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Marc Antony Legionary AR Denarius. Military mint moving with Antony, autumn 32 - spring 31 BC. ANT•AVG III•VIR•R•P•C, praetorian galley to right / Aquila between two signa; LEG III across fields. Crawford 544/15; CRI 350; RSC 28. 3.77g, 18mm, 6h. Fleur De Coin.

Cyclades, Seriphos AR Stater. Thraco-Macedonian standard. Circa 475-460 BC. Frog, as seen from above / Shallow quadripartite incuse square, each quadrant containing a dolphin; uncertain retrograde legend: Σ-E-?-↓ around. Unpublished in the standard references including the die study by K. Sheedy, "The Archaic and Early Classical Coinages of the Cyclades", RNS SP 40, 2006, pp. 42-47, 175-177 pls. 4-5. 9.40g, 18mm. Extremely Fine; edge harshly treated at 7 o'clock on obv. Unique and of great numismatic importance. From a private Canadian collection. This previously unpublished coin finally settles once and for all the identification of the frog issues as from the mint of the Cycladic island of Seriphos, with part of the ethnic within three quarters of the reverse four-part incuse square clearly reading Σ-E… Attribution of a single earlier anepigraphic stater to Seriphos was originally argued for by Svoronos in ΒΑΤΑΕΧΟΣ ΣΕΡΙΦΟΣ, JAN 1, 1898, pp. 205-211, on the grounds that this reputedly impoverished island was renowned for its silent frogs (cf. Theophratos fr. 186, Aelian 3.37, Pliny NH 8.227 and the Archilochos text from a Parian monument, cf. Sheedy p. 43, note 294). After the publication of the first frog stater by Svoronos there appeared such a plethora of forgeries created by Constantine Christodoulos that several numismatists considered that only the original stater was genuine. The weight standard employed for this stater is Thraco-Macedonian (ideally about 9.8g), very close to the silver staters of Thasos, the Pangeion tribal region including ‘Lete’ and the Greek polis of Abdera. It is to be noted that this weight standard is also found on the Dodecanese island of Astypalaia (cf. BMC Caria p. 59, 1 and HGC 6, 1267). Seriphos is also known to have issued staters on the Aiginetic standard of 12.2g (Sheedy p. 175, 1-15); Milesian standard of 14.1g (Jenkins NC 1955, pp. 139-140); and a drachm on the Attic-Euboic standard of 4.2g (Sheedy p. 177, 1.2). This variety of weight standards is not unexpected, produced by a small island dependent on international trade. Very little is known from the written sources concerning Seriphos in the archaic period. It was traditionally thought to have been colonised by Aiolians from Thessaly, and later resettled by Ionians from Athens. Seriphos is known to have sent a pentekonter to join the Greek allied fleet at Salamis in 480 BC and contributed two talents to the Delian League in 451/0. In myth, Perseus and his mother Danaë had taken refuge from Argos at Seriphos, and at the request of the king of Seriphos, Polydektes, Perseus killed the Gorgon. Aelian records that on his return to the island with the head of Medusa, Perseus was so exhausted and in need of sleep that Zeus silenced the frogs that kept him awake.

Aelia Pulcheria AV Tremissis. Constantinople, AD 414-420. AEL PVLCHERIA AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right / Latin cross pattée within wreath with jewel at apex; CONOB* in exergue. RIC 214; Depeyrot 72/4. 1.50g, 14mm, 6h. Fleur De Coin. Rare.

Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 500-450 BC. Janiform head of nymph wearing stephane, and satyr; tunny fish below to right / Quadripartite incuse square. Cf. Von Fritze 76 (hekte); cf. Greenwell 47 (hekte); cf. Boston MFA 1426 = Warren 1466 (hekte); SNG France -; BMC -. 16.10g, 19mm. Good Very Fine. Apparently unique and unpublished. This beautiful coin appears to be the only stater denomination of this issue known to have survived. Unusually for Kyzikene electrum, rather than faithfully reproducing the type in larger scale, on this design the two heads' positions are reversed, with the nymph now on the right, and the satyr on the left.

Titus, as Caesar, AV Aureus. Rome, AD 73. T CAES IMP VESP CENS, laureate head right / PONTIF TRI POT, Titus, togate, seated right, feet on footstool, holding sceptre in right hand and branch in left. RIC 555 (Vespasian); Calicó 753; BMCRE 114-5 (Vespasian); BN 95/96 (Vespasian); Biaggi 371. 7.25g, 20mm, 12h. Good Extremely Fine; by far the finest example of the type present on CoinArchives. At the accession of Vespasian to the purple in AD 69, his sons Titus and Domitian were both raised to the rank of Caesar as was customary, and granted those powers which the emperor traditionally gave his successor. Having returned to Rome in 71 and celebrated his triumph for the victory which he had secured in the east with the siege of Jerusalem, as the elder brother Titus shared tribunician power with his father, became Consul and was given command of the Praetorian Guard, as well as religious roles such as pontifex, as the reverse of this stunning aureus shows us. Domitian's honours, however, were largely ceremonial and highlighted the superior position of Titus, both politically and militarily. In contrast to the extensive Judaea Capta coinage that was first struck under Vespasian to commemorate the military victory in the east and which continued to be struck for 25 years under both Titus and Domitian, this coin celebrates Titus as a respectful, pious figure following the traditional path to becoming emperor, whilst confirming his position as the chosen heir to Vespasian. The attributes which he is depicted with make reference to qualities he was taken to have attained, the sceptre underlining his imperial power and the branch representing the peace he had already brought to the empire. On the death of Vespasian in 79 the careful positioning of Titus as effective co-emperor made for a smooth succession, though by 81 he was dead: according to some sources he was poisoned by the overlooked Domitian, who went on to succeed him.

Uncertain Eastern Satrapy, ‘Athenian Series’ AR Tetradrachm. Uncertain mint, circa 323-240 BC. Attic standard. Head of Athena left, wearing earring, and crested Attic helmet decorated with two olive leaves over visor and a spiral palmette on the bowl / Owl standing right, head facing; olive sprig and crescent behind, AΘ [E erased from die] before. Bopearachchi, Sophytes -; Mitchiner -; SNG ANS -; N&A -; cf. P. van Alfen, “The ‘Owls’ from the 1973 Iraq Hoard” in AJN 12 (2000), pl. 6, 116. 16.22g, 22mm, 5h. Very Fine. Exceedingly Rare. The style and fabric of this coin and the following 5 is quite unlike both the preceding ‘Athenian Series’ coins that we have re-attributed to Parthia on the basis of the presence of the Andragoras monogram, and the following issues that are attributed to Baktria. They also exhibit significant differences to one another. Because of the difficulty at this time of assigning them either a chronological or geographical range, we tentatively propose that these issues were struck at one or more different mints, perhaps (though not necessarily) in one of the two satrapies - Aria and Drangiana - that lie between Parthia to the west, and Baktria to the east. For the multiple mint hypothesis, see N&A p. 40. It is likely that they were produced for local commerce only, given that they have not been found west of Ekbatana, so far as we know. In this case they might have been produced as early as after Alexander’s death, and as late as the Parni invasion of Parthia and the assumption of power in Baktria by Diodotos II.

Arcadius AV Solidus. Constantinople, AD 397-402. D N ARCADIVS P F AVG, helmeted and cuirassed bust three-quarters facing, holding spear over shoulder and shield with horseman motif / CONCORDIA AVGG Z, Constantinopolis, helmeted, seated facing, head left, holding Victory on globe and spear; CONOB in exergue. RIC 7; Depeyrot 55/1. 4.41g, 20mm, 6h. Fleur De Coin.

Sicily, Syracuse AR Tetradrachm. Deinomenid Tyranny. Time of Hieron I, circa 475-470 BC. Charioteer, holding kentron and reins, driving slow quadriga right; Nike flying to right above, crowning horses / Head of Arethusa right, wearing earring, necklace and headband, her hair tied in a krobylos; ΣVRΑKΟΣΙΟΝ and four dolphins around. Boehringer -, (V140/R208). 17.45g, 25mm, 2h. Mint State; exceptional metal quality and preservation for a Syracusan tetradrachm of this period. Superb lustre with vivid iridescence. Extremely Rare; this die pairing not recorded by Boehringer. Ex Dr. Murray Gell-Mann Collection, Roma Numismatics XI, 7 April 2016, lot 105; This coin must certainly have a pre-2000 provenance, however this cataloguer has been unable to find it. This coin displays not only an incredibly sharp strike from fresh dies in the centre of a large planchet, but also a wonderfully deep cabinet tone with gold iridescence on the obverse and vivid green flashes radiating out from the portrait on the reverse. This has yielded a coin with gem-like qualities; it is without a doubt one of the most beautiful Deinomenid tetradrachms to have come to market in many years. Following the Battle of Himera in 480 BC, Syracuse had been unchallenged in Sicily. The reign of Hieron therefore was characterised by a period of great expansion in the power and prestige of Syracuse, and the effective carte blanche to do as he pleased; he removed the inhabitants of Naxos and Katane to Leontinoi, peopled Katane (which he renamed Aitna) with Dorians, concluded an alliance with Akragas, and espoused the cause of the Lokrians against Anaxilas, tyrant of Rhegion. Around the time when this coin must have been struck, Hieron achieved his most important military victory at the Battle of Cumae in 474 BC. Responding to a call for aid from Aristodemos, the tyrant of Cumae, to counter an Etruscan invasion, Hieron sent a fleet of triremes to assist the Cumaeans, whose combined navies met and defeated the Etruscan forces in the Bay of Naples. This defeat caused the Etruscans to lose much of their influence in Italy; they lost control of the seas and their territories were eventually absorbed piecemeal by the Romans, Samnites and Gauls. The Syracusans dedicated a captured Etruscan helmet at the great panhellenic sanctuary at Olympia, a piece of armour found in the German excavations there. Perhaps remembering this bitter defeat and hoping to avenge their ancestors, the Etruscans would later readily join the ill-fated Athenian expedition against Syracuse in 415 BC.

