Rare Roman Provincials

Rare is not rare in Roman Provincials, and affordable condition and rarity are benefits of wandering off the most well worn paths of ancient coins. This nice sized coin, 22.5mm and 7.54g, is my new favorite depiction of both Julia Mamaea, mother of Severus Alexander, and the iconic she-wolf and twins of Rome. It was minted in Deultum, a Roman colony in the province of Thrace, on the eastern edge of modern Bulgaria, that had a port connected to the Black Sea.


There is only one of these coins listed in ACSearch, and not one in RPC Online [Reason: Vol 6 not online yet], Coryssa or the SixBid archive - it seems it will be quite a while before another one comes up for auction. This coin is particularly well preserved and nicely struck. The reference coins appear to come from only a couple of dies.


Thrace, Deultum, Julia Avita Mamaea, AD 222-235 during the reign of Severus Alexander, with Julia and her mother as regents. Æ23
Obv: IVLIA MAMAEA AVG, Draped bust right, wearing stephane
Rev: COL FL PAC DEV-LT, She-wolf standing right, suckling twins
Ref: Jurukov 174 (same reverse die), Moushumov 3615, CNG Featured Coin (same dies), SNG Bobokov 675 (same obv. die), Windwinds shows Varbanov 2378 (same dies)

The Roman colony was founded during the reign of Vespasian and its full name, Colonia Flavia Pacis Deultensium or Colonia Flavia Pancensis Deultum, explains the reverse legend. Comparing with the plate from Moushumov you can see a variation in the legend (on a coin of Severus Alexander Plate XXII.2 3587).

Two useful reference books on the coins of Deultum are avialable online

• Jordanka Jurukova, “Die Münzprägung von Deultum”, Berlin, 1973
• Nikola Moushmov, “Ancient Coins of the Balkan Peninsula”

and three that are harder to find online or in paper:

• Dimitar Draganov, “Sylloge nummorum Graecorum. Bulgaria. Ruse--Bobokov Bros. collection : Thrace & Moesia Inferior”, Bulgaria, Bobokov Bros. Foundation, 2005-
• Dimitar Draganov , “Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum - Bulgaria, VOL. II: Thrace and Moesia Inferior: Apollonia Pontica”, Bulgaria, Bobokov Bros Foundation, 2017.
• I. Varbanov. “GREEK IMPERIAL COINS and their values, Vol II”, Bourgas, 2005

As always, additions, and corrections are appreciated. Post your Provincial rarities, coins of Julia Mamaea, coins of Deultum, or anything else that you find interesting or entertaining.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Great coin.
I recently got a rare provincial too:


From RPC online:
Coin type
URI https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/362json ttl rdf xml
Volume IV.2
Number 362 (temporary)
Province Asia
Subprovince Conventus of Smyrna
Region Aeolis
City Aegae
Reign Marcus Aurelius
Person (obv.) Lucius Verus (Augustus)
Magistrate Pherekydes (strategos)
Issue Marcus and Verus, co-emperors
Dating c. 161-163
Obverse inscription ΑV ΚΑΙ Λ ΑVΡΗ ΟVΗΡΟϹ
Obverse design bare-headed bust of Lucius Verus wearing cuirass and paludamentum, r., seen from front
Reverse inscription ΕΠΙ ϹΤΡ ΦΕΡΕΚΥΔΟΥ ΤΙΤΝΑΙΟϹ ΑΙΓΑΕΩΝ
Reverse design river-god Titnaios reclining, l., holding reed and cornucopia, resting on water-urn
Metal AE
Average diameter 34 mm
Average weight 24.13 g
Axis 12
Reference BMC 23–4
Specimens 3

I guess I’ll send them a pic of mine, so that they can register example #4. Mine is 32mm and weighs around 20g, but I am pretty sure it’s the same type.

 

The following coin was struck at Smyrna under Gordian III. Obverse shows Senate bust, with reverse including Tyche in temple. SNG 1321.

 

Very cool, @Sulla80 ! I love going in-depth with provincials -- die studies and such. Another reference for your coin is CN 7800.

I have two Mamaea coins from Deultum:

Julia Mamaea, AD 222-235.
Roman provincial Æ 23.4 mm, 9.73 g.
Thrace, Deultum, AD 222-235.
Obv: IVLIA MAMAEA AVG, diademed and draped bust right.
Rev: COL FL PAC DEVLT, Homonoia standing left, holding patera and cornucopiae.
Refs: Varbanov 2337; Moushmov 2623; Jurukova 164; CN 7165; SNG Bobokov 535.


