Tiberius obol, ex Dattari

Here's another ex-Dattari coin from the same auction.

The auction listing documented this coin as an obol; it is not. It is a diobol. However, the weights do seem to vary a bit and this isn't the first such question of denomination I've seen among lower and middle weight Alexandrian coins. More listing errors: the reverse was touted as Agathodaemon. It is a uraeus. The sistrum was called a caduceus.

I sure find a lot of errors when browsing Roman Egyptian coins in auctions, even with sellers who are higher end. Perhaps that is because I own reference books and check, whereas I don't have reference books for many other types of coins. Maybe I'd find just as many errors with other types of coins.

This coin appears as a listing in Dattari's 1901 publication, both as a described entry plus as a plate coin (photo of a plaster cast?). It also appears as a plate coin in the Savio book (photo of a pencil rubbing). I wonder if the pencil rubbing was of the plaster or of the coin?



EGYPT, Alexandria. Marcus Aurelius
year 12, CE 171/2
AE diobol, 22 mm, 7.53 gm
Obv: [MAV]PHΛIOC ANTω[ΝΙΝΟCCE]; laureate bust right
Rev: Uraeus serpent erect left, wearing headdress; "holding" sistrum and grain ear; LI - B across upper fields
Ref: Dattari 3605 and Pl. XXXII, 3605 (this coin). Dattari-Savio Pl. 193, 3605 (this coin); Geissen --; Emmett 2260.12, R5
ex Dattari collection (Giovanni Dattari, 1858-1923)

Description of this coin in Dattari's Numi Augg. Alexandrini, Volume 1, 1901; p. 240:


Plate of this coin's reverse, Dattari's Numi Augg. Alexandrini, Volume 2, 1901; plate XXXII:


Savio, Adriano. Numi Augg. Alexandrini: Catalogo della Collezione Dattari, 2007, plate 193:

 

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Here's three coins from Roman Egypt in my collection. Two coins of Claudius, a bronze (diobol?) with hippo reverse, and a silver or billon tetradrachm featuring Messalina on the reverse:


And a very heavily worn AE drachm of Trajan, with reverse featuring the emperor driving a quadriga:

 

Wow, Granger => you have scored some very cool animal coins lately (I love this one) ... congrats on continuing to add to the Alexandrian-side of your sweet collection (some real beauties)

Ummm, I have an Alexandrian obol with this same cool snake, but it's a Hadrian (like ya didn't know, eh?) ... do you still wanna see it?

=> hopefully, for here it is once again...



... although my snake isn't "holding" a sistrum like your new clever snake

 

And one more


EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius
year 19, CE 155/6
AE obol, 18.5 mm, 4.26 gm
Obv: ANTωNINOCCEBEVCCV* [see note]; laureate head right
Rev: Horus falcon standing right**, wearing skhent; LI - [Θ]***
Ref: Dattari-Savio Pl. 165, 3134 (this coin); Geissen --; Emmett 1774.19, R5

* My interpretation of the obverse legend is clearly not correct but I haven't studied what it should be. Based on the visible portion of the dotted border, extrapolating the circle and taking into account the intrusion of A-Pi's head, I don't think there are letters which are simply off flan. The legend as it appears does not match those reported by Emmett, which in theory should be AVTKTAIΛΑΔPANTωNINOCCEBEVC (for "Imperator Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius"). Maybe the last two letters I recorded are AV instead of C (or E) V, and maybe there is at least one letter off flan (T)? There simply isn't enough room for all of the remaining theoretical letters.

** Some sources refer to these crowned birds as hawks (Emmett), others proclaim it a Horus falcon.

*** The last letter of the date is unclear. Unless this is an unpublished date for the type, it is Θ, making it year 19. This falcon-standing-right reverse was issued only in years 8 (LH), 9 (LΘ) and 19 (LIΘ).

I don't know if I would have matched this coin with the Savio plate rubbing had the listing not specified the entry number. Looking at it closely, the reverse has some visible "fingerprints" that confirm the match (the two small flan cracks at 9:00 and 10:00, for instance). The obverse rubbing is not very clear and the shape looks wrong but that can be explained the the contour of the flan. The obverse edges are rounded, so a rubbing isn't going to catch those rounded shoulders.

 

A fricken falcon!! .... and it's A-Pius (my favourite ruler)

Wow, that is very cool (congrats on yet another gorgeous Alexndrian addition to your quickly becoming world-class collection)

You're pretty neat ... "I knew her when ... "

 

I just received this very worn but also very rare and not likely to get a better specimen, I am in the process of treating it to remove the deposits (it seems like some sort of glue) . Dattari supl. pt2. 4. Geissen 410. Domitian Drachm 94-95 AD. 21.53gm. Ex my favorite Vcoin dealer Aegean.

 

A Domitian drachm? Nice! I have my eye on one right now.

I love that coin. Are you my Secret Santa? (fingers crossed )

Your serpent is holding a grain ear and a poppy. Must be a druggie

Wonderful coins! Thanks for posting them

 

why yes ... yes I am ... leave that new coin out with some milk and cookies and I'll take a quick peek at it as I make my rounds on Christmas eve

 

The fact is that some things rarely change. I will not be building a world class, complete collection of anything because I am not known to a hundred dealers as the guy who will pay double what they can get elsewhere. In Dattari's day, that might well have meant he was the guy who would pay one cent more than the copper melter down at the foundry. I had a (now late) friend who bought Severan denarii for melt just after WWII and found rarities mixed in with the ones that really were melters. He had things I have not seen since. In the early 1990's, a UK collector offered me $250 for my only two Alexandria mint Septimius denarii. Had I sold, we never would have become friends and I would not have bought several of his coins when he passed. He paid more than I would and got a lot of coins I did not.

More recently we have been seeing Roman Republican bronzes being sold from a huge collection including many that were ugly duplicates but listed as having been bought for more in 1990 than they brought today. Looking at Dattari plates, I suspect many were bought in large lots. The cool part is someone realized the collection needed to be recorded before it was spread to the winds. Is it necessary to have ten of the same coin to build a really great collection? I suspect it is a side feature of having the reputation of being the place to unload huge groups of coins no one else wants. Will there be a reference published in 2116 showing the contents of our collections? Probably not. Would you buy a copy of the book showing photos of all of Clio's coins? I do not know about you but my shelf has some space left. All I have to do is live until 2116 so I can buy books of your collections. We will see how that works out.

 

Ooh, another winner! I don't remember this coin to be that nice. Look at that cute little forked tongue. The sistrum is also very nicely rendered. Congrats!

 

TIF,
I like how you plan for an auction and pursue selected targets. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I am glad you hunt first for Roman Egypt coins and not RR.
I am lucky that my first choices of "coins" are the cast bronze pieces at the start of the RR section (or among the Greek colonies) of most auctions. It seems like when I target a late RR piece someone else wants it also and I am sad I missed an earlier coin.