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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;SeptimusT, post: 4246534, member: 91240&quot;][ATTACH=full]1083890[/ATTACH]</p><p>Drachm of Alexandria, Hadrian, AD 131/2, RPC 5790</p><p>34mm, 20.8g</p><p><b>Obverse</b>: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust of Hadrian right, seen from rear</p><p><b>Reverse</b>: Hadrian standing in quadriga of horses right, holding eagle-tipped sceptre and branch</p><p><br /></p><p>I was very lucky to win this Hadrian Alexandrian drachm from Savoca a few weeks back. It wasn’t mentioned in the title or description, but I was certain that someone would notice the countermark on its obverse, something which almost never occurs on Alexandrian coins. I put in a very high bid (impulsive), expecting to still lose, but actually came away with it at a relatively modest price!</p><p><br /></p><p>Once I had it in hand, I went through Howgego’s Greek Imperial Countermarks to find a match, and decided it was closest to <a href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/countermark/64" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/countermark/64" rel="nofollow">#324, an eagle with wings half open</a>, ‘probably applied at Tralles.’ The left wing is lightly impressed and there’s some corrosion down the middle, but when flipped 90 degrees it looks pretty close to the cruder examples of the type. The staff at RPC thought it was interesting enough to make it <a href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/5790" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/5790" rel="nofollow">the default image for the type</a>, which made me smile.</p><p><br /></p><p>Because of the relatively stable political and monetary system the Romans established in Alexandria, countermarking was not practiced in Roman Egypt (the Ptolemies did it, however). Because of the closed monetary system in Egypt, Alexandrian coins shouldn’t have left the province, either. But that system wasn’t fool proof, and on a very rare basis turn up <a href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/871486" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/871486" rel="nofollow">as far away as England</a>, and <a href="https://www.academia.edu/37471152/A_Hoard_of_Alexandrian_Tetradrachms_from_the_Last_Quarter_of_the_3rd_Century_AD_Found_in_the_Upper_Neman_Region?email_work_card=title" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.academia.edu/37471152/A_Hoard_of_Alexandrian_Tetradrachms_from_the_Last_Quarter_of_the_3rd_Century_AD_Found_in_the_Upper_Neman_Region?email_work_card=title" rel="nofollow">even hoarded in Europe</a>. Even more rarely, these also ended up getting countermarked, since they didn&#039;t exactly fit into the monetary system anywhere else. RPC lists two other examples<a href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/13460" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/13460" rel="nofollow"> known to be countermarked</a>, so it’s quite a rarity.</p><p><br /></p><p>All of this really leaves me wishing I could learn the rest of its story. It’s certainly had an interesting life. Who took it out of Egypt, and why? Did they have to haggle to pass it off as a good coin in some Asia Minor market?</p><p><br /></p><p>Does anyone else have any examples of coins that shouldn’t exist, whether it’s mixed up dies, strange overstrikes, or something else?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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