End of the (Silk) Road

*edit*

camels rock!!

 

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I didn't give a thought either, whether it was a left or right facing bust, that camel is just to die for.

 

Yes, another Bostran issue. I was going to post one of these to show they knew what a dromedary camel looked like, and were intentionally depicting a bactrian camel instead on my coin.

 

I need it! I'm sorry I wish I could say more.

 

Thanks, medoraman, for the OP story.
My coin has Trajan facing right.
Trajan (98-117 AD), AR 19, 3.33 grams. Struck c. 113-114 at Bostra, Arabia (southernmost Syria, very near Jordan).

Greek legend (below).
Sear Greek Imperial --. SNG ANS VI 158. SNG von Aulock III 6408. William Metcalf "Tell Kalak Hoard" ANSMN 20 (1975) page 88, plate XIV.18.

AVTOKP KAIC NEP TRAIAN APICTW CEB ΓERM ΔAK
Autokrater Kaiser Nerva Trajan Optimo Augustus Gemanicus Dacicus
Imperator Caesar

ΔHMAPX EΞ YΠATOC
Tribunicia Potestas Consul

 

Simply fantastic coin sir. I love your obverse more than mine.

Btw @Ancientnoob, yeah, its a coin, (in my mind), many collections "need". I needed it for my Nabatean collection, I needed it for my camel collection, and after pondering the significance, I needed it for my Sogdian collection. Its a coin like the RR camel someone else posted. I needed that coin for my Nabatean collection, (it lists Aretas), for my camel collection, and for my Impetorial collection. The cool thing about that coin, (thanks to @dougsmit for telling me), is it was the first time someone showed themselves on a RR coin. JC did the same a few years later and got whacked for it.

Its just one of those weird coins that tie ancient history together from many angles. I love coins like this.

 

@Ken Dorney @medoraman
You guys are double-special friends
Die Match obv and rev


-Miguel

 

I believe the correct situation here was the moneyer was honoring something he himself had done rather than the accomplishment of an ancestor. The moneyer is not shown on the coin but just Aretas surrendering to him. Moneyer was a low rank on the Cursus Honorum so most young men did not have a lot of accomplishments anyway but honoring something a distant ancestor did for Rome brought honor to your whole family without making it look like you were a jerk.

 

That is a very cool coin, thanks for sharing! Here's another camel coin that hasn't been posted yet, a Parthian bronze of Orodes II (57- 38 BC) featuring a kneeling Bactrian camel:

 

A great post and nice addition!

 

Just as a follow up. It arrived yesterday in good shape from Germany. Seems like export paperwork taking a long time, but coins being delivered.

 

Happy to hear that!

 

Cha-ching ... congrats medoraman (it's a great camel-coin)

I'm happy to hear that it found its way home

 

Really happy to hear it finally arrived!!

It's kind of funny that you posted today since I just received one of two 'camel types' I was after. One is still at auction (RR denarius) and this Trajan drachm was inspired by your initial OP and the posting of all the examples above. I lost one of this type and then stubbornly went after this particular example. It seems it was struck at Caesarea, Cappodocia---a scrawny camel that looks like 'Wile E Coyote' LOL:

 

@Mikey Zee, William Metcalf in his article "Tell Kalak Hoard" ANSMN 20 (1975) attributes it to a mint in Arabia, possibly Bostra. He considers the previous hypothesis they were minted at Caesarea in Cappadocia, and says "But the hoard evidence conclusively shows that the Arabia and camels drachms can have been minted at Caesarea only if it is argued they were immediately shipped for circulation elsewhere. That argument has been suggested in the past, but can now be proved wrong."[p.95] ... evidence of provenance an overstrikes conclusively indicates a mint site in Arabia, and it hardly need be said that this conclusion is supported by typology." ... "To sum up ...the context of drachms with Arabia and camel reverse is completely different from that of other types associated with Caesarea Cappadoicia. Overstriking of some of these coins on coins of the Nabatean kings indicates they were instead produced in Arabia, and this conclusion is confirmed by their types. ... It may have been located in Bostra, but certainty is impossible."

 

Thanks for the clarification @Valentinian!!!

It did seem a bit odd that the seller had it listed as struck somewhere other than Bostra, Arabia.

 

TRAJAN:

RI Trajan CE 98-117 AR drachm Struck CE 114-116 Arabia Petraea Bostra - Camel SNG ANS 1158

Is mine the same as @Mikey Zee 's?

 

Nice camels, gang