It would
help to know where along the Vardar /
Axios it was found. It is a long river, and as far as I can tell the only cities right along it (or close to it) that struck coinage were, from
north to south,
Stobi,
Pella and
Thessalonika.
I don't think that is a figure in a
biga (like the Demeter in a
biga from
Thessalonica). The "wheel" is set well behind the figure, and if you look where it is aligned it appears that it might be
part (the start ?) of the
legend. I think the figure is
Nike (or
Victory), not Demeter.
Take a look at the
obverse legend of
RPC 1626, a coin for
Augustus from
Amphipolis. It uses the same "wheel" symbol for the theta in
. In fact the
obverse has some other similarities.
More importantly, reverses from
Thessalonica struck under the Julio-Claudians often have soething like
on the
reverse.
Nike was common at
Stobi, where it was almost the only
type used after
Marcus Aurelius. However,
Stobi does not appear to have struck coins until
Vespasian and the
bust looks distinctly Julio-Caludian.
Nike was also common at
Thessalonica, which struck coins from before
Augustus. There was a
Nike used for a coin struck under
Marc Antony and
Octavian, then for a smaller
denomination under
Nero, then it was a common
type under the Flavians, Antonines and Severans.
To me the
obverse appears to have TIB on the left and IOC on the right. TIBEPIOC
An unlisted or
imitative issue for
Tiberius (or for
Augustus or
Claudius if my eyes are decieving me on the TIB) struck at
Thessalonica??
Shawn