This remarkable example of a 'proto-Nabataean' issue,
overstruck on a
Ptolemaic bronze
undertype, has just been added to the PtolemyBronze.com 'coin photos' page in the section of "
Ptolemy II - III - Proto-Natabaean Overstrikes" (which displays 6 more examples). Especially noteworthy on this specimen is it appears to bear the 'harpa'
mintmark of the Joppa
mint (
Svoronos 819). Be sure to visit the site to see the other related ones. These overstrikes are all interesting but seldom is it possible to be certain of the precise
attribution of the
undertype. For more information about this early
Nabataean coinage, see the article by Rachel
Barkay (
Numismatic Chronicle, 2011) - The Earliest
Nabataean Coinage. This specimen is about 17mm
diameter, 2.47 grams.