A new purchase from @John Anthony 's latest auction. It represents a Roman provincial city I had not yet had in my collection. Moreover, I was fascinated by the goddess on the reverse: Mida. Please feel free to comment, post similar coins or anything you feel is relevant! Cremna in Pisidia was made a Roman colony sometime around the year AD 6 with the title Colonia Iulia Augusta Felix Cremna or Cremnensium. The mint issued coinage from the reign of Hadrian to the time of Aurelian but the city became occupied by an Isaurian brigand in AD 276, ending the production of Roman provincial coins by the city.[1] The reverse of this coin depicts the goddess Mida, identified by the reverse legend MIDAE DEAE COL CREM. MIDAE DEAE is ambiguous and may be in the Latin genitive ("of goddess Mida") or dative case ("to goddess Mida"). Mida, according to Hill,[2] is a form of Kybele. This is also suggested by a 1997 article by Vassileva,[3] who notes the ancient Phrygians considered Kybele to be the mother of King Midas. She further notes that Hechysios describes a city named Mida whose subjects worshiped the goddess Mida, whom they considered the mother of Midas. Vassileva concludes, "This could also be evidence that the ruler was named after the Mother Goddess" (i.e. Kybele). Geta, as Caesar, AD 198-209. Roman provincial AE 19.4 mm, 5.42 g, 7 h. Pisidia, Cremna, AD 198-209. Obv: L SEP G-ETAC N(?)C, bare-head of Geta to right. Rev: MIDAE DE-AE COL CRE, Mida seated on chair to left, with patera in right hand. Refs: BMC 19, p. 302, 9A; Von Aulock Pisidiens II 1243; SNG France 1502. The coin appears to have been issued with a variety of obverse and reverse legend variations, with different reference numbers. This one is very similar (but not identical) in its inscriptions to the specimen in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts as well as one sold by CNG. However, all of these examples depict Geta as draped and cuirassed, while my coin depicts his head only. ~~~ 1. Hill, George Francis. Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Lycia, Pamphylia, and Pisidia (BMC 19). Gilbert and Rivington, 1897, p. cii. 2. ibid. 3. Vassileva, Maya. “King Midas : between the Balkans and Asia Minor.” Dialogues D'histoire Ancienne, vol. 23, no. 2, 1997, p. 17.