Ionia, Magnesia ad Maeandrum AV Stater. Circa 155-140 BC. Euphemos, son of Pausanias, magistrate. Draped bust of Artemis to right, wearing stephane, and with bow and quiver over shoulder / Nike, holding kentron and reins, driving fast biga to right; MAΓNHTΩN (of the Magnesians) above, EYΦHMOΣ ΠAYΣANIOY below. Heritage 3056, 30066 (same dies); unpublished in the standard references, but for the magistrate Euphemos son of Pausanias and dating of the stephanophoric tetradrachms of Magnesia, cf. N. F. Jones, "The Autonomous Wreathed Tetradrachms of Magnesia-on-Maeander", ANSMN 24, 1979, pp. 63-109, especially nos. 8-25; for the obverse Artemis bust type cf. B. Head, History of the Coinage of Ephesus, London 1880, p. 69, 1-7, pl. 5 and Mørkholm, Early Hellenistic Coinage, Cambridge 1991, 657 = Gulbenkian 985. 8.44g, 19mm, 12h. Extremely Fine. A coin of extreme rarity and great numismatic importance. The discovery of this totally new reverse type for a gold stater on the Attic weight standard of about 8.5g, fortunately signed by a very well known Magnesian magistrate, solves two long standing numismatic problems. Firstly, it allows for the dating of the Ephesian gold staters with which it is associated (see lot 144), and it confirms the mid second century dating of the Ionian stephanophoric coinage. Euphemos, son of Pausanias, was one of the eight magistrates who were responsible for the substantial silver stephanophoric ‘wreath-bearer’ tetradrachm issues, beautifully engraved and struck on broad flans on the Attic silver standard of about 17.2 grams. It is notable that Magnesia had in the late 4th and early 3rd centuries produced very high quality Attic standard gold staters with polished dies in the names of Philip, Alexander and Lysimachos. The obverse bust of Artemis is of exactly the same style as the well known Ephesos gold staters which depict on their reverse the Ephesian cult figure of Artemis. Until now those Ephesian staters have defied proper dating, having been given a chronological range by various authors from 150 to 88 BC (cf. Gilbert K. Jenkins, ‘Hellenistic gold coins of Ephesus’, in Festschrift E. Akurgal, Anadolu-Anatolia 21, 1978/80, Ankara, 1987, pp. 183-8, pls. A-B). Though of course it does not preclude the possibility that they were struck over an extended period of time, we may now at least say with some certainty that they were already being struck by around 150-140 BC. The evidence from the seven extant stephanophoric tetradrachm hoards from the contemporary territory of the Seleukid Empire, found together with dated Seleukid coins, points to a secure narrow chronological range for all these issues of 150-138 BC. Significantly the Magnesian coinage has often been found in close association with similar wreathed issues from Aigai, Kyme, Myrina, Herakleia, Lebedos and Smyrna in what must have been an unattested ‘entente’ by cities that had been guaranteed their autonomy following the imposition by Rome of the Treaty of Apameia between the Republic and Antiochos III in 188 BC - an attempt to stop the constant quarrelling between the Greeks. For the numismatic history of the period cf. Jones 1979, pp. 90-100 and Ch. Boehringer, Zur Chronologie Mittelhellenistischer Münzserien 220-160 v. Chr., Berlin 1972, pp. 49f.

Islands off Karia, Kos AR Didrachm. Circa 345-340 BC. Philo-, magistrate. Bearded head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Veiled head of Demeter left; IΦ to right, KΩION below. HGC 6, 1305; Pixodarus p. 235, 19a (A2/P10 - this coin). 6.85g, 20mm, 12h. Extremely Fine. Rare. Ex Numismatic Fine Arts XX, 9 March 1988, lot 737; Ex Numismatic Fine Arts VIII, 6 June 1980, lot 294; Ex Pixodarus Hoard (CH IX, 421), 1978.

Gallienus AR Antoninianus. Rome, AD 267-268. GALLIENVS P F AVG, cuirassed bust left, wearing crested helmet, holding spear over right shoulder, shield with aegis on left / P M TR P X V COS•P P (sic?), Mars, wearing crested helmet and chlamys, and carrying spear and shield, descending right towards to Rhea Silvia, who reclines left, nude to waist, raising right hand above head. Roma XIII, 890 (same dies); RIC -; RSC -; C. -; Göbl, MIR -, cf. 945-946 for reverse type with alternate legends. 2.48g, 20mm, 4h. Extremely Fine. The second (and arguably finest) known example. A beautiful coin combining a bold militaristic portrait engraved in fine style, with a classic scene from Roman mythology. This scene, while well attested in surviving Roman artwork, occurs only one other time in the entirety of the vast Roman coinage series, on an As of Antoninus Pius; a medallion of Faustina Senior, clearly not intended for monetary use, also bears the type, and was probably created around the same time.

Valens AV Solidus. Nicomedia, AD 368. D N VALENS AVG, diademed bust left, wearing imperial mantle (trabea) and holding short sceptre in left hand, mappa in raised right hand / VOTA PVBLICA, the two emperor nimbate and wearing imperial mantle, seated facing on throne, holding short sceptre and mappa; in exergue SNΘ and two captives, kneeling and facing each other. RIC 16c; C. 86; Depeyrot 19/3; Bastien, Donativa 96a and note 1. 4.44g, 22mm, 6h. Extremely Fine. A beautiful and historical issue. Very Rare. This beautiful coin was a donativum struck for the celebration of the 2nd Consulate of Valentinian I and Valens, January 368.

Baktria, 'Athenian Series' AR Tetradrachm. Stasanor, satrap(?). Uncertain mint in the Oxus region, circa 321-245 BC. Attic standard. Head of Athena right, wearing earring, necklace, and crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves over visor and a spiral palmette on the bowl; ΣTA behind, MNA below / Owl standing right, head facing; olive sprig, crescent and grape bunch behind, AΘE before. Bopearachchi, Sophytes -; Mitchiner -; SNG ANS -; N&A 1-3; Spink 3014, 124 = G&M 48, 604. 17.03g, 23mm, 12h. About Very Fine. Extremely Rare; only the fourth known example. The ΣTA MNA mark which appears on a small number of extremely rare tetradrachms is nearly identical to a mark on a double daric (BMC Arabia p. 178, 12) attributed to Babylon. F. Imhoof-Blumer read the two clearly separate marks as one, arriving at the name ‘Stamenes’, who was briefly satrap of Babylonia under Alexander after the death of Mazaios, before being replaced by a Macedonian, Archon, son of Kleinias, who governed until after Alexander’s death. There is however no evidence to support this attribution, and in fact the reverse punch of the double daric is considerably different in style to others of the series. Moreover, in considering the origin of that coin, which came from the Oxus hoard and entered the BM in 1881, it seems more logical to suppose, as proposed by Head (NC, 1906), that it was minted further east, perhaps under the then satrap Stasanor. The letters MNA remained unexplained to Head, but the appearance of these letters on their own, not preceded by ΣTA on ‘Athenian Series’ tetradrachms and the helmeted portrait issues of Sophytes, which also appear in abbreviated form as MN and M, further discredit the Stamenes theory, and strengthen the case for ΣTA being viewed independently of the second mark, MNA. For further discussion on the ΣTA-MNA marks, see N&A p. 50-54. Stasanor was a native of Soli in Cyprus who held a distinguished position among the officers of Alexander the Great. He probably entered the service after the siege of Tyre in 332 BC, but the first occasion on which his name is mentioned is during the campaign in Baktria, when he was despatched by Alexander with a strong force to reduce Arsames, then satrap of Aria, who was in revolt. As reward, Stasanor was confirmed in the now vacant position of satrap, whence he was soon promoted to Drangiana. In the Partition of Triparadisus in 321 BC, Stasanor was appointed the more important government of Baktria and Sogdiana. He is attested as having been still at his post in 316, and may possibly have remained there until his death before or in 305, when Seleukos is believed to have attacked and conquered the province. However, while an attribution of this type to Stasanor may seem attractive and even tempting, its context within this group and the rather moderate wear it has suffered suggest that it may have been produced somewhat later than the time of Stasanor, even if we accept that he may have still been at his post in 305. Moreover, in considering the redating of the coins of Sophytes (see lots 325, 364 and 365) we must admit the possibility that if MNA is an engraver or mint-master’s initials, then it seems unlikely that the same engraver or mint-master would have been active for so lengthy a span of time. It then follows that ΣTA might refer to neither Stamenes nor Stasanor.

Valentinian I AV Solidus. Treveri, AD 364-367. D N VALENTINIANVS P F AVG, pearl-diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right / RESTITVTOR REIPVBLICAE, Emperor standing facing, head right, holding labarum inscribed with a Christogram and Victory on globe; TR• in exergue. RIC 1a; Depeyrot 22/1. 4.40g, 22mm, 6h. Fleur De Coin.

Lucilla AR Denarius. Rome, AD 161-163. LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F, draped bust right / CONCORDIA, Concordia seated left, holding patera and resting her elbow on a statue of Spes; cornucopiae under seat. RIC 757; RSC 6. 3.45g, 18mm, 6h. Fleur De Coin.

Kingdom of Macedon, Philip III Arrhidaios AV Stater. Lampsakos, 323-317 BC. Head of Athena right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet decorated with coiled serpent / Nike standing left, holding wreath and stylis; ΦΙΛΙΠΠOY to right, buckle in left field and crescent-over-A beneath wing-tip to left. Price P13; Müller P77; ADM II Series IX, 182b = Bement 772 (same obv. die); SNG Alpha Bank -; SNG München -; SNG Saroglos -. 8.61g, 18mm, 9h. Fleur De Coin.

Plotina AR Denarius. Rome, AD 112-114. PLOTINA AVG IMP HADRIANI, draped bust right, wearing double stephane / CAES AVG GERMA DAC COS VI P P, altar decorated with figure of Pudicitia standing on curule chair; ARA PVDIC in exergue. RIC 733 (Trajan); BMCRE 529 (Trajan); Woytek 706. 3.38g, 22mm, 8h. Good Extremely Fine. Minor metal flaws, but otherwise an exceptionally well preserved coin with a superbly sharp portrait of Plotina; arguably the finest example of CoinArchives. Extremely Rare.

Italy, Genova, AV 96 Lire. 1796. DVX ET GUB - REIP GENU, crowned coat of arms between two griffins / ET REGE EOS 1796, the Virgin in the clouds holding sceptre and Baby in the womb; L. 96 in exergue. MIR 275/4; CNI 2. Friedberg 444. 25.19g, 45mm, 12h. Fleur De Coin. Struck from polished dies. Ex Stack’s, 4-5 March 1988, lot 2110.

Byzantine Empire Ӕ Two Nomismata Coin Weight. Circa 4th-6th Century. Georgios, magistrate. Silver inlaid design of cruciform monogram: Γεοργιος; a cross in each of the upper fields, N°-B across lower fields, all within circular ornate design, corner border around / Blank. For similar square weights, cf. S. Bendall, Byzantine Weights, An Introduction, London 1996, 82-110. 8.79g, 14mm x 14mm x 8mm. An attractive square coin weight with an exceptionally well-preserved silver inlay design and unusual edge of three tiers.

Sicily, Messana Æ Dilitron. Circa 338-318 BC. Head of Poseidon left, wearing laurel wreath; ΠOΣEI-ΔAN around / Ornate trident head; dolphins downward at sides, M-E-Σ-Σ-AN-IΩ-N around. Caltabiano 716.2 (this coin); HGC 2, 833; SNG Copenhagen 420. 13.75g, 25mm, 10h. Very Fine. Rare. Ex Hans Hermann Gutknecht Collection, Münzen & Medaillen 17, 4 October 2005, lot 245; Ex Schweizerischer Bankverein 2, 27 October 1977, lot 115.

