Recent interest in Antioch bronzes...

Hey all, I've recently (past couple months) been interested in collecting a range of Roman provincial Antioch bronzes, specifically the "SC in wreath" type (versus AR Eagle Tets). I thought I'd share my small, but budding collection. I've got a lot of ones I want that I've seen on vcoins <3/hearted, so it's just a matter of budget and time.


Claudius, Rule 41-54 AD
AE18, Syria, Antioch Mint
Obverse: IM•TI•CLA[• CAE]-AV•GER
Reverse: Large S-C within inner solid boarder, laurel wreath surround, fastened with star at top.
Reference: RPC 4280; Wruck 26
Size: 18mm, 7.80g



Hadrian, Ruled 117-138 AD
Seleukis and Pieria, AE20, Antioch Mint
Obverse: AYTO KAIC TPAI AΔPIANOC CЄB, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right.
Reverse: Large S-C, Γ below, within laurel wreath of eight leaves with no inner border, all within dotted border.
Reference: BMC 426, SNG Cop 245
Size: 20mm, 6.08g



Hadrian, Ruled 117-138 AD
Seleukis and Pieria, AE20, Antioch Mint
Obverse: AYTOKP KAIC TPAIANA ΔPIANOC CЄB, Laureate and draped bust right.
Reverse: S-C, A below, all within laurel-wreath of eight leaves with no inner border, all within dotted border.
Reference: RPC III 3715, McAlee 539(a)
Size: 20mm, 6.08g



Elagabalus, Ruled 218-222 AD
Seleukis and Pieria, AE19, Antioch Mint
Obverse: IMP C MAV[R ANT]ONINVS AVG, laureate bust right, three dots at top of laurel.
Reverse: ΔE across field, star below, all within wreath of 10 elements fastened at top with garland.
Reference: BMC 447-50, McAlee 799
Size: 19mm, 6.94g



Elagabalus, Ruled 218-222 AD
Seleukis and Pieria, AE20, Antioch Mint
Obverse: IMP C MAVR ANTONINVS [AVG], laureate bust right, three dots at top of laurel.
Reverse: ΔE across field, star below, all within wreath of 10 elements fastened at top with garland.
Reference: BMC 447-50, McAlee 799
Size: 20mm, 4.64g



Elagabalus, Ruled 218-222 AD
Seleukis and Pieria, AE19, Antioch Mint
Obverse: AYT KAI M AVP ANTWNEINOC, radiate bust right.
Reverse: S-C within wreath, ΔE above, small eagle standing right with wings spread below.
Reference: BMC 426, SNG Cop 245
Size: 19mm, 7.20g

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In web searching working to ID these, I found that @Okidoki might have a similar soft spot in his heart for Antioch bronzes...specifically Hadrian (as seen on his Forvm gallery). Do any others have other emperors from the area? Or any other obv/rev types of similar emperors?

 

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Barbara Lichoka has an article all about those Delta Epsilon types:

Lichocka, Barbara, "Delta-Epsilon issues of Elagabalus and Severus Alexander," in Classica Orientalia: Essays Presented to Wiktor Andrzej Daszewski on his 75th Birthday (Polish Center of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw)

 

Nice Antioch collection Justin. I have some Antioch bronze SC as well:

 

I got a couple of different cats from Antioch with the ol' SC reverse.

Caracalla



Diadumenian

 

Mac & Di:

 

Some nice coins!

 

This one is the Wildwinds example but they have somehow got the Obverse legend wrong, they have it ending in CE but there is no E and what looks like a C is part of the cuirass. I have yet to get round to giving it a proper ID.
Listed as BMC 385 on wildwinds ( incorrect )
Macrinus

 

There are many minor varieties in this type, with slightly different obverse inscriptions, head/bust types and ornamentation in the wreath on the reverse. BMC is far from complete and neither of our examples fit exactly. You'd probably have to acquire McAlee to find an exact match and even then it may not fit.

Let's compare both of our examples to the BMC listing.

Mine:

Yours:


They look pretty similar, but the inscription on mine reads ΑVΤ Κ Μ Ο C ΜΑΚΡΙΝΟC C, whereas yours reads ΑVΤ Κ Μ Ο CЄ ΜΑΚΡΙΝΟC. Mine is a laureate head right; yours appears to be draped and cuirassed, like the plate coin of McAlee 725. From what I can make out of the obverse inscription, it appears to match yours as well:



This one, the plate coin of McAlee 728 is definitely cuirassed:



Now, neither of our coins exactly match any in BMC 20, p. 198, because our obverse inscriptions don't match either of the two cited:



But the key thing the BMC catalog emphasizes is the presence or absence of a star ornamenting the wreath on the reverse (yours has one; mine is off the flan) and whether or not it's a bust or a head and whether or not the delta is above the SC or the epsilon is above the SC on the reverse.

