| Naville Numismatics Ltd. > Auction 87 | Auction date: 11 February 2024 |
| Lot number: 161 Price realized: 42 GBP (Approx. 53 USD / 49 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Locri Opuntii, Locris Bronze third or last quarter of 4th century BC, Æ 13.00 mm., 2.37 g. Head of Apollo l. with short hair, of later, Hellenistic style. Rev. Bunch of grapes hanging from stalk, tendrils and vine leaves to l. and r. To l., Λ, and below cnemis as symbol, to r. O. Corpus group 16. BCD Lokris-Phokis 128. Very fine From the duplicates of the BCD collection. Starting price: 25 GBP |  |
Match 1:
| Eid Mar Auctions GmbH > Auction 2 | Auction date: 10 February 2024 |
| Lot number: 132 Price realized: 80 EUR (Approx. 86 USD) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Greek Lokris. Lokris Opuntii. 2nd century BC. AE (16,3mm, 4,0 g.) Athena helmeted r. Rev. Bunch of grapes hanging from stalk, tendrils and vine leaves to l. and r., below, winged and spiked caduceus to l. OΠOYN r. down, TIΩN l. down. Kerykion below. BCD Lokris-Phokis 138. One of the very few coins of this type that are not countermarked on the obverse, Rarely seen in this grade, perfectly centered with entire legend redable. Estimate: 50 EUR Starting price: 40 EUR |  |
Match 2:
| Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 146 | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 2182 Price realized: 28,000 CHF (Approx. 30,834 USD / 28,685 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Locris, Locri Opuntii. Stater circa 340, AR 25 mm, 12.30 g. Head of Demeter r., hair wreathed with three leaves of wheat, wearing drop necklace and a single drop earring. Rev. Ajax advancing r., below, bent spear, palmette and griffin inside his oval shield. OΠONTIΩN l. up. BCD Lokris-Phokis 72 (his obverse die). De Nanteuil 885 (this obverse die). J. Humphris and D. Delbridge, The Coinage of the Opuntian Lokrians, Corpus group 22, 160x (this coin and illustrated on the front cover). In exceptional condition for the issue. This coin was chosen to be illustrated as cover for the Corpus of the coinage of the Opuntian Lokrians. A wonderful portrait of superb style struck on a very broad flan, lovely light old cabinet tone. Extremely fine Ex New York XXVII, 2012, Prospero, 351 and Triton XIX, 2016, 115 sales. Illustrated on the front cover of The Coinage of the Opuntian Lokrians by J. Humphris and D. Delbridge. Estimate: 12500 CHF |  |
Match 3:
| Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 146 | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 2288 Price realized: 12,000 CHF (Approx. 13,214 USD / 12,293 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ptolemy II Philadelphos, 285 – 246. In name of Arsinoe. Octodrachm, Citium circa 253-241, AV 28 mm, 27.71 g. Head r., veiled and wearing stephane; lotus-tipped sceptre in background. Rev. APΣINOHΣ – ΦΙΛΑΔΕΛΦΟΥ Double cornucopiae filled with fruit and bound with fillets; in field below, thunderbolt upon K. Svoronos 523 and pl. XV, 5. CPE 489 (these dies). Extremely rare. Marks in fields and on edge, possible traces of mounting, otherwise good very fine From the collection of a Mentor. When Arsinoe II, the sister-wife of King Ptolemy II, died in July, 270 B.C., a new cult was established in her honour as Thea Philadelphus ('brother-loving goddess'). This was distinct from the Theoi Adelphoi ('sibling gods') cult, which by 272/1 had been established for her and her husband. The first honorary coinage for Arsinoe II and her new cult were magnificent silver decadrachms that appear to have been issued soon after her death. Starting in about 261/0, the same types were then employed for gold coins that must have been as impressive then as they are to today. The largest of these was an octodrachm or mnaieion (one-mina piece) that appears to have been worth 100 silver drachms. Gold in the name of Arsinoe was produced for nearly 150 years, over which time the engraving style changed significantly. The earliest pieces, from the mid-3rd Century under Ptolemy II and Ptolemy III, are of fine style, and the later ones – though boldly struck in high relief with reflective, proof-like fields – are of a distinctly lower tier of artistry. The portrait on the last of these coins has a bulbous, almost comical character. Throughout the series, the principal mint for the gold was Alexandria. Its issues often have control letters behind the veiled head of Arsinoe, but no symbols on the reverse. Mints in Phoenicia, Palestine, and Cyprus also contributed to the series, with their products being distinguished by certain aspects of style and fabric, and by the presence of Greek letters and/or monograms in the reverse field which identify the mint, and sometimes the date of issue. The Syro-Phoenician issues of Tyre, Sidon, Ake-Ptolemais, Joppa, and Gaza bear dates according to the regnal years of the issuing monarch. Those of the Cypriot mints of Salamis, Citium, and Paphos are undated. We may add to these a somewhat irregular issue from Ephesus that seems to have been struck under Ptolemy III. Estimate: 5000 CHF |  |
