Four years ago, on 14.01.2020, a very strange coin was auctioned in New York by CNG: an aureus of Aurelian and Vabalathus. AV 17 mm, 2.09 g, 6h. Obv. IMP C AVRELIANVS AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust seen from front, right. Rev.: VABALATHVS V C R IM D R, laureate and diademed draped (and cuirassed?) bust seen from rear, right. Unpublished and unique. Zero pedigree. Mint-state with some scratches. Estimated USD 200,000, sold for USD 250,000. I don't know who bought it. It's a gold version of the well-known Aurelian and Vabalathus antoniniani of Antioch. On antoniniani, Aurelian is radiate, not laureate, and there is an officina greek letter under Aurelian's bust, showing that the Vabalathus side is the obverse and the Aurelian side the reverse. On this aureus, we cannot tell. This coin is unique and has never been seen before. It has no provenance, no pedigree, which raises strong suspicions of it being a blood antiquity from north Syria, if authentic. For the CNG experts, no doubt: it's authentic. As a matter of fact it does look authentic, and the dies are carved in the same style as the antoniniani. But I did not find any scholarly article published since which mentions this aureus. Is there any numismatic literature about this coin? Does anybody know who bought it, or if it was bought by the consignor because it did not meet the reserve price? Do you think it's authentic? I should be very interested in knowing more about this unique coin...
I have nothing to contribute on authenticity, but I'd imagine CNG went to some lengths to verify such a high profile coin, showing it around and using what technology is available. (Of course, some very high profile fakes have slipped past exactly this process in the past -- thinking of their "Cabinet W" from 2012, part of which was seized by the US Federal gov.) Re: Syria, I don't know if you've seen it, but Ute Warternberg Kagan's 2015 article on "Collecting Coins and the Conflict in Syria" used coins of Vabalathus and of Zenobia as an index for the flow of "conflict coins" from the region. She didn't mention the Aurelian/Vabalathus coinage, though. Not knowing much about it, I wasn't sure if the double-busted Aurelian/Vabalathus coinage circulated more widely than the Vabalathus-only coinage? Or were they all "usurpation coinage" limited to the Palmyrene region?
I think Roma had one too. Its geniune for sure if CNG sold it. 250K was a deal. Probably the Tyrant guy bought it...
Hi @Blake Davis, Look up the Tyrant Collection ( https://www.thetyrantcollection.com/ ). - Broucheion
