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ID: |
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75000798 |
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[UNVERIFIED]
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| Type: |
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Roman Provincial |
| Region: |
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MACEDONIA |
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City:
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Thessalonica |
| Issuer: |
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Augustus |
| Date Ruled: |
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27- 14 BC-AD
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| Metal: |
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Bronze |
| Denomination: |
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AE 21 |
| Date Struck: |
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AD circa 14 |
| Diameter: |
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21 mm |
| Weight: |
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7.72 g |
| Die Axis: |
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6 h |
| Obverse Legend: |
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ΘΕΟC |
| Obverse Description: |
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Bare head of Divus Julius Caesar right |
| Reverse Legend: |
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CEBACTOY ΘE |
| Reverse Description: |
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Bare head of Augustus right |
| Primary Reference: |
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RPC I 5421 var. (Uncertain Mint |
| Reference2: |
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placement of rev. legend) |
| Reference3: |
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Touratsoglou, MÜnzstÄtte Em. II (Domitian), - (V6/R2 |
| Reference4: |
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an unlisted die combination) |
| Photograph Credit: |
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Classical Numismatic Group |
| Source: |
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http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=103706 |
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Grade:
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Good VF, black-green patina, surfaces smoothed. |
| Notes: |
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Sale: CNG 75, Lot: 798 While Touratsoglou rejected Head’s attribution (BMC) to Thessalonica based on style, the die match of our coin with a type bearing that city’s ethnic, as well as the 6h axis normally associated with the coinage of Thessalonica, should conclusively place it there. Likewise, this coin must be contemporary with RPC I 1555. RPC has questioned Touratsoglou’s dating of the type to Domitian, and instead dates it to the reign of Augustus.The reverse legend, CEBACTOY poses a potential problem. Nowhere else does RPC list such a legend, and the coinage of Thessalonica canonically includes the ethnic. A closer examination of the coin suggests that the original ethnic may have been altered to accommodate the new legend. One possible explanation could be that the dies were reused shortly after the deification of Augustus in AD 14, with the reverse ethnic removed and the new legend put in its place, with coins commemorating the new divus being struck. QE is an otherwise unknown abbreviation for QEOY, and an otherwise unnecessary one, given the plentiful amount of space on the die. |
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