Q. Pomponius Musa AR Denarius. Rome, 66 BC. Laureate head of Apollo right, scroll behind / Clio, Muse of History, standing left, holding scroll in right hand and resting left elbow on column; Q•POMPONI downwards to right, MVSA downwards to left. Crawford 410/3; RSC Pomponia 11. 3.89g, 18mm, 2h. Very Fine. Minor scratch to cheek. Toned. Q. Pomponius Musa designed ten coin types that were a play on his family name whilst at the same time recalling the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts from Greek mythology. Each type represented one of the nine Muses, identifiable by their attributes, with the tenth featuring Hercules Musarum (Hercules of the Muses).

Ionia, Ephesos AV Stater. Circa 155-140 BC. Draped bust of Artemis right, wearing stephane, and with bow and quiver over shoulder / Cult statue of the Artemis of Ephesos facing, a fillet hanging from each hand; thymiaterion in inner right field, Ε-Φ across fields. G. K. Jenkins, Hellenistic Gold Coins of Ephesos, in Festschrift Akurgal, Ankara, 1987, p. 134, pl. B, 6 (BM) = R Fleuscher I, Artemis von Ephesos und der erwandte Kultstatue von Anatolien und Syrien, EPRO 35, 1973, pl. 53b; LIMC II, pl. 565, 23. 8.39g, 20mm, 12h. Good Very Fine. Very Rare. The Hellenistic era gold coinage struck at Ephesos is extremely rare and rarely well preserved. Previously thought to have all been struck during the Mithradatic wars, this is now known not to be the case. Some seem to be dated by the era of the Province of Asia and the dates they bear are too early for them to be Mithradatic War issues. Certain other issues such as the present example appear to be part of extraordinary issue of gold struck in conjunction with an extremely rare gold stater type of Magnesia in the mid-second century. The style and fabric of both issues seem consistent with an emergency issue struck to meet an immediate expense. The reverse of this coin depicts the famous cult statue of Ephesian Artemis, housed in the great temple of Artemis that is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The original image of the goddess was a wooden xoanon that had represented a pre-Hellenic goddess who the Greeks later equated with Artemis. This first image, which was kept decorated with jewellery, was possibly lost in a flood in the 8th or 7th century which destroyed the temple; excavations have discovered the tear-shaped amber drops of elliptical cross-section which must have dressed it. In circa 550 BC, when reconstruction of the temple was begun (partly financed by Kroisos), it was undertaken in grand style and was supposedly the first Greek temple to be built of marble. The wooden xoanon was replaced by a new ebony or grapewood statue sculpted by Enoidos, which presumably survived until the temple was again destroyed, this time by an act of arson on the part of one Herostratos. The second destruction of the temple coincided with the birth of Alexander the Great; Plutarch later noted that Artemis was too preoccupied with Alexander's delivery to save her burning temple. The form of the goddess is distinctly near-eastern in appearance; characteristics such as her legs being enclosed in a tapering pillar-like term are closely related to Egyptian and Hittite images, and the curious feature of the many protuberances on her chest (usually described as breasts or eggs) are decidedly non-Greek in origin, and indeed have defied explanation or identification for centuries, though an association with fertility seems implicit.

Q. Servilius Caepio (M. Junius) Brutus Fourrée Denarius. Military mint travelling with Brutus in Asia Minor or Northern Greece, summer-autumn 42 BC. L. Plaetorius Cestianus, magistrate. Bare head of Brutus right; BRVT above, IMP to right, L•PLAET•CEST around / Pileus between two daggers pointing downward; EID•MAR below. Crawford 508/3; CRI 216; RSC 15; G&M 208, 1957 (same dies, also fourrée). 2.72g, 19mm, 1h. Near Very Fine. Very Rare. In the summer of 42 BC Brutus and Cassius marched through Macedonia and in October met Antony and Octavian in battle on the Via Egnatia just outside Philippi, and won the first engagement. Cassius, as his conservative coins show, remained true to the old republican cause, while Brutus followed the self-advertising line of Antony in the new age of unashamed political propaganda and struck coins displaying his own portrait. Brutus' estrangement from Cassius was effectively complete when this almost inanely assertive coin was struck displaying the pileus, or cap of liberty (symbol of the Dioscuri, saviours of Rome, and traditionally given to slaves who had received their freedom), between the daggers that executed Caesar. In an ironic twist of fate, Brutus committed suicide during the second battle at Philippi on 23 October 42 BC, using the dagger with which he assassinated Caesar. Struck from dies engraved in a variety of styles, some of which are very faithful to the solid silver counterparts, the plated denarii of Brutus' EID MAR type have occasionally elicited speculation that they may have been produced thus on account of dwindling silver supplies in Brutus' camp. However, none of the plated denarii can be die matched with official, solid silver denarii. Indeed, the wide range of styles on these plated issues is indicative of their true nature as contemporary counterfeits. Whether produced by disaffected, bored or greedy Republican soldiers, or idealistically inclined civilian fraudsters, we shall never know. What is most interesting though is that a forthcoming study has identified approximately 82 surviving EID MAR denarii of Brutus, and at least another 16 plated examples. This disproportionately high ratio of plated coins to official issues is remarkable, and surely makes the EID MAR one of the most contemporaneously counterfeited coins in history.

Sicily, Galaria AR Litra. Circa 430-420 BC. Dionysos standing left, holding kantharos and thyrsos; ivy rising to left / Grape bunch on vine with leaves flanking; CAΛAPI-NON below. Rizzo pl. 59, 20; Jenkins, AIIN suppl. 20, pl. VI, a.; HGC 2, 332. 0.85g, 12mm, 10h. Mint State. Extremely Rare. A miniature masterpiece. Originally a native Sikeliote city that appears to have later Hellenised, Galaria borrowed heavily from the iconography of Aitna and Naxos for its only two issues of coinage, both struck in the mid-late fifth century. However, while the style and form of the first issue c.460 which depicts Zeus Soter on the obverse and Dionysos on the reverse is exceedingly crude, by comparison and indeed by any standard the style of this second issue is sublime. Still highly archaising in a period when the rest of the city states of Sicily were reaching an apex of high classical style, the tiny figure of Dionysos holding his thyrsos and wine cup is exceedingly charming, and truly remarkable considering the size of the coin.

Kingdom of Macedon, Alexander III 'the Great' AR Dekadrachm. Babylon, circa 325-323 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, holding sceptre, on throne with eagle-tipped finials; AΛEΞANΔPOY to right, monogram below throne, M in right field. Price -, cf. 3600 = Mitchiner, The Early Indo-Greeks and their Antecedents p.11, illustration 4 = NAC 72, 344 = Price, Mnemata, 6 = Coin Hoard 1975 fig. 6, 2 (same obverse die); ACR 8, 198 (same obverse die); cf. Price 3603 (tetradrachm, same arrangement of controls). 40.38g, 34mm, 3h. Extremely Fine; crystallised metal. Perfectly centred, and struck from dies of the most elegant style. One of the very finest of the exceedingly few surviving dekadrachms of Alexander, this is a magnificent treasure for which all words fall short of doing just service. From a private Canadian collection. In all of human history, there have been but very few individuals whose accomplishments are recounted again and again undimmed by time, whose legends have grown only brighter with the passing of the years, and whose names can stir fierce emotion and wonder at a distance of millennia. Alexander is perhaps the greatest of all such paragons of humanity, whose life and exploits are the near-incredible stuff of myth and fable. Silver dekadrachms, be they of Athens, Syracuse, Akragas or Carthage, have ever been amongst the most desired and sought-after of ancient coins by virtue of their impressive size and weight, and the large canvas they presented for the showcasing of the engraver’s art. Though considered ‘rare’, the surviving dekadrachms of Syracuse number in the high hundreds or low thousands, and those of Athens in the dozens. Fewer than twenty dekadrachms of Alexander are known to exist today - figurative grains of sand on a beach amidst the hundreds of thousands of surviving tetradrachms, drachms, staters and other fractions. The extreme rarity of Alexander’s dekadrachms has therefore contributed an aura of unobtainability to the mystery of this most iconic coinage. Missing from most of the world’s major institutional collections, the majority of the examples known today originated from the 1973 ‘Babylon’ Hoard (sometimes also referred to as the Mesopotamia Hoard), and a smaller 1989 find that Martin Price believed to be a part of the original 1973 deposit. The eight coins that are known to have come from these two groups form the backbone of the Dekadrachm corpus. Struck in three emissions from a mint generally considered to be at Babylon, but possibly Susa or Ekbatana, the dekadrachms formed part of a massive conversion of bullion seized from the Persian Royal treasuries at Susa and Persepolis - some 180,000 Attic talents (4,680 metric tons) were liberated from those vaults, converted by decree of the King into ready coinage to meet the expenses of his vast empire and to pay his beloved soldiers. That so few examples of this large denomination survive today is potentially indicative of a special significance or purpose for these coins. It is certainly tempting to think - as many often have - that they represent presentation pieces intended for certain men of rank, and that Alexander, who was well known for his love of giving gifts, may have distributed them personally. In reality though, their low survival rate is probably due to the impracticality of the denomination, since the ubiquitous tetradrachm was the more common and more convenient medium of payment. Regardless of its intended purpose, and though it represents only a small splinter that survives of Alexander’s great vision, today his dekadrachms are one of the most tangible artefacts of his reign, and amongst the greatest prizes of ancient Greek numismatics.

Philip I AR Denarius. Rome, AD 244. IMP M IVL PHILIPPVS AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / SECVRIT ORBIS, Securitas seated left, holding sceptre and leaning head on left hand. RIC 48a; C. 214. 2.96g, 22mm, 7h. Good Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; the only example on CoinArchives. Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 72, 16 May 2013, lot 713. The denarii of Philip I are of very great rarity; only two have been offered at auction in the past two decades, including the present specimen. Maximinus I (235-238) was the last reigning emperor to have struck the denarius as the principal silver denomination intended for regular circulation. The reign of his successor Gordian III (238-244) saw the ‘Antoninianus’ or double-denarius become, virtually overnight, the mainstay of the Roman currency, due to the inflationary pressures of the early third century in part caused by ever greater military expenditure and associated successive debasements of the coinage. The denarius, though not yet relegated to the status of a mere unit of account, was now a critically endangered species. Issued sporadically throughout the reign of Gordian III, mass production of the denarius came to an end with the fourth issue at Rome in 241-243. By the time of Philip I’s accession in 244 the common use of the Antoninianus was well entrenched; Philip himself issued only three denarius types, ADVENTVS AVG (RIC 26), PIETAS AVGG (RIC 43a) and the present SECVRIT ORBIS. Of these, the first two may securely be said to represent ceremonial coins produced for the arrival of Philip at Rome in the late summer of 244, and for the elevation of his son Philip II to the rank of co-Augustus in 247. The present type is of no less rarity than the other two, and must therefore also have been produced for a special purpose. A possible occasion may be found at the beginning of Philip’s reign in early 244, when he was required to negotiate peace with Shapur I of the Sasanian Empire in order to return to Rome to secure his position. A scarce emission produced at this time at Antioch records the peace with the legend PAX FVNDATA CVM PERSIS, accompanied by types including SPES FELICITATIS ORBIS. The present coin therefore, with its reverse announcing the security of the (Roman) world, would seem a fitting type for concurrent issue at Rome, where the Antiochan legend would probably have been viewed with no small measure of distaste.

