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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Roman Coins| ▸ |Roman Tesserae||View Options:  |  |  | 

Roman Tesserae

Tesserae (singular: tessera) are ancient tokens. Most were made from lead, but other materials including bronze, bone, ivory, clay, glass and wood were also used. They were used as tickets for theaters, gladiator fights, ferry passage and even brothels. Tesserae liberalitatis were distributed as gifts by the Roman emperor or local government, often to the poor, and used as vouchers to exchange for grain, oil, or other goods. Some ancient lead "tokens" may have been used as small change coinage.

Roman Empire, Gnostic Magic Lead Amulet, c. 3rd - 4th century A.D.

|Roman| |Tesserae|, |Roman| |Empire,| |Gnostic| |Magic| |Lead| |Amulet,| |c.| |3rd| |-| |4th| |century| |A.D.||amulet|NEW
Gnosticism is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century A.D. among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized personal spiritual knowledge above the teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions. According to Gnosticism, Abraxas was the God beyond all Gods, the being who created the world, and identified with the god of the Old Testament. The snake-legged deity on our amulet is almost certainly related to the anguiped found on many similar lead pieces inscribed with the names Iao Abraxas (the first being a Greek vocalization of the Tetragrammaton (i.e. YHWH or Yahweh). The god's head, however, appears rather human-like, unlike the usual depictions of Abrasax with a cock's head. A worn mold could be a possible explanation for this among others. Gert Boersema in his KOINON V (2022) paper, "Roman Lead 'Iao Abrasax' Amulets: Magical Pendants, Rings, and Beads," has this to say on the amulet's possible Gnostic links: "Early scholarship, with its heavy emphasis on Gnosticism, identified the Anguipede as a depiction of the Gnostic deity Abrasax, but this view is now generally abandoned, as there is no decisive proof that the name refers to the figure, and the connection to Gnosticism is unclear. Campbell Bonner, the pioneer of modern scholarship of magical gems, understood the figure primarily as a solar deity." Boersema's choice of spelling for Abrasax (instead of the presumably more modern Abraxas) stems from its lettering on the amulets as "ABPACAΞ."
AS113990. Lead amulet, cf. Boersema IAA 12 (2 spec., Anguipede holding whip and shield, no dots), aVF, thick gray-green patina, earthen deposits, mold chip at base of 'I' (giving appearance of an 'L'), missing suspension loop(?), weight 3.862 g, maximum diameter 19.8 mm, eastern workshop, c. 3rd - 4th century A.D.; obverse Anguipede (snake-legged god) facing with arms stretched, serpent legs flaring to either side, flanked at center by two dots (indistinct letters or symbols?), all within a thick linear border; reverse star inside crescent moon, IAW counterclockwise below, all within thick linear border; rare; $250.00 SALE PRICE $225.00
 


Roman Egypt, Gnostic Magic Lead Amulet, c. 3rd - 4th century A.D.

|Roman| |Tesserae|, |Roman| |Egypt,| |Gnostic| |Magic| |Lead| |Amulet,| |c.| |3rd| |-| |4th| |century| |A.D.||amulet|NEW
Gnosticism is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century A.D. among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized personal spiritual knowledge above the teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions. This specimen is inscribed with the name IAW (Iao in English) on the obverse (a Greek vocalization of the Tetragrammaton - i.e. YHWH or Yahweh) and ABPACAΞ (Abraxas in English) on the reverse. According to Gnosticism, Abraxas was the God beyond all Gods, the being who created the world, and is identified with the god of the Old Testament.
AS114256. Lead amulet, cf. Boersema IAA 1-5 (unrecorded mold); Engel BCH 8 pp. 9-10, 59 (unconfirmed mold); CGB Istanbul 9.34 (diff. mold = Boersema IAA 2) cor. (6th cent.), F, thick patina, scratches mold offset and sprue remnant/cuts, weight 2.920 g, maximum diameter 17.9 mm, c. 2nd - 4th Century A.D.; obverse Abrasax facing, with the head of a rooster and snakes for legs, holding a whip in his right hand and a shield in his left hand, IAW below; reverse star-in-crescent, ABPA/CAΞ (or similar) in two lines below; ex Leu Numismatik web auction 24 (3-6 Dec 2022), lot 2396; $120.00 SALE PRICE $108.00
 


