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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GinoLR, post: 25288828, member: 128351&quot;]This coin may be an imitation of tiny 12 mm AE of Hierapolis (Manbij, Syria). The original coin is this one : </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1614916[/ATTACH]</p><p>Hierapolis, AE 13 mm</p><p>Obv.: IЄPOΠO ΛЄITωN , bust of laureate Apollo right.</p><p>Rev.: ЄTZ NY = year 457 , lyre, letter A above</p><p>RPC IV.3, 8544 (temporary)</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;This example has [IЄPOΠO] ΛIT<font size="6">ω</font>N on obverse.</p><p><br /></p><p>These pseudo-autonomous coins are usually dated from the reign of Antoninus Pius (138-161). If the date is Seleucid, 457 sel. = 146 AD. </p><p><br /></p><p>In the 2nd c. AD people in Orient were always in dire need of small change. In Judaea for ex. they used the half-quadrans, when Westerners had the quadrans as the smallest denomination. This is why minute coins of all origins circulated extensively, including the Egyptian smallest denominations, even though Egyptian currency wasn&#039;t supposed to be exported outside Egypt. Imitations were minted in Palestine and South Syria (esp. imitations of the small Trajanic and Hadrianic Egyptian coin with the triple hemhem crown). They also imitated the Trajanic quadrans Hercules / boar, but with a much smaller module than the original Roman coin. They even imitated imitations... </p><p><br /></p><p>Many of these minute coins have been found in Caesarea (Israel), but also in Sīʿ in South Syria, Khirbet Samra in North Jordan, even Hegra in Saudi Arabia. </p><p><br /></p><p>I would not be surprised to observe the same phenomenon in North Syria. These Apollo / lyre small module coins were officially minted in Hierapolis, but the smaller ones w/o an obv. legend might be imitations to feed circulation in Antiochene. They may not be considered so rare : it&#039;s mostly because they are very small coins and collectors are not interested in minute coins : you will not find many in sales catalogue...[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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