Taking a break from showcasing my Frank Robinson wins, here's a recent win from one of John Anthony's CoinTalk auctions: Roman Empire, Mesopotamia, Edessa. AE18 (18mm, 3.4g). Elagabalus (218-222 AD). Obverse: Laureate bust of Elagabalus left, [AYTO KAIC] MAP AYR ANT around. Reverse: Turreted, veiled, and draped bust of Tyche left, [KOLW] MAR EDECCA around. Cf. BMC 72, SNG Copenhagen 213. This coin was issued under Elagabalus (218-222 AD), and his story is certainly lurid enough to hold any collector's attention. However, what interested me in this coin was the place it was minted: the once-important, now almost forgotten city of Edessa in northern Mesopotamia. Edessa is recorded in inscriptions as early as the 7th century BC. From about 142 BC to about 242 AD it was the capitol of a small kingdom known as Osrhoene (also spelled Osroene, or sometimes called the Kingdom of Edessa). Osrhoene's location made it an important buffer between the Roman and Parthian/Sasanian zones; Osrhoene generally sided with Rome as a client state, often putting the Roman emperor on the coinage, sometimes alongside the Edessan king. After 242 AD, it was absorbed as a Roman province. Several important events occurred here. When Trajan's appointed puppet king of Parthia, Parthamaspates, was chased off his throne in 116 AD and forced to flee for his life, he was given the co-kingship of Osrhoene as a sort of consolation prize. The emperor Caracalla was assassinated on the road between Edessa and Carrhae in 217 AD, as he stepped off the side of the road to urinate. (Lesson: Try to hold it in on long road trips.) At the Battle of Edessa in 260 AD, the Sasanian king Shahpur I captured the Roman emperor Valerian alive, an unprecedented humiliation for Rome. (While Shahpur probably did use Valerian as a human footstool, the story that he later had the dead Valerian's skin tanned and stuffed with straw like a human scarecrow is almost certainly a lie meant to discredit the Sasanians. Shahpur was an observant Zoroastrian and eager to ingratiate himself with the increasingly powerful Zoroastrian priesthood, and desecrating a human corpse in that fashion would have lost him key religious support.) Edessa was also an important site of early Christianity; the Edessan kings (most of whom seem to have been named Abgar) had converted to Christianity by 190 AD, and Edessa sent the earliest Christian missionaries into Sasanian territory. This is a pleasant little coin, with nice tan desert patina (that hopefully is real and not the addition of a certain dealer whose handiwork has been discussed here before). I won it in John Anthony's auction as the only bidder for $35, but a couple of subsequent nice Mesopotamian provincials went much higher. Show off your Mesopotamian coins, or Elagabalus, or Shahpur I, or...
That coin caught my eye, nice lookin'! I have a couple of rough but cool provincials from Edessa, both came out of the same mixed lot of coins. This coin of Trajan Decius, and this coin of Elagabalus.
Hi @Parthicus! Yes, that sure is a pretty little coin; and, I had my eye on it the whole auction! I thought to try to grab that puppy but I'm glad I did not now that I know you were the bidder. I'm happy you have it. The back story is great. Thanks for that.
So much for Valerian's success in the East: Valerian I (253-260), Billon antoninianus. Antioch, AD 255/6. Obv: IMP C P LIC VALERIANVS P F AVG - Radiate, draped, and cuirassed bust right. Rev: RESTITVT ORIENTIS (to the restorer of the East) - Turreted female (Oriens) standing right, presenting wreath to Valerian, standing left, wearing military attire, spear vertical in left hand 19.8mm, 4.307g., die axis 315o. RIC V 287 (Antioch)
That's a sweet little coin! I've also snagged a handful of delightful coins from John recently and hope to post them soon. Meanwhile, here are a couple from Mesopotamia. The first was in a large mixed lot, unattributed, and it took me a while to nail it down. MESOPOTAMIA, Edessa. Elagabalus AE27, 15 gm Obv: AVT K M A ANTΩNEINOC; radiate cuirassed bust left, holding shield and raising right hand. Rev: AVP ........ EΔECCA; Tyche seated left on rock, holding corn ears; to left a column surmounted by a statue of Marsyas, river god swimming right at feet Ref: Mionnet supplement 8, 26. Very rare. Screencap of the Mionnet citation: MESOPOTAMIA, Edessa. Gordian III struck CE 242-244 AE25, 10.7 gm Obv: [ AVT K M] ANT GORDIANOC CEB, laureate, draped & cuirassed bust of Gordian III seen from behind; star before Rev: ABGAROC BACILEUC; mantled bust of Abgar r., bearded, wearing Parthian-style tiara with rosette; star behind Ref: BMC 144; SNG Cop 225
Way cool @Parthicus ! Great write up, cool coin. FSR coins are always great to acquire... Per your request: POND SCUM: RI Elagabalus 218-222 CE AR Antoninianus Radiate Roma seated MESOPOTAMIA: RI Philip II 244-249 Nisibis Mesopotamia-farthest EAST Temple SHAPUR I: The Vanquished One... RI Valerian I 253-260 CE AR Ant Felicitas stndg Caduceus and Cornucopia The Zorastrian: Sassanian Shapur I 240-272 CE AE Tetradrachm 10.78g 27mm Ctesiphon mint phase 1a mural crown korymbos - fire altar type 2 SNS IIa1-1a
@TIF: I really like the Edessa coins that feature the king in a Parthian-style tiara (gee, can't imagine why I might like that...) I have one of Abgar VIII and Septimius Severus that didn't photograph well, but just for comparison to your piece:
