Worn but Worthy

Hi All,



Cleopatra VII & Marcus Antonius (44-31/30 BCE)
Ar Stater, Syria, Antioch (?), before Sep 33 BCE, probably ca 34 BCE
Size: 27 mm
Weight: 13.9 g

OBV: Cleopatra VII diademmed and draped portrait bust with earings and necklaced, facing right. Legend: [ΒΑςΙΛΙςςΑ ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑ ΘΕ]Α ΝΕ[ωΤΕΡΑ]. Dotted border.
REV: Marcus Antonius bare-headed portrait head facing right. Legend: ΑΝΤωΝΙΟς ΤΡΙΤΟΝ ΤΡΙωΝ ΑΝΔΡωΝ. Dotted border.
Refs: Sv-1897, pl lxiii, 22-23 [64 listed]; SYRIA: CITIES-129; RPC I, 4094; BMC 20. 158, #53, pl xix, 3.

Provenance: ACCS #2595: 27-Jul-1992. Ex-Harmer Rooke Galleries Auction #17, Lot #459 (30-Mar-1984) unsold. Possibly Ex-Knobloch Fixed Price List #29 (Nov 1965).

Worn but worthy (and worth it). Heck, it's Cleo & Antony!

From RPC-I (online): 43 coins, 21 obv. dies. A full die study is under preparation. That Cleopatra is on the obv. is demonstrated by the fact that die links can be found between the Cleopatra side, but hardly ever for the Antony side as well: obv. die links are much more frequent in Syria. See M. and K. Prieur, The Syro-Phoenician Tetradrachms and their Fractions (Lancaster PA and London, 2000), p. 6, where the coins are given to ‘Antioch’s secondary mint’ (but with no arguments for the attribution). Butcher, CRS, pp. 55-8, agrees with a date of 36BC, and is also uncertain about mint attribution. C. Howgego (JRS 1993, p. 203) queries the interpretation of ΘƐΑ ΝƐWΤƐΡΑ as meaning the younger queen Cleopatra Thea (of Syria), and suggests a return to the old interpretation as ‘the younger goddess’. J. Olivier and C. Parisot-Sillon, Les monnayages aux types de Cléopâtre et Antoine. Premiers résultats et perspectives, BSFN 68.9 (Nov. 2013), pp. 256-68. The mint attribution of the tetradrachms is discussed. Their low fineness (cu above 20%) differs from the purer silver at Laodicea and Aradus and compares well, as do the trace elements, with coins of Antioch (68%). A dating to 36 to 32/1 is considered likely. 41-48 obv. dies have been identified. The similar denarii (RRC 543), which are dated to 34/33 until no later than 32, have a different fineness and trace elements, and differ in other technical details; they were perhaps minted in northern Syria, with 63-80 obv. dies. The mixture of Greek and Roman elements in the inscriptions and designs is emphasised.

- Broucheion

 

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