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Message:: [QUOTE="John Anthony, post: 1780727, member: 42773"]This is my own attempt at classifying early Nabataean coins, based on my fledgling collection and initial observations. It consolidates information from several sources: Ya’akov Meshorer’s “Nabataean Coins” (1975), Karl Schmitt-Korte’s “Nabataean Coinage Part II” (NC 150, 1990), and Oliver Hoover’s “Important Additions to the Corpus of Nabataean Coins Since 1990” (CCK, 2010). I’m missing one piece of important information: Rachel Barkay’s article on the earliest Nabataean coins in NC 171. I have it on order, and I expect it will shed a great deal of light on my project. This isn’t a scholarly paper, so some important details are missing. I don’t quote my sources, and some of the coin descriptions don’t include weight, size, and orientation. Eventually I’d like to publish my own catalog of these coins, but I’ve got a lot of collecting and research to do. This post represents a first effort at consolidating the information I do have. Some of you have read this stuff in my other musings, so I apologize for repeating myself. I’ve posted pictures of the various types directly under their descriptions, for the ease of reading a forum post. Most of the coins in this thread belong to me; one coin is taken from Coinproject. If the owner of that coin objects to my posting it, please let me know and I’ll remove the image. Proto Nabataean The earliest Nabataean coins exhibit a portrait of Athena on the obverse, with a portrait of Nike on the reverse, modeled after the gold staters of Alexander III. Sometimes the inscription Λ with a crescent can be found in the left field of the reverse, sometimes there is only an Λ, sometimes there is no inscription at all. They are overstruck on issues of Ptolemy I, II, or III. Hoover makes a compelling argument that we consider the mid-to-late 3rd-century as a terminum post quem for the series, and I’m inclined to agree. If we accept that dating, we can no longer attribute these coins to Aretas II. They may have been struck during the time of Aretas I, known from an inscription dating to 168 BC, and mentioned in 2 Maccabees 5:8. The only other Nabataean king of this period known to history is Rabbel I, who succeeded Aretas I in 140 BC. But it is not known that these early coins were struck during the time, or under the authority of these rulers, so perhaps it’s best to leave that part of the attribution out altogether. 1. Anonymous coin. Obv.: Head of Athena r. wearing crested Corinthian helmet. Rev.: Nike standing left, holding wreath. In field letter Λ. 17 mm, 3.81g. The Ptolemaic undertype is clearly visible on the reverse of this coin, but I have yet to determine which of the rulers it belongs to. <a href="http://postimage.org/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://postimage.org/" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://s22.postimg.org/6idd7bfvl/aretasiioverstrike2b.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a> 2. Anonymous coin. Obv.: Head of Athena r. wearing crested Corinthian helmet. Rev.: Nike standing left, holding wreath. In field letter Λ with crescent above. <a href="http://postimage.org/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://postimage.org/" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://s14.postimg.org/mdja91i5d/protonabantiochus1.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a> This coin is overstruck on a Seleucid host, belonging to Antiochus, as evinced by the remnant legend TIoXoY on the reverse. It would seem the legend on the host coin survived due to a chip on the overstriking die. The obverse also exhibits a ghost portrait in Seleucid style. Exactly which Antiochus is yet to be determined, and I haven’t studied this piece sufficiently to make an educated guess at dating. This is the first Seleucid overstrike that I’ve come across in my collecting, but I may have discovered a second piece, which I’ll post at a later time. For now, I believe two broad categories are sufficient for a typology of Proto-Nabataean overstrikes. Variations exist in the inscriptions, or lack thereof, and sometimes the host coin can be narrowed down to one or two possibilities, sometimes it can’t. On some coins the overstrike is so weak that barely any of the new design is present, on others, the strike is so strong that there is no evidence of an undertype, save for the center dimple created by the axel of a lathe used to machine the flan. In those cases, it’s possible that the host coin is either of Ptolemaic or Seleucid origin. Trying to sub-categorize all these differences seems persnickety to me, but I reserve the right to change my mind in the future. Aretas II Aretas II’s rule began in 120 or 110 BC, and he remained in office until 96 BC. His seat was in Damascus. During this time, the Seleucids had lost power over the Near East, and a number of cultures began minting their own coin. Here we find the early issues of the Nabataeans, city coins of Tyre and Ashkelon, and the dawn of Judaean coinage under the authority of Alexander Jannaeus. There now exists sufficient archeological evidence to assign at least the next Nabataean bronze type to Aretas II. These issues continue the Athena/Nike designs, but they exhibit a significantly higher level of artistry than evinced on the Proto-Nabataean types. The Nabataean variation on this Greek design consists of rows of dots to render Athena’s and Nike’s wings. Athena is presented with decidedly feminine features. These pieces do not have the appearance of being overstruck, and they don’t exhibit the center dimple indicative of lathe machining. They are quite round, however, so the flans may have been carefully adjusted on a cylindrical sander. Sometimes parts of the design are off flan – either the dies were too large or the flan too small – but they are generally well-centered. The quality of these pieces obviously suggests a professional mint, and just such a mint could have been found in Damascus during the reign of Aretas II. The Seleucids had produced a large quantity of beautiful coinage in Damascus during their stay there, and they undoubtedly left a school of minting, replete with the necessary technology and skilled artisans. 3. Aretas II Obv.: Head of Athena r. wearing crested Corinthian helmet. Rev.: Nike standing left, holding wreath. In field letter Λ with crescent above. 3a. Aretas II Obv.: Head of Athena r. wearing crested Corinthian helmet. Rev.: Nike standing left, holding wreath. No letter or crescent. 16mm, 3,3g. These are Meshorer types 1 and 1a. 1 is with inscription, 1a is without. I’ve retained this convention and applied it to the next two types as well. Here are two pieces from my collection that illustrate differences in flan and die sizes. The second example is more common. <a href="http://postimage.org/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://postimage.org/" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://s8.postimg.org/3r92ro3dh/aretas2both.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></a>[/QUOTE]

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