Sicily, Syracuse AR Tetradrachm. Time of Agathokles, circa 310-306/5 BC. Head of Kore right, wearing earring, necklace and wreath of grain ears; KOPAΣ to left / Nike standing right, wearing drapery that falls to waist, erecting trophy to right; AI monogram to lower left, triskeles to right, AΓAΘOKΛEOΣ in exergue. Ierardi 95 (O19/R61); Gulbenkian 336 (same dies); SNG ANS 664; SNG Lloyd 1488. 17.24g, 26mm, 11h. Extremely Fine. Attractive old cabinet tone. With the usurpation of Agathokles in 317 BC, Syracuse once more monopolised the right of coinage for the whole of Sicily, even more distinctly than in the time of Dionysios. Yet the reign of Agathokles, as noted by Malcolm Bell (Morgantine Studies I, 1981) “was a watershed for the arts in Sicily, just as it was for politics. The change from a conservative late-classical style to the new modes of the early-Hellenistic period came very quickly, within the space of a decade, and it coincided with the replacement of democratic government by the new monarchy. It is clearly perceptible in the coins that... document the full acceptance of early-Hellenistic style.” Depicted often as a cruel and unscrupulous adventurer and tyrant, Agathokles achieved little of lasting historical importance; indeed after his death anarchy erupted both in Syracuse, where a damnatio memoriae was decreed, and in other places that had been under his rule (Diod. Sic. 21. 18). Nonetheless, his patronage of the arts left a legacy of beauty as embodied by a small number of surviving works of art from his reign, and smaller but no less wonderful objects such as this stunning coin.

Seleukid Empire, Antiochos I Soter AV Stater. Aï Khanoum, circa 280-271 BC. Diademed head right / Horned and bridled horse head to right, with braided, horn-like forelock; ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ to left, ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ below, pellet-in-Δ within circle at upper right. SC 426-7 (same reverse symbol position as 426, same obverse die as pl. 20, 427b); cf. ESM 676, 683-4. 8.43g, 16mm, 7h. Good Extremely Fine. An apparently unique variety of an exceedingly rare issue. Newell (The Coinage of the Eastern Seleucid Mints from Seleucus I to Antiochus III) attributed the important series of gold, silver and bronze coins, of which the present specimen is an exceptionally rare and beautiful example, to Baktra, the capital city of Baktria. Subsequent excavations at Aï Khanoum, which was perhaps the Alexandria Oxiana mentioned by Ptolemy (6.12.6), revealed many coins there of the type assigned to Baktra. A more thorough study by Kritt (Seleucid Coins of Bactria, pp. 27-30), utilising the newly discovered information, reassigned the entire Baktra series to Aï Khanoum. The existence of an active mint there was confirmed by the excavation of a large palace complex complete with administrative offices, treasury and unstruck bronze flans. This reattribution was further supported by the discovery of a bronze coin depicting the river Oxus – a type appropriate to Aï Khanoum, but not Baktra. Antiochos I himself was possibly in residence at Aï Khanoum when he received word of his father’s assassination. Houghton and Lorber (Seleucid Coins, p. 151) note that this city’s monetary output grew in importance during Antiochos’ sole reign, probably rendering other local coinages obsolete. The horned horse head type has often been mistakenly thought to represent Alexander’s beloved warhorse Bukephalas, which apart from the mythical Pegasos was certainly the most celebrated horse of antiquity. The type was instituted by Seleukos, who used it at Pergamon for a brief issue of commemorative silver, at Apameia and Carrhae for small bronze, and at Ekbatana for an extremely rare issue depicting both horned horse and rider. Used more extensively by Antiochos I, the horned horse head seems, according to Miller and Walters (Seleucid coinage and the legend of the horned Bucephalas, SNR 83, 2004) “to have been a personal symbol of Seleukos I, and not an oblique claim to legitimisation via reference to Alexander’s favourite steed”. Several scholars including Hoover (1996) cite a statue mentioned by John Malalas (Chronographia, c. AD 491-578) which he says bore the inscription: “On this Seleukos fled Antigonos and was saved; returning and conquering him, he destroyed him.” It is clear that the use of bulls’ horns comes to represent royalty and divinity, a custom perhaps derived from ancient near-eastern religious motifs, and the usage of such horns was perpetuated on the portraits of Seluekos II, Antiochos III, and several later Baktrian kings. If Malalas may be believed then, the present horned horse type could easily represent this honoured steed that saved Seleukos - it is certainly the only horse we have any mention of in connection with him.

Faustina II AR Denarius. Rome, AD 147-176. FAVSTINA AVGVSTA, draped bust right / FECVNDITAS, Fecunditas standing facing, head right, holding sceptre and child. RIC 677; RSC 99a. 3.35g, 19mm, 6h. Fleur De Coin.

Cnaeus Pompey Magnus AR Denarius. Mint in Greece, 49-48 BC. Cn. Calpurnius Piso, proquaestor. Head of Numa Pompilius right, wearing diadem inscribed NVMA; CN•PISO PRO•Q• around / Prow of galley right; MAGN above, PRO•COS below. Crawford 446/1; CRI 7; RSC 4 (Pompey the Great). 3.74g, 19mm, 6h. Good Extremely Fine; some deposits. Toned and lustrous. Ex Numismatica Ars Classica H, 30 April 1998, lot 1736. The second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, appears on the obverse of this coin as an allusion to the nomen (family name) of the issuing proquaestor for, according to tradition, Pompilius had a son by the name of Calpus, from whom the gens Calpurnia was descended and derived its name. Striking for Pompey Magnus, the prow on the reverse was intended to recall and glorify Pompey's famous victories over the Cilician pirates in 67/6 BC.

Uranius Antoninus Æ32 of Emesa, Seleucis and Pieria. Dated SE 565 = AD 253/4. AVTOK C OVΛΠ ANTѠNЄINOC CЄ, laureate bust right, wearing paludamentum and cuirass / ЄMICѠN KOΛΩN, hexastyle temple of Elagabal at Emesa containing the conical stone of Elagabal shaded by two parasols; crescent in pediment, ЄΞΦ (date) in exergue. BMC 24; Baldus 38-42; R. Delbrueck, 'Uranius of Emesa,' NC 1948, Series I, 2; SNG Hunterian 3174. 24.34g, 32mm, 1h. Very Fine. Pleasant reddish-brown patina with green touches, a well-centred strike on a typically thick flan. Very Rare. The literary sources are unclear about Uranius Antoninus: Zosimus describes a usurper by the name of Antoninus during the reign of Gallienus, while contemporary Christian writer John Malalas speaks of an Emesan priest by the name of Samsigeramus who repulsed the Sassanid king Shapur I. Whether the accounts describe the same person, and whether this person was the Uranius who struck coins at Emesa, is a matter for debate. The era date given on the reverse of this coin, ЄΞΦ = 565 = 253/4, suggests that Uranius established an independent Empire at Emesa around the time Valerian and Gallienus were crowned co-augusti in 253. The dating supports Malalas’ account and Uranius may have indeed come to prominence during the attempts to defend the city of Emesa from the invasion of Shapur, prompting the establishment of his small independent state. If Uranius was the priest described by Malalas, the name Samsigeramus suggests that he may have been a member of the Emesan royal house of the same name and likely, the high priest of Elagabal. If this was the case, we might assume that Uranius was a descendant of the Severan-Emesan house who had previously seen a priest proclaimed emperor in Elagabalus. Though the name Samsigeramus is not attested on the coinage of Uranius, the reverse depiction of the temple of Elagabal certainly suggests the cult was important to his legitimacy. There is little doubt that Uranius’ rebellion came to an end shortly after Valerian marched east and recovered Syria in AD 254.

Antoninus Pius AR Denarius. Rome, AD 148-149. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XII, laureate head right / COS IIII, Annona standing left, holding grain-ears over modius and anchor. RIC 175; RSC 284. 3.49g, 20mm, 6h. Fleur De Coin.

Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 500-450 BC. Europa, hair tied up in bun and wearing short-sleeved garment, seated on the back of Zeus in the form of a white bull who charges to left, her right hand holding on to a horn, the left resting on his rump; below, tunny fish to left / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 108, pl. III, 27; Boston MFA 1477; SNG France 250. 16.00g, 18mm. Extremely Fine; exceptionally complete for the issue. Extremely Rare. This type appears to have been fairly uniformly struck on flans that were just a little too short - both the von Fritze and Boston specimens are missing the top part of Europa's head, as are the two examples recently sold by Roma Numismatics (X, 490) and CNG (Triton XX, 232). The present example therefore is one of the most complete surviving examples. The reverse design of this coin is almost identical to one featured on a unique tetradrachm of Abdera (Roma Numismatics IV, lot 242), which shows Europa in the same pose on the back of the bull. Both follow a well established artistic and literary tradition that can be traced back as far as the 8th century BC, according to Herodotus' dating of Homer, though the myth itself is certainly much older than its earliest known literary appearance (in the Iliad), and its earliest securely datable visual appearance, which is not seen until the mid-7th century BC. We find the same treatment of the scene in Ovid's Metamorphoses many centuries later: "And gradually she lost her fear, and he offered his breast for her virgin caresses, his horns for her to wind with chains of flowers until the princess dared to mount his back, her pet bull's back, unwitting whom she rode. Then - slowly, slowly down the broad, dry beach - first in the shallow waves the great god set his spurious hooves, then sauntered further out 'til in the open sea he bore his prize. Fear filled her heart as, gazing back, she saw the fast receding sands. Her right hand grasped a horn, the other lent upon his back; her fluttering tunic floated in the breeze."

Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 450-330 BC. Gaia rising out of the earth, bearing in both hands the infant Erichthonios; tunny fish below to right / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 157; Greenwell 31; Boston MFA 1500 = Warren 1449; BMC 65; cf. SNG France 304 (hekte). 16.03g, 19mm. Good Very Fine. Very Rare. This type depicts the myth of Erichthonios, a legendary early king of Athens. According to myth, the warrior goddess Athena was said to have visited the smith-god Hephaestus in order to request more arms be forged for her. Overcome by desire, Hephaestus attempted to seduce Athena, and when he was rebuffed, chased her and tried to rape her. Though Athena fought him off, in the struggle Hephaestus’ seed fell upon her thigh. In disgust, she wiped it from her leg and flung it to the earth. Upon contact with Gaia, the earth-goddess, an autochthonous boy was born and named Erichthonios (earth-shaker). This coin depicts the moment the new-born boy was presented by the personified Earth to the goddess of wisdom. Athena accepted the child, and gave him to the three daughters of Kekrops, the first king of Athens, in a box for safekeeping, warning the three daughters never to open it. Overcome by curiosity the sisters decided to take a fateful look inside, and the sight that greeted them (depending on the version of the myth) was the infant Erichthonios who either was encircled by a snake, or was himself half-man and half-serpent. Terrified and driven mad, the daughters threw themselves from the cliff-face of the Acropolis (or were killed by the snake). In this depiction of the myth, the pair are classically idealised, perhaps (as suggested by Greenwell) inspired by a statue group. This coin, with its clear pro-Athenian type, was almost certainly struck during the period of the city’s membership of the Delian League (478-411 BC).

