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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;DonnaML, post: 8036826, member: 110350&quot;]I&#039;ve bought half a dozen Roman Alexandrian coins over the last few months, but decided to wait until the last one arrived to mention them, so I could post them all together.&nbsp; One is a type I never thought I&#039;d be able to afford except in extremely poor condition: one of the Antoninus Pius Zodiac drachms. The kind I bought (a &quot;Sun in Leo&quot; variety) is clearly the most common, but examples still usually cost more than I&#039;m able to spend. I was able to buy the coin I did only because it&#039;s very worn. Nonetheless, the main components of the design are still visible, and there&#039;s even enough of the obverse lettering remaining to determine where the legend breaks and be able to assign a Milne number! More importantly, I actually think the green and brown patina is rather attractive. The dealer assured me that there&#039;s no active bronze disease, and after receiving the coin I think I can confirm that he was right.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here they are, with the Zodiac coin first and then the others in chronological order. Perhaps the reverses are mostly just someone -- or some thing! --&nbsp; standing or sitting or lying there, but I find them all interesting nonetheless.</p><p><br /></p><p>1.&nbsp; &nbsp; Antoninus Pius AE Drachm, Zodiac Series, Sun in Leo (day house), Year 8 (144-145 AD), Alexandria, Egypt Mint. Obv. Laureate head right, ΑYΤ Κ Τ ΑΙΛ ΑΔΡ ΑΝΤѠΝƐΙΝΟϹ ϹƐ-Β ƐYϹ (legend begins at 8:00) / Rev. Lion springing right; above to left, bust of Helios, radiate and draped; above to right, 8-pointed star; L H (Year 8) below.&nbsp; RPC IV.4 Online 13547 (temp.) (see <a href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/13547);" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/13547);" rel="nofollow">https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/13547);</a> Emmett 1530.8 (ill. p. 74A); BMC 16 Alexandria 1084 at p. 127 (ill. Pl. 12); Milne 1813-1815 at p. 44 (No. 1815 has same obv. legend break as this coin, i.e., ϹƐ-Β ƐVϹ); Dattari (Savio) 2968; K&amp;G 35.278 (ill. p. 173); Köln (Geissen) 1495.&nbsp; <i>Ex. Dr. Busso Peus Nachfolger, Auction 428, Lot 555, 28 Apr. 2021; ex. Heidelberger Münzhandlung Herbert Grün e.K., Auction 79, Lot 1284, 10 Nov. 2020.</i> 33 mm., 20.95 g.*</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;[ATTACH=full]1391956[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>*See explanation at Classical Numismatic Group, <i>Triton XXI Catalog</i> (“The Giovanni Maria Staffieri Collection of the Coins of Roman Alexandria,” Jan 9. 2018), Lot 124, p. 68 (available at <a href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=349280" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=349280" rel="nofollow">https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=349280</a>):</p><p><br /></p><p>“The Great Sothic Cycle was a calendrical cycle based on the heliacal rising in July of the star Sirius (known to the Greeks as Sothis) and lasting approximately 1460 years. According to ancient Egyptian mythology, in a Golden Age, the beginning of the flooding of the Nile coincided exactly with the rising of Sirius, which was reckoned as the New Year. Only once every 1460 years did Sirius rise at exactly the same time. Thus, the coincidence of this along with the concurrent beginning of the flooding of the Nile gave the event major cosmological significance by heralding not just the beginning of a new year, but the beginning of a new eon. This event also was thought to herald the appearance of the phoenix, a mythological bird which was reborn every 500 to 1000 years out of its own ashes. According to one version of the myth, each new phoenix embalmed its old ashes in an egg of myrrh, which it then deposited in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis. So important was the advent of the new Great Sothic Cycle, both to the realignment of the heavens and its signaling of the annual flooding of the Nile, that the Egyptians celebrated it in a five-day festival, which emphasized the important cosmological significance.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the third year of the reign of Antoninus Pius (AD 139/40), a new Great Sothic Cycle began. To mark this event, the mint of Alexandria struck an extensive series of coinage, especially in large bronze drachms, each related in some astrological way to the reordering of the heavens during the advent of the new Great Sothic Cycle. This celebration would continue throughout Pius’ reign, with an immense output of coinage during the eighth year of his reign in Egypt, which included this coin type, part of the Zodiac series.”</p><p><br /></p><p>I have seen no explanation of why it took five years to issue this series after the beginning of the new Cycle. It should be noted that the Zodiac series is based not on the ancient Egyptian “Decan” system of 36 star groups (see <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decan" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decan" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decan</a>), but on the 12 Greek (originally Babylonian) signs, and depicts associated Greco-Roman deities -- although the additional “Zodiac Wheel” coin (see Triton XXI catalog, Lot 124) depicts Isis and Serapis at the center of the reverse.