Your reverse is clearly that of BMC 386 and 387. Assuming yours is a bust, not a head, 386 is the best match for your coin, even though the obverse inscription doesn't quite match. When attributing yours, you'd probably want to say "BMC 20, p. 198, 386 var. (different obv. legend)." The obverse inscription on mine (without the Є after M O C), in conjunction with the laureate head (not bust) best matches 383-384, so I'd say "BMC 20, p. 198, 383-4 var. (different obv. legend)."

Similarly, both of our coins are similar to Sear Greek Imperial Coins 2949, but don't match the obverse legend exactly, either. We'd have to say "SGI 2949 var. (different obv. legend)" (me) or "SGI 2949 var. (different obv. legend and bust type)" (you).

Both of our coins are similar to several examples online cataloged as SNG Copenhagen 233 or Butcher 463a; however, I don't have access to the listings or the plates in those references to see how much detail they go into with regard to obverse legend or bust type to distinguish one from the other.

Hope this helps in your quest to attribute this coin. I would call it McAlee 725 and note that it's a variety of those listed in BMC and SGI.

 

Great, detailed referencing writeup, @Roman Collector! This info is pure gold for those starting out determining and documenting IDs for their coins. It's not a prefect science, and all about finding "similar" coins as close as you can and just documenting the differences.

 

Many thanks for taking the time to break it down for me RC, greatly appreciated.

 

Those are beautiful, Justin! I have one of the wreath types.

 

Augustus .. don't have a full attribution on this one yet - but Antioch:

 

Except for the explosion, it looks like some of my Prayer Services

 

As a group I have found these Antioch pieces, both the bronzes and the tetradrachms, to be an excellent acquirement as often the scarcer emperors can be found in excellent condition for a much lower cost than the ones from the imperial mints. I don't think this has been mentioned yet, but for those interested in getting into these Antiochene coins the large SC most likely never meant what the SC did on coins from the Imperial mints. On the latter the SC stood for Consultu Senatus (with the senate's approval) while on the Antiochene coins they apparently stood for Syriae Communis ( city-state of Syria).

 

I strongly recommend Richard McAlee's book on Antiochene coinage. I doubt it's easy to find, but using it is. I have found it to be a splendid reference.

Richard McAlee. The Coins of Roman Antioch. Lancaster, Penn./London: Classical Numismatic Group, Ltd., 2007. Hb., 407 pp., b/w illustrations throughout.
ISBN 0-9709268-9-8

For those who already own a copy, be sure you also have the free supplement:
https://issuu.com/cngcoins/docs/cng_mcalee_coins_of_roman_antioch_supplement_1_201

 

I have a later Antioch bronze. I also have a later decanummi of Justinian, but it’s not that good.

 

Here’s a badly cropped image of the decanummi taken from a group photo.

 

Wow, I have nary an Antioch SC type from the Roman Province.

I have several from Antioch as a Roman provincial city, but these are a couple I really like:


RI Julian II CE 360-363 AE1 maiorina Diademed R - SECVRITAS REIPVB 2 stars Apis Bull stg R ANT-Gamma 2 palms ANTIOCH RIC 217 LRBC 2641
Ex: @fsrcoin


PUBLIUS QUINCTILIUS VARUS RARE AE OF ANTIOCHEIA, SYRIA
RPC 4252, SNG Cop. 92, About Very Fine / Very Fine, 20.4mm, 8.03 grams, Dated year 27 = 5/4 B.C.E.
Obverse: Laureate head of Zeus to right
Reverse: Tyche of Antioch seated to right, holding palm branch; below, river-god Orontes swimming right, in right field, date ZK (year 27 = 5/4 B.C.E.)
This rare coin was struck during Varus' assignment as governor of Syria from 7 - 4 B.C.E. Varus guarded the borders from Parthia and violently quelled unrest in Judaea and Samaria. Josephus records an incident wherein after the death of Herod., Varus occupied Jerusalem and crucified 2,000 Jews.
Later Varus was transfered to the Northern front, where he met disaster fighting the Germanic tribes in the Teutoburg forest. Three legions under his command, legions XVII, XVIII and XIX were completely annihilated. This caused emperor Augustus great grief and he was said to have cried out on occasion "Quintili Vare, legiones redde!" or "Quinctilius Varus, give me back my legions!"