Antinous Æ Hemidrachm of Alexandria, Egypt. Dated RY 19 of Hadrian = AD 134/5. ANTINOOV HPωOC, draped bust right, wearing hem–hem crown / Antinous, cloaked and holding caduceus, on horseback right; L/I–Θ (date) in field. Köln -; Dattari (Savio) 8007-9; K&G 34a.2; Blum 10; Emmett 1347.19; Kellner p. 108, Abb. 14. 16.59g, 31mm, 12h. Good Extremely Fine. Tiny flan flaw to horse's head and slight flatness to tail and caduceus, but well centred and struck, and engraved in the finest style. An outstanding example of the type, and among the finest known. Antinous' death by accidental drowning in the Nile in October AD 130 was a severe blow to Hadrian, for the youth had been his close companion and confidant for nearly five years, and had accompanied the emperor throughout his great tour of the empire beginning in March 127. Hadrian's marriage to Sabina was an unhappy one, and Antinous has been described as "the one person who seems to have connected most profoundly with Hadrian" throughout the latter's life (see R. Lambert, Beloved and God: The Story of Hadrian and Antinous, 1984, p.30). It is unsurprising therefore that Hadrian decreed that Antinous should be elevated to the Roman pantheon as a god, and that a city should be built at the site of his death. What was most unexpected however was that he deified the young man without consulting the Senate, and that he ordered Antinous' image to be placed on coinage across the empire. The coinage in the name of the deified Antinous was substantial. In all, over thirty cities issued bronzes bearing his image, though none as prolifically as Alexandria in Egypt, where his cult, associated with Osiris, was particularly strong. Hadrian himself, we are told, preferred to associate Antinous with Mercury/Hermes, but across the Empire he was far more widely syncretised with the god Dionysus. A great many busts and statues of his were set up in cities across the Roman world, of which numerous examples survive including the iconic 'Braschi Antinous', now in the sala rotonda of the Vatican Museums. That statue, on whose head modern restorers placed a sort of pine cone, would have originally been topped with a lotus flower or hem-hem crown, as on the present coin type. To create the myriad busts, statues and engraved images Hadrian turned to Greek sculptors to perpetuate the melancholic beauty and diffident manner of Antinous, in the process creating what Caroline Vout (Power and Eroticism in Imperial Rome, 2007) described as “the last independent creation of Greco-Roman art”. All of his images share certain distinct features, including tousled curls, a perfect Hellenic nasion, and a downcast gaze – that allow him to be instantly recognized.

Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 450-330 BC. Laureate head of Apollo, facing slightly to right; tunny fish below to right / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 132; Greenwell 17; Boston MFA 1492 = Warren 1436; SNG France 283-284; BMC 56; Gillet 1079. 16.06g, 19mm. Good Very Fine. Extremely Rare. The present coin, which features a highly competent three-quarters facing head of Apollo, forms part of a distinguished tradition of adventurous engraving at Kyzikos. Also depicted three-quarters facing are Athena, Medusa, Zeus, Zeus Ammon, and Demeter, thus making Apollo one of just four Olympian gods accorded this honour. The paucity of such facing portraits at Kyzikos, as elsewhere, is undoubtedly due to the inherent difficulty of engraving a portrait from this perspective. This difficulty is compounded by the low amount of wear that such coins can tolerate before important elements of the design become flattened, a problem that perhaps dissuaded many engravers from undertaking such a challenge. Often compared to the tetradrachms of Amphipolis struck immediately prior to the capture of Amphipolis by the forces of Philip II of Macedon in 357/6 BC due to the extreme similarity of the design, this type was almost certainly inspired by that remarkably brief but beautiful coinage, which itself is thought to have taken inspiration from the seated Apollo of the east frieze of the Parthenon created by Pheidias in the 430s BC. As a tribute therefore to a historically important monument, this coin becomes a significant record of how artistic influences travelled in the Greek world and were spread via the medium of numismatic art.

Augustus AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm of Pergamum, Mysia. Circa 19-18 BC. IMP•IX•TR•PO•V•, bare head right / Triumphal Arch of Augustus, surmounted by charioteer in facing quadriga, an aquila before each side wall; IMP•IX•TR•POT•V• on entablature, S•P•R• SIGNIS RECEPTIS in three lines below. RPC I 2218; RIC 510; RSC 298; BMCRE 703 = BMCRR East 310; CNR 809/2 (this coin). 11.91g, 25mm, 12h. Good Very Fine. Old cabinet tone. Ex Richard Prideaux Collection, Triton XI, 8 January 2008, lot 714; Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 5, 25 February 1992, lot 401; Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 2, 21 February 1990, lot 513; Ex Crippa FPL, April 1971, lot 362.

Seleukid Empire, Antiochos I Soter AR Tetradrachm. Smyrna, circa 281-261 BC. Diademed head right / Apollo Delphios seated left on omphalos, testing arrows and resting on grounded bow; ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ to right, ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ to left, NK and ΩΣ monograms in exergue. SC 311.4; WSM 1496. 17.08g, 30mm, 12h. Good Extremely Fine; a stunning coin both stylistically and in terms of preservation. Extremely Rare. Antiochos I was the son of Seleukos I and Apama, Seleukos' Persian wife. His date of birth is unknown, but was probably circa 320 BC as he was old enough to lead the Seleukid cavalry at the battle of Ipsos in 301. When Seleukos was assassinated in 281, Antiochos was probably in Ekbatana or Aï Khanoum, where he had maintained court ruling the eastern satrapies on behalf of his father since 294. With his accession, Antiochos faced immediate attacks by Ptolemy II in Asia Minor and revolts of the cities of Syria. He left his eldest son, Seleukos, as governor of the eastern satrapies and marched west to meet the threats, which he soon overcame. However, it was not long before his attention was once again drawn to disturbances, this time from a menacing force of warlike Celtic tribes that had crossed over the Hellespont in the winter of 278/7 and invaded Asia Minor, and also shortly thereafter renewed hostilities with Ptolemy II (First Syrian War, 274-271 BC). After defeating the Celts and receiving the title of Saviour (Soter) by the Greek cities of Asia Minor, Antiochos concluded an uneasy truce with Ptolemy which allowed him to focus on public relations and administrative work in Asia Minor. His subsequent reign was relatively peaceful, with the exceptions of sedition by his son and co-regent, Seleukos, whom he was forced to execute and replace with his younger son, the future Antiochos II, and the loss of northwest Asia Minor to Eumenes I of Pergamon. The tetradrachms of Antiochos from Smyrna are of two iconographic types, one with an elderly but god-like portrait, and the other with rejuvenated, powerful and idealized features, as on this coin. Likewise there are differences in the details of the reverse: on the former, Apollo holds but a single arrow, on the latter either two or three arrows. The figure of Apollo seated on the omphalos gained prominence under Antiochos, publicising his supposed descent from the god, and became the characteristic reverse type for most Seleukid precious metal coinage down through the reign of Antiochos IV.

Diva Faustina I AR Denarius. Struck under Antoninus Pius. Rome, after AD 141. DIVA FAVSTINA, veiled and draped bust right / AETERNITAS, throne, against which rests sceptre: in front peacock. RIC 353 (Pius); RSC 61 (Pius); BMCRE 387 (Pius). 3.24g, 19mm, 6h. Fleur De Coin.

Cleopatra and Marc Antony AR Denarius. Uncertain Eastern mint, autumn 34 BC. CLEOPA[TRAE•R]EGINAE•REGVM•FILIORVM•REGVM, diademed and draped bust of Cleopatra right; [at point of bust, prow right] / ANTONI•ARMENIA•DEVICTA, bare head of Marc Antony right; Armenian tiara to left. Crawford 543/1; CRI 345; RSC 1. 3.65g, 20mm, 12h. Good Extremely Fine. Two bold, well-preserved portraits of fine style. Very Rare. Issued in the wake of the successful campaign against Armenia in early-mid 34 BC, this type proudly commemorates the victory with the legend 'Armenia Devicta' (Armenia vanquished). In the execution of his war on Parthia in early 36 BC, Antony had followed the advice of the Armenian king Artavasdes to invade Parthia not from the West (which would have been the shortest route) but from the North, subduing the Parthian allied kingdom of Media Atropatene along the way, whose king was (conveniently) an enemy of Artavasdes. At the fortified town of Phraaspa however, the attack foundered and Artavasdes abandoned Antony in the face of the enemy, allowing his logistics train and two legions to be massacred in an ambush. Following a failed two-month siege of Phraaspa, Antony was forced to call off the campaign and effect a fighting retreat back to friendly territory, in the course of which no fewer than eighteen battles were fought. Antony arrived back in Syria by late 36 BC, having lost about 40% (some 80,000 men) of his original force. In early 34 BC, after variously attempting to lure Artavasdes out to meet with him to discuss marriage proposals and renewed war on Parthia, pleasant inducements and entreaties through the king's companions, and then a forced march to the capital Artaxata and what Cassius Dio describes as 'aggressive use of his soldiers', eventually Antony convinced Artavasdes to come to his camp, where the king was promptly arrested. Antony proceeded to plunder the country as best he could, and returned to Alexandria with his captives: King Artavasdes, his wife, and his family. There he celebrated a mock Roman triumph – an eastern pastiche of Rome's most important military ceremony – wherein Antony paraded through the streets in a chariot with his captives walking behind him. Cleopatra watched, seated high above with Caesarion at her side. As a grand finale, the whole city was summoned to the gymnasium to bear witness to a political statement which became known as the Donations of Alexandria. Antony and Cleopatra, dressed as Dionysus-Osiris and Isis-Aphrodite, sat on golden thrones while Antony distributed kingdoms among his children by Cleopatra: Alexander Helios was named king of Armenia, Media and Parthia, his twin Selene was awarded Cyrenaica and Libya, and the young Ptolemy Philadelphus was given Syria and Cilicia. Cleopatra was proclaimed Queen of Kings, a title evidenced on the obverse of this coin type, which also names 'her Children, who are kings'. Most damaging of all to his relations with Octavian was the naming of Caesarion as a legitimate son and heir of Julius Caesar. This caused a fatal rupture of Antony's relations with Octavian, and Rome. When the triumvirate officially expired on the last day of 33 BC it was not renewed, and the Roman world again found itself at war.

Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 450-330 BC. Archaistic head of Dionysos to right, wearing diadem and ivy wreath; tunny fish below to right / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 138; Boston MFA 1529 = Warren 1455; SNG France 288. 16.01g, 20mm. Near Extremely Fine. One of very few known examples. The head of Dionysos on this coin at once invites comparison with another most famous portrait of the god – that engraved on the high classical tetradrachm of Naxos (cf. Gulbenkian 232). Though the form of the portrait on this electrum stater is more archaistic and static in style, with its formalised ivy-pointed diadem and semi-archaic eye form, the tendency toward a more fluid and lifelike image can already be observed in the engraving of the beard and the hair, particularly at the back of the god's head. This movement will, on the Naxos tetradrachm, be taken to the next logical step, whereupon the god's image becomes defined by a juxtaposition of movement all around a serene visage. While it is unlikely that this Kyzikene stater copied the Naxian type due to the differences in style and representation, it is certainly possible that both drew inspiration from a common source. From the latter half of the fifth century onwards though, Dionysos would relinquish his mature, bearded appearance in Greek myth and art, and would increasingly adopt an effeminate, boyish form. It is in this guise that he would again be portrayed at Kyzikos around a century later (von Fritze 193).

Hadrian AV Aureus. Rome, AD 134-138. HADRIANVS AVG COS III PP, laureate and draped bust left / AEGYPTOS, Egypt reclining left, holding a sistrum, left arm resting on a basket around which a snake coils; ibis standing before. RIC 296j; C. 98; Calicó 1186. 7.25g, 21mm, 6h. Very Fine. Very Rare. Ex Heidelberger 64, 20 November 2014, lot 2559. Part of the famous ‘travel series’ of Hadrian struck in the latter years of the emperor’s reign, this coin commemorates his visit to Egypt a few years earlier in AD 130. Heavily relied upon to supply grain to feed the people of Rome, the province of Egypt was itself entirely dependent on the annual floods of the Nile to fertilise the farmland along its banks. Furthermore, the river was a vital transport link for the ships carrying the grain to Rome, just as the Tiber was between the port of Ostia and the city. Hadrian himself travelled up the river with the imperial entourage, including his companion Antinous, during which trip the young man tragically drowned. The ancient sources are rife with speculation as to whether this occurrence was an accident, a suicide on the part of Antinous or a sacrifice to aid the health of the emperor, but what is clear is the strong bond between the two men (Scriptores Historiae Augustae Hadrian, 14, 5-7), which led to Hadrian’s encouragement of a cult in honour of a deified Antinous and his appearance on the coinage, especially in Egypt. Depicting the personification of the province of Egypt, this type was accompanied by reverse designs that feature the personified river-god Nilus. Perhaps issued on the emperor’s return to Rome, or otherwise some time thereafter, these Egypt and Nilus types must certainly have brought the emperor back bitter memories.

Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 450-330 BC. Demeter kneeling to left, wearing grain wreath, sleeveless girdled chiton and himation which hangs from left shoulder, holding sceptre in left hand, grain stalk in right hand / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 201; Boston MFA 1544; SNG France -. 16.00g, 19mm. Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; one of very few specimens known and the only example of any denomination of this type on CoinArchives. This extraordinarily rare coin features a most unusual depiction of the goddess Demeter: her kneeling posture is without parallel in surviving contemporary statuary or relief. Indeed, gods would rarely be depicted in kneeling postures without exceptionally good cause; not only does such a stance, low to the ground, diminish the aura of grandeur about them (particularly where statues are concerned), it was from a technical standpoint a more difficult pose to draw, engrave, or sculpt. That Demeter should thus be portrayed here is noteworthy, but perhaps not surprising – in fact, Kyzikos made extensive use of the kneeling posture on its electrum coinage, certainly due to the limited ‘canvas’ space available for the showcasing of the engraver’s talent. To compress a design of artistic merit into so small a space required no small degree of creativity. While almost all fully figural types, as well as most animalistic types, are placed into a space-saving crouch or kneel, such a requirement then necessitated the provision of a motive for the subject. In the case of animals or mythical monsters, this was simple: a lion or panther may crouch, ready to pounce; a bull or goat may recline in rest. Where gods and heroes are concerned, and the motive becomes more difficult to produce, so then does the ingenuity of the engraver shine the brighter: Hermes kneels as he reaches his hand into an urn set upon the ground (von Fritze 204); Odysseos kneels in order to sacrifice a prostrate ram (von Fritze 156); Silenos kneels as he pours win from a krater using his leg for support (von Fritze 172); Theseus places his knee across a centaur’s back to force him to the ground (von Fritze 170). Here, Demeter is shown in the act of raising herself from a kneeling position - she puts her weight on her sceptre, held in her left hand, while in her right hand she holds and inspects the grain she has knelt to pick.

Kingdom of Macedon, Alexander III 'the Great' AR Dekadrachm. Babylon, circa 325-323 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, holding sceptre; AΛEΞANΔPOY to right, monogram and M below throne. Price 3618A = Mnemata: Papers in Memory of Nancy M. Waggoner, p. 69, 8, p. 69, 7, pl. 15 = Spink 71, 11 October 1989, lot 49 = Prospero 307 (same reverse die); Price pl. CLIX, 3598 = Künker 280, 163 (same obverse die); Coin Hoards I, 1975, fig 6, 1; Kraay-Hirmer pl. 173, 572. 40.15g, 33mm, 4h. Very Fine. Exceedingly Rare; the third known example of this variety. From a private Canadian collection.

Baktria, Sophytes AR Tetradrachm. Uncertain mint in the Oxus region, circa 246/5-235 BC. Attic standard. Head of Seleukos(?) right, wearing laurel wreathed Attic helmet decorated with spiral pattern on crest and eagle wings on cheek-guard, tied under chin / Cockerel standing right; kerykeion behind, ΣΟΦYΤΟΥ to right. Cf. Bopearachchi, Sophytes Series 3A, pl. I, 1; for type cf. SNG ANS 21-23 (drachm); Mitchiner 29 (drachm); Whitehead NC 1943, pp. 64, 1 and pl. III, 7-8 (drachm). 16.81g, 27mm, 6h. Good Extremely Fine. The second known example of an issue of considerable numismatic interest. A bold and expressive portrait engraved in the finest Hellenistic style. This portrait, which has all too often been simply assumed to be that of Sophytes himself, is eminently worthy of further scrutiny. It is the work of a highly talented individual, and depicts what should by any account be a great general, helmeted in Attic style and wearing the laurel wreath of a conqueror. Unfortunately the actions of Sophytes, whatever they might have been, were either not recorded or have long since been lost. We cannot therefore determine whether this individual may indeed have performed such deeds as to be worthy of commemoration in such a fashion. In examining the features of the individual depicted on this coin however, it becomes immediately apparent that there are distinct similarities with certain idealised portraits of Seleukos I. It is conceivable that we should see in this portrait not an image of the unknown ruler Sophytes, but an idealised image of the deified Seleukos, as can be found on the somewhat earlier coinage of Philetairos. Those images (cf. in particular Gulbenkian 966) have nearly identical features - in particular the heavy brow, aquiline nose, down-turned mouth and prominent chin. The historical sources offer us few clues as to the dating of Sophytes’ rule. They tell us that Stasanor was satrap of Baktria until at least 316 BC, and that Seleukos reintegrated Baktria into his empire on his eastern anabasis in c. 305. An early date therefore seems highly unlikely. Turning to the evidence of the coin itself, numismatists have correctly observed that the obverse portrait is derived from the similar type of Seleukos on his trophy tetradrachms (SC 174), which should be dated to after c. 301 BC; the presence of the somewhat worn elephant-quadriga tetradrachm in the present group pushes the date even further to the right, and into the third century. Now, the presence of this type in this group along with coins of Andragoras indicates a considerably later date than previously supposed. We have already proposed with good reason that the coinage of Andragoras should be dated to c.246/5-239/8 BC (see lots 325 and 328), and that given the patterns of wear that may be observed upon them, there is sufficient justification to argue for the dating of Sophytes’ named coinage to c. 246/5-235, after Andragoras had begun coining but before Diodotos II would have been free to dispose of any lesser regional powers. This turbulent time period has already afforded us a plausible reason for the striking of Andragoras’ coinage. It is possible that Sophytes too was prompted to look to the security of his own territory following the effective withdrawal of the central government’s influence in that area. Diodotos I too struck his own coinage in Baktria, which while bearing his own portrait on the obverse nevertheless maintained the name ‘Antiochos’ on the reverse as a token symbol of loyalty. Does Sophytes coinage, with a distinctly ‘local’ reverse type, seek to achieve the same veneer of loyalty as that of Philetairos and Diodotos by placing the image of Seleukos I, the founder of the Seleukid empire, on his obverse?

Augustus AR Denarius. Spanish mint (Colonia Patricia?), July 18-17/16 BC. Bare head right / Capricorn right, holding globe attached to rudder, cornucopiae over its shoulder; AVGVSTVS below. RIC 126; RSC 21; BMC 346. 3.93g, 18mm, 6h. Fleur De Coin.

Commodus AV Aureus. Rome, AD 186. M COMM•ANT•P•FEL•AVG BRIT, laureate, and draped head right / LIBERT AVG•P M TR P XI•IMP VII COS V P P, Libertas standing left, holding pileus and long sceptre. RIC 135 var.); C. 339; BMCRE -, c.f. 177 note; Calicó 2282 var. (obv bust). 7.33g, 21mm, 6h. Fleur De Coin. Extremely Rare. Commodus’ coinage from AD 181 attests to the official policy of his reign, according to Mattingly and Sydenham (RIC III, p. 357) a “policy of peace, based on victorious power (cp. Types of Victory and Pax, holding branch and spear), leading to public security (‘Securitas Publica’) and prosperity (‘Felicitas’), a policy of constitutional government (‘Libertas’) and care for the material well-being of the subject (‘Annona’ and ‘Aequitas’)”. The types of 186, the year this coin was struck, “continue to witness the happiness of the age, the harmony and loyalty of the troops, the victories of the Roman arms.” There are no direct references to the serious revolts in Gaul and Spain, which are swept under the numismatic carpet; only a type of ‘Concordia Militum’ with the emperor reconciling two groups of soldiers may relate to these troubles. The continued use of Libertas again in 186 seeks to emphasise the emperor’s respect for and adherence to a constitutional government. That this was of course a naked lie should come as no surprise; Cassius Dio (73.5-73.6) relates to us some of the extra-judicial killings carried out by Commodus: “Commodus also killed Salvius Julianus and Tarrutenius Paternus, who was enrolled among the ex-consuls, and others with them, including even a woman of the nobility. And yet Julianus, after the death of Marcus, could have done at once anything whatever that he wished against Commodus, since he was a man of great renown, was in command of a large army, and enjoyed the devotion of his soldiers; but he had refused to make any rebellious move, both because of his own probity and because of the good will that he bore to Marcus even after that emperor’s death. And Paternus, if he had plotted against Commodus, as he was accused of doing, could easily have killed him while he himself was still in command of the Praetorians; but he had not done so. Commodus likewise killed the two Quintilii, Condianus and Maximus; for they had a great reputation for learning, military skill... and wealth, and their notable talents led to the suspicion that, even if they were not planning any rebellion, they were nevertheless displeased with existing conditions. Sextus Condianus, the son of Maximus, who surpassed all others by reason both of his native ability and his training, when he heard that sentence of death had been pronounced against him, too, drank the blood of a hare, after which he mounted a horse and purposely fell from it; then, as he vomited the blood, which was supposed to be his own, he was taken up, apparently on the point of death, and was carried to his room. He himself now disappeared, while a ram's body was placed in a coffin in his stead and burned. After this, constantly changing his appearance and clothing, he wandered about here and there. And when this story got out, diligent search was made for him high and low. Many were punished in his stead on account of their resemblance to him, and many, too, who were alleged to have shared his confidence or to have sheltered him somewhere; and still more persons who had perhaps never even seen him were deprived of their property.”