</p><p><br /></p><p>In total, according to Emmett, there are 16 basic drachm types in the Antoninus Pius Zodiac Series, all issued in Year 8 of his reign, listed and depicted in Emmett at p. 74A: Ares (Mars) in Aries [ram] (Emmett 1461.8), Aphrodite (Venus) in Taurus [bull] (E. 1450.8), Hermes (Mercury) in Gemini [with the twins represented by Herakles and Apollo rather than the Dioscuri] (E.1576.8), Selene (Moon) in Cancer [crab] (E.1681.8), Helios (Sun) in Leo [this coin] (E.1530.8), Hermes (Mercury) in Virgo [Demeter] (E.1575.8), Aphrodite (Venus) in Libra [female holding scales] (E.1452.8), Ares (Mars) in Scorpio [scorpion] (E.1460.8), Zeus (Jupiter) in Sagittarius [centaur as archer] (E.1693.8), Kronos (Saturn) in Capricorn [capricorn] (E.1598.8), Kronos (Saturn) in Aquarius [youth swimming with amphora] (E.1451.8), and Zeus (Jupiter) in Pisces [two fish] (E.1692.8). There are four additional &quot;Zodiac Wheel&quot; types variously depicting Helios and Selene, Serapis and Isis, or Serapis by himself in the center, surrounded by either one circular band showing the Zodiac, or two bands showing respectively the Zodiac and the five planets together with the Sun and Moon (Emmett 1705-1708).</p><p><br /></p><p>2.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Nero and Divus Augustus, Billon Tetradrachm, Year 13 (66/67 AD), Alexandria, Egypt Mint. Obv. Radiate head of Nero left, ΝΕΡΩ ΚΛΑV ΚΑΙΣ ΣΕΒ ΓΕΡ AY; in left field, LIE (Year 13) / Rev. Radiate head of Augustus right,&nbsp; ΘΕΟΣ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΣ.&nbsp; RPC I Online 5294 (see <a href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/1/5294" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/1/5294" rel="nofollow">https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/1/5294</a>), Emmett 113.13, Milne 251 at p. 7, BMC 16 Alexandria 112 at p. 15, Dattari (Savio) 184, Sear RCV I 2007 (ill. p. 394). 24 mm., 11.6 g.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1391960[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[The reverse of this coin would go well in the thread about portraits that look nothing like the person they&#039;re supposed to be portraying.]</p><p><br /></p><p>3.&nbsp; &nbsp; Trajan, Billon Tetradrachm, Year 15 (111/112 AD), Aexandria, Egypt mint. Obv. Laureate head right, ΑΥΤ ΤΡΑΙΑΝ Ϲ - ƐΒ&nbsp; ΓƐΡΜ ΔΑΚΙΚ / Rev. Serpent Agathodaemon standing erect right, crowned with pschent/skhent [the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt] , with coils enfolding caduceus upright to left and stalk of corn to right; L - IƐ (Year 15) across fields. RPC III 4586 (see <a href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/4586" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/4586" rel="nofollow">https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/4586</a>)&nbsp; [see also RPC 4646 (<a href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/4646" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/4646" rel="nofollow">https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/4646</a>) (same type?)], Emmett 369.15, Milne 649-650 at p. 19, BMC 16 Alexandria 391 at p. 47, Köln (Geissen) 569-572, Dattari (Savio) 700-701. <i>Ex. Economopoulos Numismatics, Holicong PA, Oct. 2021 (Nick Economopoulos, formerly of Pegasi Numismatics).</i>&nbsp; 24x22 mm., 12.25 g.*</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1391963[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>*See my footnote on the subject of the serpent Agathodaemon, in my post some time ago about my Hadrian agathodaemon, at&nbsp; <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/finally-an-agathodaemon.383883/#post-7779971" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/finally-an-agathodaemon.383883/#post-7779971">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/finally-an-agathodaemon.383883/#post-7779971</a>. Here is the beginning of that footnote. (The two coins are quite similar, as one can see at the link, but I couldn&#039;t resist buying the Trajan as well):</p><p><br /></p><p>The serpent Agathodaemon or Agathos Daimon -- translated variously as good spirit, noble spirit, or good genius -- was sacred to Serapis, and was worshipped in every Egyptian town. “On the coins he is always represented erect, and usually wearing the skhent, in the midst of corn and poppies, generally with a caduceus, also rising from the ground.” BMC 16 Alexandria, p. lxxxvi. The Numiswiki definition of Agathodaemon, at <a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Agathodaemon" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Agathodaemon" rel="nofollow">https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Agathodaemon</a>, states as follows: “Agathodaemon (Greek: ‘good spirit’) was a god of the vineyards and grainfields and of good luck, health and wisdom. It was customary to drink or pour out a glass of unmixed wine to honor him in every meal. He was the spouse or companion of Tyche Agathe (later Agatha). He was represented in art as a serpent or as a young man bearing a cornucopia and a bowl in one hand, and a poppy and an ear of corn [U.S.: grain] in the other. The agathodaemon was later adapted into a general daemon of good luck, particularly of the abundance of a family &#039;s good food and drink.”