Match 4:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 28 | Auction date: 9 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 1282 Price realized: 170 CHF (Approx. 193 USD / 179 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: ISLANDS OFF MYSIA, Nasos. 3rd century BC. AE (Bronze, 20 mm, 9.36 g, 12 h). Laureate head of Apollo to right. Rev. NAΣI Dolphin right; below, palm frond. HGC 6, 1102. SNG München 809. SNG von Aulock 1763. Rare. Some deposits, otherwise, very fine. From a European collection, formed before 2005. The city of Nasos probably lay on what is today Alibey Adası (Moschonisi island in Greek), a small island situated between Lesbos and the Mysian mainland. As the Athenian tribute list of 425/4 BC records payments from a 'Nasos Pordosilene', it has been suggested that Nasos and Pordosilene were two names for the same community. If this is true, its inhabitants may have felt the need to change their embarassing original name, Pordosilene ('Silenos' fart'), to a deliberately vague Nasos ('island') in the late Classical or early Hellenistic time. It is worth noting, however, that the name Pordosilene reappears on Roman Provincial coins of the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Starting price: 50 CHF |  |
Match 5:
| Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 146 | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 2374 Price realized: 550,000 CHF (Approx. 605,660 USD / 563,446 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Julia Paula, first wife of Elagabalus. Aureus 219-220, AV 20 mm, 6.17 g. IVLIA PAVLA AVG Draped bust r., hair in waves, almost vertical, fastened in queue at back. Rev. CONC – OR – DIA Concordia seated l., holding patera in r. hand and cornucopiae in l.; in field r., star. C 4. BMC Elagabalus 171 note. RIC Elagabalus 210. Calicó 3044. Of the highest rarity, only the third specimen known of this reverse type and one of approximately half a dozen aurei known for Julia Paula. A fantastic portrait perfectly struck in very high relief on a full flan. An invisible mark on obverse field, otherwise virtually as struck and Fdc Ex NAC sale 46, 2008, 631. In early 219, Julia Maesa, the powerful grandmother of the new emperor Elagabalus attempted to create some Roman legitimacy for him by arranging his marriage to Julia Cornelia Paula. His Syrian origin and ecstatic attachment to the eastern religious rites of the solar deity El-Gabal made Elagabalus seem overly foreign and suspicious to the conservative Senate in Rome and it was hoped that the marriage would help to make him more palatable. Julia Paula was after all, very Roman and very respectable. On her mother's side she could claim descent from the gens Cornelia, a family whose fame extended back to the distant, fabulous days of the Republic. At the same time, her father Julius Paulus was an important jurist of the Severan period who later went on to serve as Praetorian Prefect under Severus Alexander (222-235). In theory, Julia Paula was everything that Elagabalus should have wanted in a wife. She was certainly everything that Julia Maesa wanted in a granddaughter-in-law. The marriage was celebrated in true Roman splendor, with grand banquets, gladiatorial fights and a wild beast hunt in the colosseum that resulted in the slaughter of some 51 tigers along with unspecified numbers of other exotic animals. This attractive aureus was almost certainly struck on the occasion of the wedding, perhaps for distribution as a celebratory donative to the army or as other largesse. The obverse depicts the bride and gives her the title of Augusta, which is known to have been granted to Julia Paula upon her marriage to Elagabalus, while the reverse features Concordia-a wish for a happy relationship between imperial husband and wife. Alas, there was little concord between Paula and Elagabalus once the wedding was over and the marriage started. Her conservative Roman mores were incompatible with her husband's reported taste for cross-dressing and his frequent and inappropriate appreciation of other men, usually of questionable social standing. Apparently bent on doing everything possible to offend Roman custom, Elagabalus also conceived an illegal desire for the Vestal Virgin Julia Aquilia Severa, with whom he intended to enter into a sacred marriage and produce god-like children. One suspects that amid all of this scandalous behavior Julia Paula was only too happy when Elagabalus divorced her on the basis of some physical blemish in 220 and she once again resumed her former status as a private citizen. Estimate: 350000 CHF |  |