Roman Egypt, Antinoopolites Nome, Portrait of Antinous, c. 131 - 132 A.D.

|Roman| |Tesserae|, |Roman| |Egypt,| |Antinoopolites| |Nome,| |Portrait| |of| |Antinous,| |c.| |131| |-| |132| |A.D.||tessera|
On 30 October 130 A.D., Hadrian founded the city of Antinoopolis on the very bank of the Nile river where Antinous drowned. It was the capital of a new nome, Antinoopolites. We believe the date on this coin is year 2 of an era beginning with the founding of Antinoopolis.

The Emmett reference has the bust of Hermes with a caduceus. Our coin could be Hermes with the features of Antinous and with an obscured caduceus behind. Emmett does not, however, note a crescent, which would be hard to overlook. There is no plate coin to compare. The reference may refer to our type or it may not.
RX39461. Lead tessera, cf. Emmett 4328 (uncertain match, Nilus obv, Hermes with caduceus rev, no crescent noted, year 2, R5); Dattari -; Geissen -; Milne -, Choice gF, weight 4.755 g, maximum diameter 20.3 mm, die axis 0o, Antinoopolis? mint, 131 - 132 A.D.?; obverse draped bust of Antinous right, wearing hem-hem crown of Harpocrates, crescent before, possibly caduceus behind, linear border; reverse Nilus reclining left on crocodile, raising Nike crowning him with wreath in right hand, cornucopia in left hand, L B (year 2) left, linear border; extremely rare; SOLD







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REFERENCES

Boersema, G. & B. Dalzell. Roman Lead Tesserae and Seals from the Tom Vossen Collection. (Hasselt, Belgium, 2021).
Burnett, A., M. Amandry & P. Ripollès. Roman Provincial Coinage I: From the death of Caesar to the death of Vitellius (44 BC-AD 69). (London, 1992, and supplement).
Buttrey, T. "The Spintriae as a Historical Source" in NC 1973.
de Boccard, E. Les tesseres et les Monnaies de Palmyre. (Paris, 1962).
de Ruggiero, E. Catalogo del Museo Kircheriano. (Rome, 1878).
Cohen, H. Description historique des monnaies frappées sous l'Empire Romain, Vol. 8: Nepotian to Romulus Augustus, plus tesserae & cotorniates. (Paris, 1888).
Dattari, G. Numi Augg. Alexandrini. (Cairo, 1901).
Emmett, K. Alexandrian Coins. (Lodi, WI, 2001).
Farhi, H. "Note on Two Types of Byzantine Lead Currency" in INR 8 (2013).
Geissen, A. Katalog alexandrinischer Kaisermünzen, Köln, Band 4: Claudius Gothicus - Bleimünzen. (Cologne, 1974-1983), pp. 178 - 213.
Hendin, D. Guide to Biblical Coins. (Amphora, 2010).
Hoover, O. "A Reassessment of Nabataean Lead Coinage in Light of New Discoveries" in NC 2006.
Milne, J. A Catalogue of the Alexandrian Coins in the Ashmolean Museum. (Oxford, 1933), pp. 125 - 130.
Milne, J. "The leaden token-coinage of Egypt under the Romans" in NC 1908, pp. 287-310, pl. XXII.
Rostowtzew, M. Tesserarum Urbis Romae et Suburbi Plumbearum Sylloge. (St. Petersburg, 1903).
Rostowtzew, M. Tesserarum Urbis Romae et Suburbi Plumbearum Sylloge, Supplementum I. (St. Petersburg, 1905).
Scholz, J. "Römische Blei Tesserae" in Numismatische Zeitschrift bd. 25 (1893), pp. 5 - 122, pls. II - IV.

Catalog current as of Thursday, March 28, 2024.
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