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Obolos 15

24 May 2020
Webauction
overview
Starting Price: 50 CHF
Hammer Price:  90 CHF
Lot 535

MACEDON. Thessalonica. Augustus, with Divus Julius Caesar, 27 BC - AD 14. (Bronze, 21 mm, 7.13 g, 7 h). ΘEOC Bare head of Divus Julius Caesar right; on the head behind Caesar's eye, monogram of a D with a hook within a circular countermark. Rev. CEBACTOY ΘE Bare head of Augustus right. BMC 61. Howgego 702 (the countermark). RPC I 5421 (uncertain mint). Varbanov 4154. Rare. Nearly very fine.



An enigmatic coin. Head (BMC) assigned this issue to Thessalonica, but Touratsoglou (Die Münzstätte von Thessaloniki in der römischen Kaiserzeit [1988], p. 43, no. 69) rejected this attribution, instead suggesting an uncertain mint in Asia Minor. Nonetheless, the coins are similar to the Thessalonican issues with Divus Julius Caesar/Augustus, which Touratsoglou attributed to the time of Domitian (RPC dates these to the time of Augustus). The question hinges on what to make of the ΘE in the reverse legend: does it function as an abbreviation for ΘEΣΣAΛONIKEΩN or does it identify Augustus as a Θεος, thus indicating this issue was struck after his death?

Online bidding closes: 24 May 2020, 19:27:30 CEST Current Date & Time: 29 Mar 2024, 14:27:19 CET Remaining Time: Closed Hammer Price:90 CHF by Ghost (5 bids)
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