with long ties above, palms below Ref: RIC I 158; RPC I 524
Hadrian, AE drachm, Nilos reclining. Egypt, Alexandria - Hadrian. (117-138) Year 127-128 Type: AE Drachm, 32mm 24.42 grams Obverse: AVT KAI TPAI AAPIA CEB, Laureate draped and cuirassed bust right Reverse: LDW (delta) EK in exergue, Nilos reclining left upon a crocodile, holding cornucopia and reed, Genius emerging from the cornucopia and pointing at letters IS in upper field Reference: Milne 1269
Excellent and rare croc As many others here I only have more common Nemausus crocs (still, coins, not shoes) Q
Ok, this posting and the rest of the contributions just scream out for comment, palms down. It really is a "crock.". Feel free to groan, I just couldn't resist the temptation. Really a great thread. Thanks for making at least one follower smile.
@David Atherton, if I had seen that coin before you, I would have snapped it up in my toothy jaws before you could get anywhere near it. It's wonderful! I'm afraid that my only two coins with crocodiles are precisely the ones you'd expect, although the Hadrian is from an uncommon year for the type (with Nilus seated rather than reclining): Augustus AE (Brass) Dupondius, 9-3 BCE, Colonia Augusta Nemausus [Nîmes] (Galla Narbonensis province) Mint. Obv. Heads of Agrippa left and Augustus right, back to back, with Agrippa wearing combined laurel wreath and rostral crown, and Augustus wearing oak wreath, IMP above heads and DIVI F below [Imperator Divi Filius] / Rev. Crocodile right standing on two palm branches, chained to palm-shoot standing behind it, with tip of shoot leaning to right; wreath above and to left of palm-shoot, with long ties extending behind shoot to right, COL - NEM to left and right of palm-shoot. “Type III” of Augustus & Agrippa/Crocodile coin (see https://multicollec.net/1-mo-h/1h04). RIC I 158 (p. 52), RPC I 524 (see https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/search/browse?volume_id=1&number=524), Sear Greek Imperial Coins 157 (D. Sear, Greek Imperial Coins and their Values (1982)], Sear RCV I 1730 (ill.). [See Sear RCV I at p. 337: Commemorates conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE; influenced by Augustus’s settlement of veterans of Egyptian campaign in Nemausus after colony was founded in 27 BCE.] 28 mm., 12.09 g. Hadrian, Billon Tetradrachm, Year 22 (137/138 AD), Alexandria, Egypt Mint. Obv. Laureate bust right, ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙϹ ΤΡΑΙΑ ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟϹ ϹƐΒ / Rev. Nilus seated left on rocks, holding reed in right hand and cornucopiae in left; crocodile below; L KB (Year 22) in left field. RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. III 6254 (2015); RPC III Online at https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/6254; Emmett 879.22 [Emmett, Keith, Alexandrian Coins (Lodi, WI, 2001)]; Milne 1569 [Milne, J., A Catalogue of the Alexandrian Coins in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, 1933, reprint with supplement by Colin M. Kraay)]; Köln.1241 [Geissen, A., Katalog alexandrinischer Kaisermünzen, Köln, Band II (Hadrian-Antoninus Pius) (Cologne, 1978, corrected reprint 1987)]. 24 mm., 12.9 g.
I find myself in complete agreement with Donna. That is an awesome coin. Also, of course, it is a coin of Domitian and that makes it extra wonderful.
