Here's another write-up for one of my new acquisitions from the Baltimore Whitman show, hope you enjoy it. Roman Empire, Egypt, Alexandria. Billon tetradrachm. Trajan (98-117 AD), regnal year 18 (=114/115 AD). Reverse: Dikaiosyne (Justitia) standing, holding scales and cornucopia. Milne 720. Trajan was born in 53 AD in Spain and spent his early career in the military, gaining experience and a reputation as a level-headed officer. He was key in suppressing a revolt against Domitian in 89 AD by Rhine troops. When the elderly and childless new emperor Nerva proved unpopular with the army, he formally adopted Trajan in 97 as his son and heir in an attempt to boost his standing. When Nerva died of natural causes in 98, Trajan was ready to take over and quickly proved adept at both civil and military duties. He instituted large-scale public building programs, both in Rome and the provinces, and started a program for the welfare of orphans in Italy. After a lengthy military campaign he annexed Dacia (modern Romania) and also fought successful campaigns in Armenia and Mesopotamia, although those two regions had to be abandoned by his successor Hadrian. Shortly before his death in 117, he named Hadrian as his heir, continuing the line that historians call the "Five Good Emperors." Overall Trajan was an able ruler, who seems to have genuinely done his best to improve the lives of his subjects; he was counted as a "virtuous pagan" by medieval Christian theologians. Egypt was treated differently than the other provinces in the Roman Empire. Starting with Augustus, it was under the rule of the emperor directly, rather than the Senate as were other provinces, and no senator could enter Egypt without permission from the emperor. This was because Egypt's great wealth (largely from providing crucial grain supplies to the city of Rome) and strategic position made it a logical place for a usurper to set up base, so naturally the sitting emperor wanted to prevent such actions. Roman Egypt also had a closed economy, using its own special coinage that was distinct from that of the rest of the empire. Coins of Roman Egypt feature a wide range of reverse types, including many Greco-Roman deities, personifications, and mythological themes, as well as some specifically Egyptian designs such as Egyptian deities (especially Isis and Serapis) or canopic jars (which held the preserved internal organs of mummies). This coin shows Dikaiosyne, Greek equivalent of Justitia (Justice). The scales she holds have remained as par tot modern Western representations of Justice. This coin was at the table of Ephesus Numismatics (Tom Wood), marked at $35, which is quite cheap for this coin. Tom readily admitted that the coin was marked so low in order to draw in browsers to look more closely at his offerings of (mainly Biblical-related) ancients. Well, it definitely worked for me. I ended up purchasing this coin as well as a Virginia halfpenny (his other specialty is colonial US coins), and only ended up paying $30.
Nice => Parthicus, congrats on scoring that great OP-example I don't know Tom ... but it sounds like I should I have a similar Dikaiosyne-example from A-Pius (wanna see it?) EGYPT, Alexandria. Antoninus Pius. Æ Drachm 138-161 AD Dated RY 11 (AD 147/8) Diameter: 34 mm Weight: 22.03 grams Obverse: Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right Reverse: Dikaiosyne standing left, holding scales and cornucopia; L ЄNΔЄ KATOV (date) around Reference: Köln 1576; Dattari (Savio) 8383; K&G 35.402 Man, they look pretty sweet together, eh Santa?
I love Alexandrian tets and that one is superb. Two of my favourite Vespasian denarii (one an RIC plate coin) came from Tom around this time of year 11 years ago. I cannot recommend him enough! A class act with nice little gems.
