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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Nemo, post: 2304719, member: 58462&quot;]I tried to narrow in down to a &quot;Top 10&quot; but it was an impossible task.&nbsp; By changing the the list to &quot;Most Beautiful,&quot; &quot;Most Fun,&quot; and &quot;Coolest&quot; I found it easier to at least put six together.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Most Beautiful:</b></p><p>#1</p><p>[ATTACH=full]463406[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Mazaios, Satrap of Cilicia AR Stater</b></p><p>CILICIA, Tarsos. Mazaios. Satrap of Cilicia, 361/0-334 BC., 10.78g. AR Stater</p><p>O: Baaltars seated left, head and torso facing, holding eagle, grain ear, and grape bunch in extended right hand, lotus-tipped scepter in left; TN (in Aramaic) to left, M (in Aramaic) below throne, B’LTRZ (&quot;Baal of Tarsos&quot; or &quot;Baaltars&quot; in Aramaic) to right</p><p>R: Lion attacking bull left; MZDY (Mazaeus in Aramaic) above, monogram below.</p><p>- Casabonne Series 2, Group C; SNG France –; SNG Levante 106.</p><p><br /></p><p>#2</p><p>[ATTACH=full]463407[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Domitian AR Denarius AD 85</b></p><p>Domitian. AD 81-96. AR Denarius, 20mm, 3.50g. Rome mint. Struck AD 85</p><p>O: IMP CAES DOMIT AVG GERM P M TR P IIII; Laureate bust Domitian right with aegis</p><p>R: IMP VIIII COS XI CENS POT P P; Minerva standing right on capital of rostral column with spear and shield; aegis draped over back with snakes around; owl to right.</p><p>- RIC 334</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="5"><b>Most Fun</b>&nbsp; </font></p><p><font size="5">(These were particularly fun to acquire because they were all misattributed as more common types.)</font></p><p>#1</p><p>[ATTACH=full]463409[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Vespasian in Quadriga</b></p><p>Vespasian AR denarius, 2.95g 18mm, Rome mint, 71 AD</p><p>O: IMP CAES VESP AVG P M; Vespasian, laureate head right.</p><p>R: Vespasian in triumphal quadriga, branch in right hand, scepter in left.</p><p><br /></p><p>Most examples of this reverse type are Antioch mint issues which copy the Rome mint type. This example is unusual because of the obverse legend IMP CAES VESP AVG PM. RSC records this reverse with COS IIII, which is the Antioch type. An extremely rare official variant.</p><p><br /></p><p>#2</p><p>[ATTACH=full]463410[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Vespasian / Neptune Denarius</b></p><p>Vespasian. 69-79 AD. Denarius, 3.10g. 18mm. Lyon Mint, 70 AD.</p><p>O: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG TR P; Laureate head of Vespasian right.</p><p>R: COS ITER TR POT; Neptune standing left, foot on prow, holding dolphin.</p><p>- RIC 1109 (R), BMC 375 note, RSC 93.</p><p><br /></p><p>#3</p><p>[ATTACH=full]463411[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Titus / Quadriga</b></p><p>Titus. As Caesar, AD 69-79. AR Denarius, 17mm, 3.25 g. Judaea Capta commemorative. Rome mint. Struck under Vespasian, AD 72-73.</p><p>O: T CAES IMP VESP PON TR POT; Laureate head right.</p><p>R: Titus standing right, holding branch and scepter, in quadriga right.</p><p>- RIC II 371 (Vespasian); Hendin 1483; RSC 394.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Coolest</b></p><p>#1</p><p>[ATTACH=full]463412[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>Valerius Gratus Prutah With Countermark of Cohors II Italica </b></p><p>JUDAEA, Roman Administration. Tiberius. AD 14-37. Æ Prutah (14mm, 1.72 g). Struck under Valerius Gratus, praefectus Iudaeae. Dated RY 5 (18/9 CE).</p><p>O: Unstruck [TIB/ KAI/CAP within wreath] Round countermark, palm branch flanked by the letters C and Π.</p><p>R: Upright palm branch; IOY ΛIA (Julia) and L Є (date, year 5 = 18/19 AD) across field.</p><p>- Meshorer 328 var.; Hendin 1339; RPC I 4965.</p><p><br /></p><p>These countermarks are always applied to the edges of the coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>According to Lönnqvist, (New Vistas on the Countermarked Coins of the Roman Prefects of Judaea) the countermarked coins of Gratus were probably struck in Jerusalem, 36/7 CE, to endorse them as pay for the Roman soldiers. (Meshorer notes that perhaps the countermarked coins became tokens for special purposes, e.g., receipt of equipment or for services in a Roman army camp.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Lönnqvist also convincingly argues that the C and Π on the countermark stand for the word σπεîρα, referring to the cohort of soldiers that were apparently in Judea.</p><p><br /></p><p>He notes, “An interesting account in the New Testament has remained until now unverified, since the passage has not been supported by any other sources. The Act of the Apostles 10:1 mention an officer and a cohort, ‘Cornelius, a centurion of a cohort being called Italian…’.</p><p><br /></p><p>This unit, thus, was comprised of Roman citizens. The passage suggests that the unit was the cohors Italica civium Romanorum, probably a detachment of one of the imperial legions stationed nearby, perhaps in Syria… I may suggest that the Italian cohort recorded in Acts is, in fact, the cohors II Italica, which, consequently, had been the detachment which applied the countermarks on the coins of the Roman prefects of Judaea… This new evidence… lends strong support to the credibility of the New Testament on this point.&quot;[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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