Julia Mamaea, AD 222-235.
Roman provincial Æ 19.7 mm, 5.54 g.
Thrace, Deultum, AD 222-235.
Obv: IVLIA MAMAEA AVG, diademed and draped bust right.
Rev: C F P D, lion walking right.
Refs: Moushmov 3624; Varbanov 2382; Mionnet Suppl 2, 511; CN --; Jurukova --; BMC --.

 

That's a nice one Sulla80! I forget who it was that said this "concerning provincials, there's noting more common than a rare coin".

This one is not in RPC, ascearch or ISEGRIM. Interesting with the inscription facing outward, possibly unique, good condition and patina, and purchased on the cheap.
Bithynia, Tium. Antoninus Pius AE18. Zeus Syrgastes Obv: ANTONINO Y KAICAPOC (retrograde) / Pius bust r.
Rev: ZEUS TIANWN / Zeus Syrgastes standing, l., holding patera and long scepter.
18mm, 3.4gm.

 

A fabulous coin, congrats, and "sestertius sized"!

An interesting coin - I like the colorful patina and the bust of the Senate.

Thank you for the link and for more examples from Deultum! The plaster cast shown for CN 7800 is another double die match to my coin - not hard doing a die study for this coin.

An excellent provincial rarity, with an unusual portrait for Antoninus Pius - he has almost flavian head.

 

Don't have much in this area:


Egypt, Alexandria. Dattari.
In the name of Livia, wife of Augustus
Diobol circa 1-2 (year 31),
Æ 23.5mm., 7.46g.
Draped bust r.
Rev. Athena standing l., holding Nike and leaning on shield; L-ΛA.
Dattari-Savio Pl. 3, 60 (this coin). RPC pag. 692, 5 (this coin cited).
Very rare. Nice brown-green tone. Very Fine
From the Dattari collection.
In our opinion is correct the interpretation of Dattari on this coin and the date shown on the Rev. is L-ΛA and not LMA as suggested from RPC.
Ex: Naville

 

Nice addition @Sulla80, I do like the Bust on that one.

Here is an Unpublished/ Unique coin of Macrinus from Cibyra-Phrygia
Unfortunately lots of his Provincial coins fall into this category of which I own a few.

 

Excellent provincial rarity! Here’s a greeny from Macedon that I need to reshoot:

Julia Mamaea
Macedon. Thessalonica. AD 225-235. Bronze Æ 24mm., 12,16g. IOYΛIA MAMEA AYΓ, diademed and draped bust right / ΘECCAΛONIKAIΩN, Nike walking left, holding Kabeiros in right hand and palm branch in left. very fine Varbanov 4484 var. (legends); BMC 108 var. (legends); Touratsoglou 32 var. (legends)

 

At least the ("own a few") sounds fortunate - it can be frustrating to not find any information - quite a rarity, very nice to see.

Phrygia, Kibyra, Macrinus, 217-218 AD, AE.
Obv: AVT KAI M O CЄ MAKPЄINOC, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Rev: KIBVPATΩN, demeter standing left, holding grain ears and scepter
Ref: AMC Coin ID #13496 (this coin) "Extremely rare" and FYI an earlier sale of this coin 26-Feb-2016 H. D. Rauch GmbH eAuction 19​

nice - rare, green and Julia Mamaea

 

How about another she-wolf?

Macrinus. A.D. 217-218.
Æ28, 14.6g, 6h. Syria, Seleucis and Pieria. Laodicea ad Mare.
Obv.: IMP C M OP S-EVE MACRINOS AVG; Laureate head right.
Rev.: ROMAE above, FEL in exergue, she-wolf standing right, head turned to look back at the suckling twins, Romulus and Remus

 

Roman provincial coinage is an area that is ripe with bargains. Collectors shouldn't confuse rarity with value. Some common provincial coins will sell for many times what a rarity will fetch because of superior style & high grade condition. So how do we define rarity in provincial coinage? I think Richard McAlee had the best answer. He states: Extremely Rare= 1 or 2 coins, Very Rare= 3 to 5 coins, Rare= 6 to 12 coins. In the recent Roma XIX Auction a handsome tetradrachm from Laodicea ad Mare, Prier 1154 was sold. There are 9 known specimens of this coin & the example illustrated in Prieur's book would grade Ex. Fine with heavy porosity, especially on the obverse. On today's market that coin would be worth $300-500. The example from the Roma XIX Auction is illustrated below. It is in extraordinary condition & of the finest style; it sold for $6,575.00 !


I've posted many Rare & Extremely Rare provincial coins in the past so I won't punish CT members by posting them again . Recently I won a Rare Tet from Antioch, Syria of Herennia Etruscilla, wife of emperor Trajan Decius, pictured below. McAlee writes in his book The Coins of Roman Antioch "Both the tetradrachms and the aes coins in her name are rare." My coin is certainly one of the finest graded by NGC & the portrait is of very fine style. The coin cost me $222.00 which I consider a bargain .