Diva Faustina I AR Denarius. Struck under Antoninus Pius. Rome, after AD 141. DIVA FAVSTINA, draped bust right / AVGVSTA, Ceres veiled, standing left, holding corn ears and torch. RIC 360 (Pius); C. 78; BMCRE 408 (Pius). 3.50g, 18mm, 6h. Fleur De Coin.

Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 500-450 BC. Facing gorgoneion with mouth open and tongue protruding, six serpents on top of head, another below each ear; below, tunny fish to left / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 129, pl. IV, 15; Boston 1445 = Warren 1492; cf. SNG von Aulock 7295 (hemihekte); SNG France -. 16.08g, 19mm. Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare. While the origin or inspiration for many of the types used at Kyzikos is obscure or uncertain, the apotropaic design used on this type is very similar in style to those found on the silver coinage of Apollonia Pontika on the Black Sea coast of Thrace (Topalov 37-38ff), and certain issues from both Mytilene (Bodenstedt 19) and Phokaia (Triton XIX, 217). All were important trading hubs within a relatively short distance of Kyzikos; the latter’s strategic location on the main trade route would inevitably have meant close economic ties. Given that Apollonia Pontika utilised the gorgoneion as their principal reverse type, it seems likely that this would have been the primary source of inspiration for the present coin. Regardless of the stylistic origin of this beautiful stater, the use of the gorgoneion as an apotropaic (for averting evil influences or bad luck) symbol is well attested in Greek art from the Orientalising period in the eighth and seventh centuries BC, and it remained a popular protective convention until the advent of widespread Christianity, though even then its use persisted in the Byzantine empire. Widely employed on the coinage of Greek city states (no fewer than 37, as per A. Potts, ‘The World’s Eye’, 1982), the gorgoneion ranked in numismatic ubiquity only below several principal Olympian gods and Herakles. Its origin cannot be directly traced; though there is a similar monstrous image from the Knossos palace, datable to the fifteenth century BC, and and it has been argued (Marija Gimbutas, ‘The Living Goddesses’, 2001) that “the Gorgon extends back to at least 6000 BC, as a ceramic mask from the Sesklo culture illustrates”, this identification of a monstrous image as the traditional gorgoneion of myth cannot be supported. Gimbutas also identified the prototype of the gorgoneion in Neolithic art motifs, especially in anthropomorphic vases and terracotta masks inlaid with gold, however this approach fails to take into account a very widespread use of monstrous or otherwise frightening visages at a primitive human level, some of which inevitably accrue more complex mythologies around them. In the near east, the myth of the Mesopotamian monster Humbaba ‘the Terrible’ and its death at the hands of the hero Gilgamesh has some striking parallels with that of Medusa and Perseus, and both monsters are certainly depicted in very similar manners. However, while any attempt to imply a direct connection between the two is ultimately futile, we may certainly consider that the autonomous and indigenous European gorgoneion could have assimilated some aspects of its near-eastern parallel. Possibly our only clue to the evolution of the Greek myth lies in the work of Homer, who refers to the Gorgon on four occasions, each time alluding to only one gorgon, and just the head alone, as if it had no body. The implication is that the myth of the gorgon Medusa was not yet fully developed, and indeed it appears to have been left to Hesiod (Theogeny, c.700 BC) to imagine the Gorgons as sea daemons and increase their number to three.

Kingdom of Macedon, Philip V AR Tetradrachm. In the name and types of Alexander III. Pella, circa 180 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, holding sceptre; AΛEΞANΔPOY to right, club in left field, B below throne. Price 636; Müller -; Roma XIII, 194. 16.71g, 30mm, 1h. Good Very Fine. Rare. This coin is part of the final issue of 'Alexanders' struck in Macedon, as outlined by Seyrig (H. Seyrig, 'Monnaies héllenistiques, 5. Philippe V ou les Bottiéens', RN 1963, 14-8, pl. ii). Price notes: It represents a revival of the coinage that is much later than the groups of the early part of Antigonos' reign. Seyrig showed that the style of the head of Herakles on these later issues compared closely with that on bronze issues in the name of Philip V, dated from the use of the same symbol and monograms as are found on the silver tetradrachms to the later years of his reign. The Alexander issue is not, however, marked with the controls of the royal coinage of Philip, and was presumably struck to make a particular payment for which this type of coinage was stipulated. The letter B which occurs on the Alexanders of this group may be related to the name of the Bottiaeans of the Emanthian plain around Pella, who at this time struck fractional coinage parallel to the royal issues of Philip V. This suggestion is strengthened by the symbol of the prow (Price 640-2) which echoes the reverse type of the coinage of the Bottiaeans. F. W. Walbank (Philip V of Macedon, Cambridge University Press, 2013, p. 265) notes however that there is now evidence of at least three other regional issues - those of the Amphaxians, coined at Thessalonica, and those of two Paeonian peoples, the Doberes and Paroreians. Additionally, many cities minted in their own names including Amphipolis, Aphytis in Chalkidike, Apollonia, Pella and Thessalonica. Walbank concludes that this represents a concession of the king's centralised political authority and an unprecedented devolution of minting authority. Rather than necessarily indicating weakness or insecurity though, Walbank makes the case for this devolution being a method of achieving some consolidation following the absolutist policies of the Antigonids, who had ever restricted coining rights, even to the great trading cities on the coasts. He proposes that the success Philip achieved with this policy should be measured by the prosperity of Macedon and the loyalty of its people to the king; the state of the Macedonian state on the eve of the Third Macedonian War indicates that this concession "weakened neither nation nor monarchy".

Antoninus Pius AR Denarius. Rome, AD 148-149. ANTONINVS AVG PIVS P P TR P XII, laureate head right / COS IIII, Aequitas standing left, holding scales and cornucopiae. RIC 177; RSC 240. 3.29g, 20mm, 12h. Fleur De Coin.

Umayyad Caliphate, time of 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (AH 65-86 / AD 685-705) AV Dinar. Unnamed (Damascus?) mint. Dated AH 77 (AD 696/7). First portion of the kalimat at-tawḥīd: lā ilāha illā-llāhu waḥdahu lā sharīka lahu (there is no god except Allah, and one [is] he; (there is) no partner to him) in three lines; in outer margin, the "Umayyad Second Symbol" (Sura 9 [al-tauba]:33): muḥammadur rasūlu-llāh arsalahu bi-'lhudā wa dīn al-haqq lī-yuzhirahu 'ala al-dīn kollihi walau kariha al-mushrikūn (Muhammad is the messenger of Allah; him He sent with guidance and true faith to make it prevail over all other faiths even though the polytheists may hate it) / The "Umayyad Symbol" (Sura 112 [al-ikhlas]) Āllah ahad Āllah āl-samad lam yalīd wa lam yalūd (Allah [is] One; Allah [is] the Eternal, the Absolute; not begetting and not begotten) in three lines; in outer margin, b-ismi-llāh zarb hazā āl-dinār fī sanat seb' wa seb'īn (in the name of Allah struck this dinar in the year seven and seventy (after the Hijra)). AGC I 41; Walker, Arab-Byzantine, 186; Album 125; ICV 155. 4.27g, 20mm, 6h. Good Extremely Fine; very minor graffiti and traces of double-striking. Very Rare; an excellent example of what has been described as the most desirable Islamic coin ever struck. This famous gold Dinar, struck in the year 77 of the Hijra, marks a defining point in Islamic history. Although there was a dictum that the Byzantine solidus was not to be used outside of the Byzantine Empire, there was some limited trade that involved the use of Byzantine solidi outside of the empire’s borders. Since these solidi were frequently not re-minted as those within the empire were, they quickly became worn. Towards the end of the 7th century CE, 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan began to produce Arabic copies of solidi – ‘dinars’ which corresponded in weight to only 4 grams, but matched with the weight of the worn solidi that were circulating at the time. These copies of Byzantine solidi bore Byzantine legends and iconography, but omitted any Christian symbols on either obverse or reverse. The legends were soon replaced with an Arabic legend – thus bearing witness to the moment at which the faith of Islam became the religion of the state. In AH 77 'Abd al-Malik reformed the coinage and issued the first of what would become the standard pattern for Muslim coinage. The AH 77 Dinar bears only the denomination and date of striking, with the Kalima and words from the Holy Qur’an. This new type was used without appreciable change for the whole of Umayyad period, the coins being struck to a new and carefully controlled standard of 4.25 grams, and bearing the year of minting, much as modern coins do today. This issue marked a great turning point - replacing the images of rulers with Qur’anic verses emphasised that the Islamic Empire was ruled by God and not by mortal men.

Titus, as Caesar, AV Aureus. Rome, AD 77-78. T CAESAR IMP VESPASIANVS, laureate headt right / Roma, helmeted, seated right on two shields, left foot on helmet, holding spear before her; wolf standing right at her feet, head turned back, suckling Romulus and Remus; in left and right fields, two eagles flying towards her; COS VI in exergue. RIC 954; BMCRE 223; Calicó 738a. 7.21g, 20mm, 6h. Good Extremely Fine. The Flavians came to power after a year of civil war, vicious intrigue and three short-lived reigns which all ended in bloodshed. Vespasian and his son Titus thus sought to restore the security of the empire, and more importantly the confidence of the people in the office of emperor, by establishing a clear and peaceful succession through a strong father and son line, both of whom had proven themselves capable generals and administrators, that would renew belief in the eternity of Rome. The revival of earlier reverse types was to be a feature of the coinage struck by the Flavian dynasty and Titus, along with his father Vespasian and brother Domitian, struck a series of coins which recalled types of the Republican and Augustan periods. Part of these issues, the present piece is particularly significant as it bears an unusual variant of the Roman foundation myth; the goddess Roma watching over the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, waiting patiently for the day that Rome will be built. Repeating a type seen on an anonymous Republican denarius of 115-114 BC (Crawford 287/1), this was the first such representation on an Imperial coin and is clearly used to symbolise the rebirth of Rome under the Flavians.

