Recent purchase of mine that I just got around to imaging, from Savoca London Otho AE of Antioch, Syria 24mm, 8.01g Obv: IMP M OTHO CAE AVG, Laureate head right Rev: SC within wreath The coin is mostly jet black and glossy in hand, and sports one of the finest portraits of the short-lived emperor that can be found on coinage. Which does raise an interesting question - if Otho was only emperor from mid-January to mid-April and never set foot close to Antioch, I would wager that these coins were probably made from an old bust from when he was in Nero's entourage, before he was exiled to Lusitania and packed on the pounds! Feel free to post anything related! I know a few members have these, so let's see the Otho's!
Otho apparently was not known in Antioch since the portraits there are considerably more handsome than those from Rome. Mine is an AR tetradrachm.
That's a nice portrait. Better then Alexandrian types. Otho (69 A.D.) Egypt, Alexandria Billon Tetradrachm O: ΑΥΤΟΚ ΜΑΡΚ ΟΘΩΝΟΣ ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒ, laureate head right; L A (date) to right. R:ΡΩΜΗ, helmeted and cuirassed bust of Roma right, holding shield and spear. 13.4g 23mm Dattari (Savio) 330; K&G 18.9; RPC I 5362; Emmett 186.1 Published on Wildwinds! Otho (69 A.D.) Egypt, Alexandria Billon Tetradrachm O: AYTOK MAPK OΘΩNOΣ KAIΣ ΣEB, laureate head right, LA (year 1) lower right. R: EΛEY-ΘEPIA, Eleutheria (Liberty) standing left, wreath in extended right hand, scepter in left hand, leaning with left elbow on column, simpulum (ladle used for tasting and pouring sacrificial libations) left in lower left field. 12.58g 24.4mm Milne 359; RPC I 5354 (5 spec.); Dattari 327; BMC Alexandria p. 25, 208; Curtis 238; Kampmann 18.6; Emmett 184 Ex. Jyrki Muona Collection This variety with a simpulum on the reverse is much rarer than the same type without this control symbol. RPC reports only 5 specimens with the simpulum and 17 specimens without it. This variety is missing from the important collections in Cologne, Paris, and Milan, and we know of only one example offered at auction in the past two decades (CNG 76, 12 Sep 2007, lot 3152, VF, $430 plus fees). Published on Wildwinds!
Nice! Mine is very similar: IMP M OTHO CAE AVG , laureate head of Otho right / large S C within laurel wreath Bronze As or 4 Chalkoi (?) Antiochia, February-April 69 24,76 mm / 9,28 gr RPC 4319 and plate 164 (6 specimens cited); McAlee (The Coins of Roman Antioch) 323; MBCG p. 177, 213
That is a very nice portrait and patina on yours! Here are my two... Otho, Ruled Jan 15-Apr 16, 69 AD AE26, Syria, Antioch Was Poppaea Sabina’s initial husband, but she had an affair with Nero and eventually left him for Nero while Nero was Emperor. Obverse: IMP M OTHO CAE AVG, laureate head right; countermark: Athena standing right within rectangular incuse. Reverse: Large SC within laurel wreath of eight leaves, fastened at top with pellet, between inner circle and outer dotted border. References: RPC 4318; countermark: Howgego 245 Size: 26mm, 11.1g Ex: Savoca Coin Auction, 4th Blue, Lot #930 (12-27-2017) Otho, Ruled Jan 15-Apr 16, 69 AD AE28, Syria, Antioch Obverse: IMP M OTHO CAE AVG, laureate head right. Reverse: Large SC within laurel wreath of eight leaves, fastened at top with pellet. References: RPC 4318 Size: 28mm, - - - g Ex: FSR Auction, Lot #212 (01-15-2019)
Otho was known to support a nice rug or toupee - you don't get a sense of that from these early issues where no one knew what he looked like. And they made him too handsome. Anyway, great coins all!
..i'd say they heard o'm....but no pics......and purdy kool coins of a emperor who had only denari struck at other mints...(Antioch & Alexander i believe)
Good point. Since he was "involved" with Nero and his other doings (and wife previously), not to mention any of his imperial service over his life, his name was probably mentioned across borders via ancient gossip.
Thanks all! And some very nice Othos! @Julius Germanicus, looking at your coin more closely, I wonder if it was struck by the same dies as mine? Hard to tell but I think the portraits are identical.
Great observation! Mine is from a different reverse die, but the obverse portraits seem to be too similar to be from different dies. If so, could it be that there is a little tooling done on the hair/laurel wreath? In any case, this seems that the celator managed to create a portrait of the finest style to be found on bronze coins of this ruler.
