| Classical Numismatic Group > Electronic Auction 553 | Auction date: 3 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 381 Price realized: 400 USD (Approx. 362 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: JUDAEA, Caesarea Maritima. 1st-2nd centuries CE. Æ "Minim" (11mm, 0.52 g, 12h). Copying a prutah of the First Jewish War. Amphora within wreath / Grape or fig leaf. Hamburger, Caesarea –; Meshorer 369. Dark green patina, earthen deposits, a few cleaning marks. VF. From the Aleph Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group Electronic Auction 355 (15 July 2015), lot 364. A recurring phenomenon around Caesarea is the appearance of reduced module imitiations of circulating coinage. The pieces most often published are so-called "minima" which copy the bronze prutot of the Herodian kings, the procurators, and the First Jewish War. As quantities of these coins have been found in outlying regions, especially around the sites of the legionary encampments, rather than in the city proper, they probably served as a token currency in the camps and their associated settlements. For further discussion, see H. Hamburger, "Minute Coins from Caesarea," Atiqot I (1956) Estimate: 100 USD |  |
Match 1:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Electronic Auction 561 | Auction date: 1 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 137 Price realized: 850 USD (Approx. 795 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: TROAS, Dardanos(?). 3rd-1st centuries BC(?). Æ (12.5mm, 1.58 g, 12h). Draped bust of female facing, wearing veil(?) / Warrior standing left, holding scepter, and placing hand and foot on prow to left. VAuctions 329, lot 147; otherwise, unpublished. Dark green patina, trace earthen deposits. VF. Extremely rare, perhaps the second known. According to Leschhorn, only Dardanos is known to have struck coinage bearing an ethnic beginning ΔAP. He also records the rare early silver coins bearing ΔAPAΔO (cf. May, Damastion p. 197), but it is uncertain whether that is the name of a city or a personal name, and it is unlikely for a city in Illyra to feature a marine type as here. While Dardanos is a coastal town, the types here are completely novel compared to its known issues. Other than it's early membership in the Delian League, Dardanos has no historical ties to any naval victory or prominence, though the reverse type here alludes to such. It is therefore possible that this coin is an issue from a city otherwise unknown from coinage. Estimate: 100 USD |  |
Match 2:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 909 Price realized: 8,000 USD (Approx. 7,327 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Constantine I. AD 307/310-337. Æ Follis (19mm, 3.16 g, 12h). Constantinople mint, 1st officina. Struck AD 327. CONSTANTI NVS MAX AVG, laureate head right / SPES PVBLIC, labarum, with Christogram at top and three medallions on drapery, spearing serpent; A|–//CONS. RIC VII 19. Dark brown-green patina, scratches, smoothing. Good VF. Rare and popular type. From the J. K. Biblical Collection. Ex Nomos 19 (17 November 2019), lot 358 (hammer CHF 5500). There has been much speculation regarding this rare issue, minted only at Constantinople during AD 327/8, since it is the only issue of Constantine I which appears to be so overtly Christian in its symbolism. The reverse shows for the first time the labarum (a Christian emblematic replacement for the vexillum) firmly planted on the back of a wriggling serpent. Influenced by the ancient sources (the Panegyrici Latini and, in particular the Vita Constantini of Eusebius), J. Maurice, in his Numismatique Constantinienne (II, pp. 506-13), was the first to argue for such an unambiguous interpretation – the symbol of Christ piercing the dark powers of Satan – a view accepted by subsequent scholars and numismatists (P. Bruun, "The Christian signs on the coins of Constantine" in Studies in Constantinian Numismatics: Papers from 1954 to 1988 [Rome: 1991], p.61). Constantine I was constantly adjusting his public image to meet the changing status of his political career. Such was the case with his new diademed portrait, adopted in 324 following his victory over Licinius I, which depicted Constantine I looking slightly upward, as if in the attitude of prayer. There, the emperor seemed to have been intentionally ambiguous, so that imperial images could be viewed by various groups within the empire in the context of their own hopes and aspirations (for a discussion of Constantine's use of deliberately ambiguous language and imagery, see T.G. Elliot, "The Language of Constantine's Propaganda," TAPA 120 [1990], pp. 349-353 and H.A. Drake, Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance [Johns Hopkins, 2000]). Is that same ambiguity, however, at work here? Beginning with the sons of Constantine and their successors (excluding Julian II, the Apostate), the labarum would appear more regularly on imperial solidi of the mid-fourth century onwards and would be interpreted by Christians and pagans alike as an emblem of imperial power. Likewise, the serpent (or dragon), which first appeared as a non-beneficent symbol on the denarii of Julius Caesar (Crawford 443/1), came to represent enemies of the state, such as "barbarians", "pagans", and "heretics" (cf. Gnecchi 2 for the serpent as a representation of Germanic tribes on a bronze medallion of Constantine I). As with the labarum, the serpent thereafter became an integral part of late Roman imperial iconography, particularly on the reverse of various solidi, where the emperor is depicted triumphally placing his foot on a serpent. In 327, however, the imagery presented on this coin may not have been so ambiguous and may have been directed specifically to those Christians living in and around the new capital. Following his defeat of Licinius I at Chrysopolis in 324, Constantine I worked to reestablish peace and stability within a restored empire. In 325, he successfully convened and oversaw an ecumenical council of Christian bishops in at Nicaea, primarily to address the trouble produced by the Arian controversy in the eastern portion of the empire. The result of this council was the creation of the Nicene Creed and the establishment (under imperial auspices) of a theologically orthodox Christianity. This success, however, was tempered the following year when the imperial family