 

Nice!

A fantastic, and very muscular Lupa Romana.

Any one factor never a simple correlation with price - in ancients especially: rarity, intrinsic value of metal, artistic value, historic significance, numismatic significance, condition, celebrity... I am sure we could come up with more. The Caracalla Tet is striking in many dimensions and not surprising to me that it was fought over at auction. More surprising is the price of your outstanding Herennia Etruscilla - a stunning coin and I agree, a bargain.

 

This one may not be rare, exactly, but it seems to be a bit scarce, from what I can tell looking online. It is a big (AE 31) brass from Prusias ad Hypium in Bithynia issued for Domitian.




Domitian Æ 31
(c. 81-96 A.D.)
Prusias ad Hypium, Bithynia
Α[ΥΤ(Ο) ΔΟΜΙ]ΤΙΑΝΟΣ ΚΑΙ-ΣΑ[Ρ ΣΕΒΑ(Σ) ΓΕΡ(Μ) (Α)], laureate head right / ΣΕΒΑΣΤΗ [ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑ], Eirene (?) standing left holding branch and cornucopia, prow in front, left.
RPC 678.
(22.71 grams / 31 mm)


From RPC online:

"The figure is very like that of Pax on the Latin coins with PAX AVGVST (RPC II, 501), and so has been identified here as Eirene. Neither the snake (RPC II, 677)
nor the prow (RPC II, 678) is very appropriate for Eirene, though both occur with
representations of Demeter; this is perhaps why Bosch (p. 183, no. 4) seems to
have identified the figure as Demeter; but Demeter does not seem very likely,
and Bosch refers to a similar type under Trajan with the legend Eirene. Both the
snake and prow are perhaps in some sense 'issue-marks' rather than attributes
of the deity represented as the main type (see RPC II, 680-2)."

 

A couple more Macrinus types, both from SILLYUM.

Hermes seated left on rocks, holding purse & caduceus
SNG BN 991 ( only ref )

Diadumenian Reverse, laureate, draped bust Right, Unpublished

 

I’ve shared this plenty of times, but it still falls in the category of rare and I just plain like this coin:
Provincial Rome - Phrygia
Caracalla, r. 198-217 A.D.
Hieropolis, AE30, 30 mm x 12.36 grams
Obv.: AV K M AVP ANTΩNΕINO/C. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right
Rev.: ΙΕ POΠ ΛEITΩN. Nemesis, wearing polos, standing facing, head right, holding rein or halter. To right Serapis, enthroned left with Cerberus at feet.
Unpublished, possibly unique

 

This brass coin of Julia Aquilia Severa is listed in some publications as a "scarce" coin. About the size of a US half dollar it weighs 12.5 grams and the inscriptions, obverse and reverse, are in Latin. It is from the mint of Tyre. One can feel sorry for this woman. Although she was a Vestal Virgin the strange Elagabalus picked her as his wife, twice between other wives. She disappears from the historical record with his murder. The anonymity after that, it is hoped, came from her going back back to the Vestals and that she was not murdered with him. IVL AQVILIA SEVERA AVG. On reverse, an urn with palm tree branch emanating from it TURIORVUM

 

more interesting rarities with mysteries of people, place and symbol. Your coin prompted me to look up a page from @dougsmit on "Agonistic urns" - is this coin connected games held in Tyre (TYRIORVM)?

Considering Macrinus only ruled for ~14 months (11 April 217 to June 218) , and Diadumedian was ~9-10 years old as co-ruler, there are a surprising number of coins from this father and son pair. This one I am still trying to sort out the reverse: Athena, Harmonia, Hera?
Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, Macrinus with Diadumenian as Caesar, AD 217-218, Æ Pentassarion, Pontianus, consular legate
Obv: AVT K M OΠEΛ CEV MAKPEINOC K M OΠEΛ ANTΩNEINOC, confronted heads of Macrinus right, laureate, and Diadumenian, left, bareheaded
Rev: VΠ ΠONTIANOV MAPKIANOΠOΛEITΩN, Hera standing facing, head left, holding phiale and scepter; E (mark of value) to left
Ref: double die match with one described as "currently unique" by CNG as of 12-08-2015. H&J, Marcianopolis, 6.24.3.1-4 var. (E to right); AMNG I/I 722 var. (E to right); Varbanov 1185a var. (E to right) - so I guess this could meet McAlee criteria for Extremely Rare.

 

Thank you for an interesting post, @Sulla80 ! I don’t think any of my provincial coins are particularly rare but their affordability can be a rarity.

 

That works for me - any excuse to see another of your presentation posters and some particularly good looking coins on this one from Seleucis and Pieria!