Was shipped on Monday and here it is: JUDAEA, Gaba. Commodus. AD 177-192. Æ (22mm, 11.14 g, 12h). Dated CY 245 (AD 184/5). Laureate head right / Warrior standing left, holding spear, sword, and shield; star to upper left. RPC IV.3 Online 8600. Earthen black-green patina, cleaning scratches. Good Fine. Ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 316 (4 December 2013), lot 335. Very impressive coin in hand, natural sandy patina (yeah, I know, sounds ridiculous for Judaean city coin, but in this case it is actually true), very high relief. The scratches are only affecting the patina, not the coin itself. And I got it for $100, only $5 more than it was sold for in 2013. Overall I am very happy! Show your Gaba coins or CNG 496 wins!
Interesting and scarce coin, @Factor! I have only one coin of the city, and in researching it, I learned that we are uncertain about where the city of Gaba may have been located, but the best guess is in Trachonitis. Sabina, AD 117-137 Roman provincial Æ 17.3 mm, 4.65 g. Trachonitis, Gaba, AD 134-135. Obv: ΒΑC-CΑΒЄΙΝΑ, bare-headed and draped bust right. Rev: ΓΑΒ-ΗΝѠΝ, Zeus naked standing l., drapery hanging on his l. arm, resting on long sceptre with his r. hand, his l. on hip; in l. field, star and ΡЧΔ (city year 194 = AD 134/5). Refs: RPC III, 3952; Rosenberger II Gaba 14; Sofaer 28 (same dies); Kindler 29.
Well, its been a while since Eckhel's times . Now we have much more comprehensive archaeological and numismatic evidence, and it has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that Gaba that struck these coins (Geva in Hebrew) was located a bit east of the mount Carmel, at Mishmar ha-'Emek. That's the region where the majority of Gaba coins are found, including in controlled excavations, and where Kindler placed it in his 1988 corpus. RPC now has very nice Maps functionality, please have a look. Another nice Gaba coin from my collection: Gaba. Trajan. AD 98-117. Æ (23mm, 9.14 g, 12h). Dated CY 171 (AD 110/1). Laureate head right / Victory standing left, holding laurel branch and trophy; AOP (date) to right. RPC 3940; Rosenberger -; SNG ANS -; de Saulcy p. 341, 2. Near VF, sandy earthen green patina.
