I'm trying to learn more about a coin supposedly sourced from around the Petra area in Jordan. Looking at pictures from around the Internet, I find the most similarity to specimens I found of "Rabel II with Queen Gamilat", but of the three lines of text on the cornicopea side, I can only read parts of line #2 and it appears as very different text from every other online exemplar I have seen. I haven't ruled out that this could be counterfeit as its true origin is unknown. Thoughts? Back by LarzMN posted Mar 1, 2024 at 7:33 AM Front by LarzMN posted Mar 1, 2024 at 7:33 AM
I have only one such coin and the inscription is somewhat different. But there seem to be a few. The following paper may be useful https://www.academia.edu/10893692/The_Coinage_of_the_Last_Nabataean_King_Rabbel_II_AD_70_1_105_6_
Four letters, from t. to l. : G, M, L, T. That's Gamilat, Rabbel II's queen. It cannot be anything else. The chiseled flan and the general style is typical of Rabbel II. It's surely authentic, I see nothing suspect in this coin. These AE coins were worth 1 Roman quadrans. My own 4 Rabbel II coins :
I have just one Rabbel II with Gamilat example: This ruler issued very similar types with 3 different women. First, his mother Shuqailat, then his sister Gamilat, and then his wife Hagru. (Alternate English spellings of the names of these 3 queens exist.) Basically, coins with Gamilat are common, with Shuqailat are scarce, and with Hagru are rare. Here's a link to a CoinTalk thread on which John Anthony shared his examples in a composite photograph chart that can be used to distinguish the types: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-last-nabataean-bronzes.243078/page-3