Byzantine Empire Æ Three Unciae Commercial Weight. Circa 5th-7th Century AD. Γ° Γ; menorah above, all within wreath divided by four annulets; circular border containing annulets / Blank. Cf. Bendall 116. 74.62g, 38mm, 9mm thick. An attractive circular commercial weight with a pleasing patina. Recessed top, two grooves around the edge. Engraved on this remarkable Jewish-Byzantine three-unciae official imperial weight, in the typical ‘angular chisel’ technique often favoured in this period, is with what Christians at the time would have considered a blasphemous image replacing the usual Christian Holy Cross. It was conceivably engraved at the time of the Byzantine-Sasanian War of 602-628 CE, when many disgruntled Jews sided against the Byzantines in the Jewish revolt against Heraclius, which successfully assisted the invading Persians led by Khosru II in conquering the Byzantine Empire’s richest provinces in the Diocese of the East: Antioch in 611, Jerusalem in 614, Alexandria in 619 and the rest of Egypt by 621. Most of the Byzantine mints closed at this time, with the exception of that of the second city of the empire, Alexandria, which continued to produce imperial standard bronze coin denominations in the form of 12, 6, 3 and 1 nummi, without imperial titles, but with the characteristic Persian symbols of the sun and moon (cf. MIB 202, 211, 214 and 215). Another possible period for this Jewish-Byzantine weight might be after the death of Muhammad in 632 and the rise of the first Caliph Abu Bakr, who set in motion a military expansion that in a few short decades overwhelmed the whole the Levant, starting with the province of Syria in 634, the Exarchate of Africa in 686 and Visigothic Spain by 712-716. The new Islamic authorities in Syria, North Africa and Spain continued the Byzantine monetary system by issuing what we call Arab-Byzantine coins, until they were gradually replaced by the Umayyad Post-Reform coinage starting in 696/7 (77H) with its own well recorded weights and measures (cf. G. Bernardi, ‘Umayyad Caliphate Globular Coins’ in Arabic Gold Coins I, Trieste 2010, pp. 101-104 and S. Album, Checklist of Islamic Coins, Santa Rosa 2011, 115-124). These Muslim invaders were seen as a liberating force by the long suffering Jewish population within the Christian empire. Eager to aid the Arab invaders in administering the newly conquered territories many towns and garrisons were left in the hands of the Jews while the invaders proceeded further west and north. The destruction of the Second Temple by Titus in 70 CE and the subsequent triumphal procession in Rome was a momentous event celebrated by many coin issues over several years and the erection of a triumphal arch in the Forum. The renowned Arch of Titus depicts Roman soldiers carrying away the spoils of the Second Temple, in particular, the seven-branched menorah, or candelabrum. The menorah was then deposited in the temple of Pax, where it remained until it was looted by the Vandals in 455 and taken to their capital, Carthage. After the fall of Carthage in 533 to the Byzantine general Belisarius the menorah was removed to Constantinople and later sent to Jerusalem (Prociopius, Vandal Wars IV.9.5). There exists no record of it after this and it was probably destroyed when Jerusalem was sacked by the Sasanian Persians in 614, when the Holy Cross was carried off to Ctesiphon. After the destruction of Jerusalem at the end of the Bar Kokhba War in 135, the menorah had become the iconic symbol of the Jewish Diaspora and the festival of Sukkot. In a religiously tolerant pagan Roman Empire the menorah image was placed prominently on signet rings, lamps, and amulets and even appears in the roundels of prestigious Roman gold glass cups, along with other Jewish symbols. With Constantine I the empire became Christian, and under the Theodosian Code of 404 Jews were excluded from certain governmental posts and by 425 all public offices, both civilian and military - a prohibition that was repeated under the Justinian Code of 545. Although the Justinian Code remained in force in the Eastern Empire until the ninth century, the period following Justinian's reign was generally characterised by tolerance of non-Christians, particularly the Jews. However, the Jewish revolt against Heraclius provoked severe anti-Jewish measures to be enacted throughout the empire and applied as far away as Byzantine North Africa, Merovingian France and Visigothic Spain, the alleged provenance of this weight. The first Visigothic rulers of Spain were not much interested in the religious affairs of the kingdom until 506, when Alaric II (484–507) published his Breviarium Alaricianum or Lex Romana Visigothorum, which adopted the laws Byzantium. Following the conversion of the Visigothic royal family under Recared from Arianism to Catholicism in 587, the situation became far worse for Jews, now subject to forced conversion, resulting in the utter embitterment and alienation of Spanish Catholic rule by the time of the Muslim invasion in 711. Under Muslim rule Jews experienced tolerance and integration and given the status of dhimmi, by which they remained second class citizens, but were accorded many rights and protections as a “people of the book’.

Mysia, Kyzikos EL Hekte. Circa 500-450 BC. Bearded head of Poseidon to left, wearing a helmet in the form of the head of a sea monster; below, tunny fish to right / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze -; cf. Hurter & Liewald, SNR 81 (2002), p. 28, no. 17; SNG Aulock 7291. 2.70g, 11mm. Good Extremely Fine; unusually complete. Extremely Rare. The male head on this coin has been variously identified as a nameless hero, Perseus wearing a griffin skin helmet, or Herakles wearing a lion skin. Other specimens of the type have revealed that the helmet in fact bears a fin-like crest and pointed ears (which on the present coin are off the flan). It has therefore seems that the headdress is actually in the form of a ketos, one of the familiar sea monsters of Greek myth which is most frequently seen on Sicilian coinage, in particular that of Katane and Syracuse. Given that the bearded head is less likely to represent Perseus (who appears beardless, as on von Fritze 65) it could well be Herakles, who killed a ketos in the course of rescuing the Trojan princess Hesione, daughter of Laomedon and sister of Priam. According to some versions of the myth, Herakles was swallowed whole by the monster, and slew it by hacking at its innards for three days until it died, by which time he had lost all his hair. Perhaps during the course of this contest, Herakles temporarily misplaced his trademark lion skin headdress, and resorted to covering his baldness with a nice ketos skin hat. We must bear in mind however that Kyzikene electrum is more frequently influenced by religion (and, it has been supposed, by cult images in particular) than by myth, and so we must look elsewhere for a positive identification - given the marine monster, Poseidon is a prime candidate. Although the god is more frequently encountered with a trident attribute to facilitate identification, a ketos headdress attribute is also appropriate. F. Catalli (Monete Etrusche, Roma 1990, p. 90) included in his work an image of the remarkable Volterra kelebe which depicts a very similar god head wearing a ketos, which though formally identified as Hades, must in fact be Poseidon due to the presence on the one side of a marine monster, and on the other of a bridled horse – both symbols of the God of the Sea. This identification is confirmed by the Etruscan coinage – see Vecchi, Etruscan Coinage I, part 1 pp. 319-321, nos. 2-4 – on these coins we find an identical head identified as Nethuns (Neptune-Poseidon), paired with a reverse showing a hippocamp and border of waves.

Italy, Genova, AR Scudo stretto. 1680. *ETREGE*EOS*SM, the Virgin with Child seated on clouds / +DVXET*GVB*REIP*GE[NV +] in incuse, cross potent surrounded by five stars. CNI 10/12; MIR 294/40; Lunardi 260; for incuse letters cf. Santa Maria sale 5 Apile 1962. 38.31g, 43mm, 9h. Extremely Fine. Ex Santamaria, 5 April 1962, lot 179. This is an extraordinary example of a coin struck from a broken and repaired die the reverse legend being struck with incuse letters GENNV + D V.

Lucania, Sybaris AR Trihemiobol or heavy Obol. Circa 444-440 BC. Head of Athena right, wearing crested and laureate helmet / Bull standing left, head turned to right; ΣYBA in exergue. HN Italy -; Kraay, Sybaris -; SNG ANS -, cf. 862-7 (triobols, bull to right). 0.57g, 10mm, 7h. Good Extremely Fine; a miniature gem of a coin. Apparently unpublished in the standard references, and possibly unique. From a private North American Collection. In 446 the citizens of the (once again) destroyed city of Sybaris appealed to Athens for aid (Diodorus XII.10). Athens, seeing the opportunity to expand its influence in the west, thus assisted in the refoundation of the city. In 444 this new Sybaris was reinforced by Athens with settlers drawn from many parts of the Greek mainland. Soon however, dissension arose between the original inhabitants and the panhellenic colonists who were now more numerous, leading to the expulsion of the Sybarites in c.440. The again homeless Sybarites founded Sybaris V on the river Traeis, while the original city renamed itself Thurium. The coinage of Sybaris IV was therefore very short-lived, and it is not surprising that it survives in very small numbers.

Octavian AR Denarius. Military mint travelling with Octavian in Italy, spring-summer 42 BC. Bare head right, slightly bearded; CAESAR before, III•VIR•R•P•C behind / Wreath set on curule chair (without sculpted eagle supports) inscribed CAESAR•DIC•PER (partially ligate); S•C in exergue. Cf. Crawford 497/2c-d; cf. CRI 137-137a. 3.53g, 20mm, 8h. Extremely Fine. Unique, unpublished and numismatically important. This unique and previously unknown coin fills an important gap in Octavian's numismatic record. His previous issues depicting the equestrian statue voted to him by the conscript fathers of the Senate use the formula S•C to emphasise his constitutional and officially sanctioned military command, as does his subsequent issue bearing the head of Mars and legionary standards. That the intervening issue which displays the gilded sella curulis of his adoptive father Julius Caesar, and a wreath placed upon the empty seat, made no mention of the legality of his command is strange. The present coin reverses the direction of the obverse legend, and like Crawford 497/2d does not have sculpted eagle supports on the curule chair. Now present is the very clear S•C in the exergue. A unique and previously unknown denarius of Octavian is a very uncommon thing indeed. We may suppose that this coin's design was the final variation of the Crawford 497 type, and was produced for only a very brief time before being superseded.

Germanicus Æ Dupondius. Struck under Caligula. Rome, AD 37-41. GERMANICVS CAESAR, Germanicus, bareheaded and draped, standing right in chariot, holding eagle-tipped sceptre and reins in left hand, driving triumphal quadriga right; chariot decorated with figure of Victory advancing right / SIGNIS RECEP[T] DEVICTIS GERM, Germanicus, bareheaded, wearing cuirass and short tunic, standing left, right leg bent at knee and drawn back behind left, with cloak over left arm in which he cradles an aquila, and extending right hand in gesture of command; S-C across fields. RIC 57 (Gaius); BMCRE 93-100 (Caligula); BN 140-51 (Caligula). 17.72g, 29mm, 7h. Good Extremely Fine. Attractive dark red-brown patina with touches of green. An incredibly well preserved coin, certainly one of the very finest surviving examples of the type, this extraordinary piece retains all of its intricate details and is a magnificent example of 1st century Roman art.

Thessaly, Perrhaiboi AR Hemidrachm. Circa 450-400 BC. Hero to right, with chlamys draped over his shoulders, holding with both his hands a band passing around the head of a bull's forepart leaping to right / Forepart of bridled horse to right; Π above, E to right, all within incuse square. SNG Fitzwilliam 2429 (same dies); BCD Thessaly II, 542 (this coin). 2.96g, 17mm, 6h. Good Very Fine. Rare. Ex BCD Collection, Triton XV, 3 January 2012, lot 542.