underwent a crisis when Constantine executed his son and heir-apparent, Crispus, and the empress Fausta, allegedly on account of mutual improper behavior. Now, a new dynastic arrangement needed to be implemented, and a period of contrition followed. Not only were the remaining three sons elevated to receive the empire jointly, but also the emperor's mother, Helena, went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, in part to expiate the sins of the imperial household, and during which journey she discovered a number of important holy relics, including the True Cross, which she brought back to Constantinople. Now, with religious controversies settled, the difficulties of the previous heir replaced by the three new co-heirs, and the bringing of holy relics to the new capital, Constantinople could be untainted by the faults of the old. In the context of these recent events, this coin, meant for local popular consumption, could reassure the populace that Constantine I and his rule, inspired by divine intervention and represented by the labarum, would ensure orthodox stability against all imperial enemies, represented by the serpent. Estimate: 3000 USD |  |
Match 3:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 753 Price realized: 800 USD (Approx. 733 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Hadrian. AD 117-138. Æ Sestertius (34mm, 25.67 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 119-circa mid 120. IMP CAESAR TRAIANVS HADRIANVS AVG P M TR P COS III, laureate bust with bare chest right, slight drapery / RELIQVA VETERA HS NOVIES MILL ABOLITA, S C in exergue, Lictor, wearing short tunic and cloak, standing left, with brand in right hand setting fire to a heap of bonds on ground to left, and holding fasces with ax upright in left hand; to left, three citizens standing right, raising right hands in celebration. RIC II.3 264; Strack 556-7; Banti 622; BMCRE 1208. Dark green-brown patina, earthen deposits, scratch on obverse. VF. From the CLA Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 66 (19 May 2004), lot 1445. To promote his popularity, Hadrian cancelled debts and burned promissory notes in a general amnesty for tax arrears, the event this sestertius commemorates. The reverse depicts either Hadrian himself or a lictor applying a torch to a heap of documents (sungrafoi) symbolizing the debts being cancelled. The burning occurred in Trajan's Forum, where Hadrian erected a monument inscribed "the first of all principes and the only one who, by remitting nine hundred million sesterces owed to the fiscus, provided security not merely for his present citizens but also for their descendants by this generosity." The legend RELIQVA VETERA HS NOVIES MILL ABOLITA literally translates to "old receipts in the amount of nine times a hundred thousand sestertii cancelled." The HS is a standard abbreviation for sestertii and, depending upon its context, it can mean a single sestertius, a unit of one thousand sestertii, or a unit of one hundred thousand sestertii. Novies means "nine times" and applies to the sestertius as a unit of one thousand sestertii. Considering the monumental inscription, the HS in the legend of this sestertius should be interpreted with the thousand, or mille, understood. Thus, the figure should be increased to 900 million sestertii, equaling the sum named on Hadrian's monumental inscription. Estimate: 1000 USD |  |
Match 4:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Electronic Auction 552 | Auction date: 13 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 123 Price realized: 500 USD (Approx. 464 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: JUDAEA, Jewish War. 66-70 CE. Æ Eighth Shekel (20.5mm, 4.50 g, 11h). Jerusalem mint. Dated year 4 (69/70 CE). Lulav branch flanked by etrogs / Omer cup. MCP FJR-15, die O6 (this coin illustrated [first coin]); Meshorer 214; Hendin 6398. Earthen green patina, slightly irregular flan. Good VF. Lot includes a modern Israeli coin featuring the obverse type of this issue. From the Lionel Tenby Collection. Ex I. Goldstein inventory, 20 February 2007 (per MCP). Estimate: 200 USD |  |
Match 5:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 460 Price realized: 4,000 USD (Approx. 3,664 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: ATTICA, Athens. Circa AD 120-140/50. Æ (30mm, 16.31 g, 9h). Helmeted bust of Athena right, wearing necklace and aegis; all within laurel wreath / AΘ H, The naming of Athens: Poseidon, on left, advancing right, brandishing trident; on left, Athena advancing left, raising right hand and holding spear and shield in left; between them, olive tree entwined by serpent, in the branches, owl facing right. Kroll 174; RPC IV.1 8191; Svoronos, Athenes 89.3 (same dies as illustration); BMC 710. Dark green patina with light earthen highlights, minor cleaning marks. Good VF. Well struck on a full flan and in an exceptional state of preservation. According to legend, the city of Athens had been built by the serpent-god Cecrops and named Cecropia. He ruled the prospering city but the Olympian gods became jealous as the city never paid tribute to them. Athena and Poseidon both desired to be the patron deity of the fledgling city and Zeus declared a contest, the people of the city gathered to watch the spectacle. Poseidon moved first and struck the top of the Acropolis with his trident, the earth shook and water poured from the hole like a geyser, this gift meant the citizens would never face drought. But they soon realized that the water was saltwater and became angry as the city had close proximity to the sea. Athena laughed and knelt a few feet away, she planted something in the ground. A few moments later an olive tree grew to full maturity; she demonstrated the fruit it bore could be used as food and oil, and the tree could be used as a source of lumber. The tree had multiple uses. Athena proved that she was the goddess of wisdom, thus, the city was named Athens and the temples of the Parthenon were erected in her honor. Poseidon, in anger, cursed the land to be arid and the lakes dried. There is an alternate story where Poseidon struck the rock and the first horse sprung forth, a scene that was depicted on the west pediment of the Parthenon. An olive tree still stands today at the spot of the battle, the current tree is believed to have been planted around WWII. Estimate: 750 USD |  |
