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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kevin McGonigal, post: 4127629, member: 72790&quot;]I love that coin, partly from its appearance and partly from its provenance. The province of Commagene is a bit difficult to characterize from about 200 BC to 100 AD. Culturally the inhabitants were more akin to the Armenians than anyone else and geopolitically more inclined to Parthia than anywhere else. It was, up until the mid Second Century BC, under Seleucid Greek control and the Greek language superficially layered onto the local dialect. In 163 BC the region became independent of the Seleucid kings and remained independent until Tiberius annexed the region in 17 AD. Gaius Caligula created a client state status for the region under the young Antiochus IV who is described as a &quot;friend&quot; of Caligula (until they quarreled and Caligula took it back). Antiochus survived and was restored as a client king by Claudius but by 71 AD Commagene&#039;s Parthian leanings prompted Vespasian to end the client king status and restore provincial status.</p><p><br /></p><p>I think your coin, perhaps by weight and metal a dupondius, may have been issued with Latin inscriptions to impress upon the locals that they were now under Roman control. During the periods when Commagene was a client state the inscriptions on the coinage seem to have been in the Greek language. My coin,&nbsp; pictured below, is from the city mint of Samosata, the capital, and like yours, seems to be of a dupondius at 28 mm and 13.3 grams. Antiochus IV is on the obverse with the typical Basileus inscription while the reverse shows an unusual creature for a coin, a scorpion within a wreath, and the name of the kingdom, again in Greek. There seems to be some kind of very old damage, perhaps a gouge, below the bust of the king. Your coin is an excellent example of Rome trying to fit a newly acquired region into the imperial coinage. Nice acquisition.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1069187[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1069188[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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