</p><p><br /></p><p>It should be noted that there is a wide variety of coin types showing the Agathodaemon, under Hadrian and other emperors (and empresses) from Nero to Gallienus. For example, the serpent Agathodaemon frequently appears on tetradrachms, diobols, and drachms, and is shown both with and without the caduceus and corn stalks -- and, sometimes, when they are present, with the corn stalks to the left and the caduceus to the right instead of the order shown on my example. The Agathodaemon is also sometimes shown with the head of Serapis, and sometimes appears with the Uraeus snake facing it. As we know, it occasionally appears riding a horse, and there is one variety showing it riding a bull.</p><p><br /></p><p>The article entitled “The Agathos Daimon in Greco-Egyptian religion,” by João Pedro Feliciano, at <a href="https://www.academia.edu/27115429/The_Agathos_Daimon_in_Greco-Egyptian_religion" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.academia.edu/27115429/The_Agathos_Daimon_in_Greco-Egyptian_religion" rel="nofollow">https://www.academia.edu/27115429/The_Agathos_Daimon_in_Greco-Egyptian_religion</a> is quite informative, and it is worth quoting it extensively even though its primary focus is on the Agathodaemon as represented on stelae, reliefs, and statues, rather than on coins . . . . [See link above for remainder of footnote.]</p><p><br /></p><p>4.&nbsp;&nbsp; Hadrian, AE Drachm, Year 18 (133/134 AD), Alexandria, Egypt Mint. Obv. Laureate head right wearing cloak (paladumentum) and cuirass, seen from behind, AVT KAIC TPAIAN - ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟϹ ϹƐΒ / Rev. Sphinx with female human head and body of lioness, seated left, crowned with kalathos, wearing long drop earrings, wings curled upwards, tail erect, right forepaw resting on wheel, LI - H (Year 18) across fields. RPC III Online 5915 (see <a href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/5915" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/5915" rel="nofollow">https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/5915</a> ), Emmett 1053.18, Milne 1427 at p. 34, BMC 16 Alexandria 848 at p. 99, K&amp;G 32.603 (ill. p. 145), Dattari (Savio) 1996, Köln (Geissen) 1134 (same obverse die). <i>Ex. Economopoulos Numismatics, Holicong PA, Oct. 2021 (Nick Economopoulos, formerly of Pegasi Numismatics); ex. CNG (Classical Numismatic Group), Mail Bid Sale 58, Lot 976, Sep. 19, 2001 (ill. at Catalog&nbsp; p. 108). </i>33 mm., 26.23 g.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1391974[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The coin in hand is actually a bit darker than this dealer&#039;s photo; see this photo I took of the reverse of this drachm next to the Zodiac drachm in its tray, to get a better idea of the actual color:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1391975[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The old CNG tag from 2001 came with the coin:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1391976[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>I couldn&#039;t find the catalog anywhere online, but I was able to buy a copy for $10.00, so here are the lot description and photo:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1391978[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Next, a goddess standing there on the reverse, but an unusual one who never appeared on Roman Alexandrian coinage before this issue. Plus, an unusually fierce-looking Hadrian:</p><p><br /></p><p>5.&nbsp; &nbsp; Hadrian, Billon Tetradrachm, Year 22 (137/138 AD), Alexandria, Egypt mint. Obv. Laureate head right, slight drapery on left shoulder, ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙϹ ΤΡΑ - ΑΔΡΙΑΝΟϹ ϹƐΒ / Rev. Pronoia standing facing, head left, crowned with flowers, wearing long chiton and peplum, holding in outstretched right hand a phoenix standing left, and in left hand a long scepter held obliquely;&nbsp; Π-Ρ-ONOIA; in left field, KB/L (Year 22). RPC III 6252 (see <a href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/6252" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/6252" rel="nofollow">https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/6252</a>), Emmett 881.22, Milne 1560 at p. 37, K&amp;G 32.770 (ill. p. 154), BMC Alexandria 598 at p. 72, Sear RCV II 3747, Köln (Geissen) 1243, Dattari (Savio) 1450.&nbsp; 24 mm., 12.94 g. <i>Ex. Economopoulos Numismatics, Holicong PA, Oct. 2021 (Nick Economopoulos, formerly of Pegasi Numismatics).</i>*</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1391981[/ATTACH]</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>*Pronoia was a minor figure in Greek mythology representing foresight or forethought; see <a href="https://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NymphePronoia.