This year I participated in two exchanges, so I'll post them separately. The first one I received featured these two really lovely coins. First up is this awesome Trajan silver drachm of Bostra, Arabia. This one is really neat because it is one of the few coins that actually features a camel, albeit a tiny one. I actually once bought one where the camel was described as "gato" - cat! Next is a cool Antiochan issue of Philip I. Antioch is known for their popular standards reverse, with "SR" on the standard flag, or below, or between the standards. I forget what SR means. Antioch is also well known for some of the worst spelling mistakes in the Ancient world. Seems like all those celators were not only illiterate, but incapable of copying off a template. Volusian is one of the worst offenders. This one is really good though, standard spellings, and nothing garbled. It does have a strange obverse text, with only "A" instead of "AVG" after "PHILIPPVS." Curious. Many thanks, secret friend!
Nice Trajan Arabia drachm. This coin was not minted in Bostra (today Busra, in South Syria). These silver "Arabia drachms", minted only under Trajan in 112, 113 and 114 (yours is dated ΔΗΜΑΡΧ ΕΞ ΙΗ ΥΠΑΤ Ϛ = 114 AD), were first thought to be from Caesarea of Cappadocia. In 1983, because these coins were mostly found in the Roman Province of Arabia and some even overstruck on older Nabataean silver drachms, Arie Kindler (A. Kindler, The Coinage Of Bostra) considered they were minted in Bostra. Many dealers are still relying on this reference. But more recent research has established that the Greek legend silver coins minted under Trajan especially for Arabia were not minted in Bostra, which did not have a mint before Antoninus Pius. They are now attributed to a "Trajan Arabian Mint" which was in fact located in Syria, probably Antioch, for the "Arabia drachms" like yours, and in... Rome (yes, Rome!) for the tridrachms (or light tetradrachms?) and for the "camel drachms" minted in 115 and 116. It is a very interesting coinage. From 111 to 116 a special silver coinage with two denominations, tridrachms of an average 10.3 g and drachms of an average 3.15 g, has been minted in Rome and in Syria (Antioch?), and shipped to Petra for circulation in the newly created Province of Arabia. Sometimes old silver Nabataean worn coins were collected in Arabia and shipped to Syria, sometimes even to Rome, to be reminted as "Arabia drachms" or later as "camel drachms". This special silver coinage did not circulate much outside this province. After 116 this coinage ceased to be produced but still circulated in Arabia for the whole 2nd century and even probably the early 3rd c. All new silver coins introduced in the province were denarii from Rome (or Syria under the Severians). Curiously, in 209-211, silver drachms for Caracalla and Geta were minted in Petra, obviously in order to imitate Trajan just one century after, but in very small quantities: just 5 specimens known...
I really hate to say this as I am generally about as positive a person as they come, but I am a bit disappointed with my first Secret Saturnalia experience. I have seen a total of like 6 people's coins from the exchange over 3 separate threads... is it always like this?
Not to worry, sometimes Santa's coins were buried in a storage locker on the other side of the country. Stay tuned for a real gift.
