The
poor coin in the first picture below displays what may be a new
reverse type: an
equestrian statue of Thyatira's
patron god,
Apollo Tyrimnaios, within a six-columned temple. I could not find any coin of this
type in
RPC IV temp.,
nor in the illustrations or the
type catalogue of
Price and Trell, Coins and Their Cities (1977).
Head,
Historia Numorum, p. 658, gives interesting information about
Apollo Tyrimnaios and games in
his honor at
Thyatira, but mentions no coin
type showing him on horseback within a temple.
This was not an easy coin to attribute, with most of the
legend gone! The dealer offering it was obviously just guessing:
Mint uncertain, possibly in
Ionia, of
Marcus Aurelius, on
rev. Alexander the Great on Bucephalus within temple, apparently unpublished.
After quite a
bit of searching, I came up with the following
attribution:
Commodus,
Thyatira, under
archon (
strategos) Titos Aurelios Barbaros. AE 38, 37.88 g,
axis 6 h.
Lanz,
eBay, 18 Feb. 2019.
Obv: AV K M AV - [PH KOMOΔOC]
Bust laureate, draped,
cuirassed r. Small round
countermark in r.
field, probably
Howgego 93, displaying small imperial
bust (
Caracalla?), which is found only on coins of
Thyatira, including 24 of
Commodus seen by
Howgego.
Rev: [ΕΠI CTPA TITO]V - AVP[HΛIOV BAPBAPOV] around, [ΘVA]T[EIPHNΩN] in
exergue, probably in two lines.
Apollo Tyrimnaios, probably with double ax over shoulder, seated on
horse stepping r., within temple of six columns.
The second and third coins shown below, taken from
CoinArchives Pro, are comparable coins of
Commodus from
Thyatira that confirm this
attribution.
Second coin, somewhat
tooled, has a similar
portrait of
Commodus with
legend beginning AV K M AV on left, and a slightly larger oval
countermark on the emperor's neck, a variant of
Howgego 93 that
Howgego also mentions. On
rev. archon Titos Aurelios Barbaros is named, the only magistrate recorded under
Commodus at
Thyatira whose name can accord with the V - AVP above the temple on the new coin. City name in
exergue, with the T in a similar position as on the new coin, where that T is the only clearly readable letter in the
exergue.
Third coin: Similar
portrait, same beginning of
legend A K M AV on left. On
rev. same magistrate Titos Aurelios Barbaros, city name also in
exergue.
Rev. type Apollo Tyrimnaios with double ax over shoulder, seated on
horse stepping right, just as on the new coin but omitting the temple.