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NymphePronoia.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NymphePronoia.html</a>&nbsp; (“HESIONE PRONOIA (Pronoea) was the Okeanid-nymph wife of the Titan Prometheus. She was a minor goddess of foresight”) (noting that the name of Prometheus&#039;s wife was sometimes given as Asia). See also Jones, John Melville, <i>A Dictionary of Ancient Greek Coins</i> (London, Seaby, 1986) at p. 197 [entry for Pronoia]: “’Forethought’, the equivalent of the Roman imperial virtue Providentia, personified at Alexandria as a female figure with scepter or phoenix.”</p><p><br /></p><p>However, J.G. Milne did not agree that Providentia and Pronoia could be equated, and had a view of the significance of Pronoia’s appearance on this type that I have not seen elsewhere. See the Introduction to his <i>Catalogue of Alexandrian Coins</i> (1971 reprint) at pp. xxxi-xxxii, discussing various personifications, including Pronoia, who were so unfamiliar in Egypt that they had to be specifically named on coins depicting them, such as this type:</p><p><br /></p><p>“The majority of the personifications that occur on Alexandrian coins are borrowed from Rome, and show little or no modification of the Roman types. {Names of various personifications omitted.] . . . . It is some evidence of their strangenss to Egyptian ideas that their meaning had to be explained by adding their names in the legends of the coins on which they first appeared . . . .</p><p><br /></p><p>There are, however, a few types which seem to be independent of Roman models [discussion of Eleutheria and Kratesis omitted.] . . . . Another special type is Pronoia, who also had to be identified by name whenever she appeared, and seems to have no relation to the Roman Providentia. The figure first appears in the last year of Hadrian, when the meaning is made clear by a phoenix placed in her hand; in the following year, under Antoninus, the phoenix is used as an emblem of the completion of the Sothic cycle which took place in that year [see footnote to Antoninus Pius drachm from Zodiac Series], and so the Phoenix of the earlier year is the anticipation of this event.”</p><p><br /></p><p>Finally, a type I&#039;ve always enjoyed: Tyche reclining on a couch holding a rudder downwards off the edge. Every time I see her that way, I imagine her steering her way leisurely down the Nile:</p><p><br /></p><p>6.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Salonina (wife of Gallienus), Billon Tetradrachm, 266-267 AD (Year 14), Alexandria, Egypt mint.&nbsp; Obv. Draped bust right, wearing stephane (Milne obv. type t4), KOPNHΛIA CAΛѠNЄINA CЄB / Rev. Tyche wearing long chiton and peplum, crowned with modius, reclining left on couch (lectisternium*) adorned with double garland, resting right hand on rudder, resting left elbow on arm of lectistermium and supporting head with left hand, LIΔ (Year 14) in left field, palm branch in exergue. 23.6 mm., 10.94 g. Emmett 3865.14 (R2), Milne 4140 at p. 99, K&amp;G 91.47 (ill. p. 323), BMC 16 Alexandria 2266 at p. 294, Sear RCV III 10716, Dattari (Savio) 5342, Köln (Geissen) 2982.&nbsp; <i>Purchased from Marc R. Breitsprecher Oct. 2021. Ex. Stack’s Coin Galleries Mail Bid Sale, Nov. 13, 1985, part of Lot 209 (with original coin tag).</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>[ATTACH=full]1391987[/ATTACH] </i></p><p><br /></p><p>Original Coin Tag:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1391989[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>*Definition of lectisternium at <a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Lectisternium" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Lectisternium" rel="nofollow">https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Lectisternium</a>:</p><p><br /></p><p>“Lectisternium, a species of sacrifice, at which, in times of great public calamity, the gods themselves were invited to a solemn feast. Their statues were taken from their pedestals, and they were laid on pulvinaria, or lecti, that is to say, on beds prepared purposely for their reception in the temples, with pillows under their heads, and in this posture they were each day of the festival served with a magnificent banquet, which the priests never failed to clear away in the evening. There were tables set out in all the different quarters of the city, to which everyone, without distinction, was admitted. . . .</p><p><br /></p><p>The word lectisternium signifies the act of making or preparing beds. It is derived from lectus, a bed, and sternere, to raise, prepare, and spread. <i>The word also designates sometimes the bed itself, on which is placed the statue of the divinity in honour of whom the above mentioned ceremony of the lectistern was celebrated</i>.” (Emphasis added.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Please post your own Zodiac coins, or any other Roman Alexandrian coins you&#039;ve recently acquired or haven&#039;t shown lately, or particularly like.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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