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Author Topic: Julia Domna - Zeus with lotus-tipped sceptre  (Read 443 times)

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Offline helvetica

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Julia Domna - Zeus with lotus-tipped sceptre
« on: June 19, 2021, 07:29:32 pm »
This coin of Julia Domna is a puzzler. It is currently in an auction and I have been puzzling over the reverse legend, which appears to be TA(I, Y, P or  :Greek_Gamma:)(_ _) (N, M or H) PI :Greek_Omega:N.
If one completes the dotted circle, one sees that there is likely room for one or two letters after the TA-whatever.
The reverse shows Zeus (?) standing fully facing, holding a lotus-tipped sceptre.
I have looked in Leschhorn and other books, as well as my Isegrim xls list and my own xls list of reverse legends, but with no luck.
A forum friend pointed it out to me via Skype and it is bugging us both.
Any ideas, anyone ?

Offline Altamura

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Re: Julia Domna - Zeus with lotus-tipped sceptre
« Reply #1 on: June 20, 2021, 02:58:19 am »
The legend on the reverse could be TAINAPIΩN which would point to Tainaros (also Tainaron, Taenarus and other spellings) in Laconia on the Peloponnesus:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taenarum_(town)

There has been a sanctuary of Poseidon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Poseidon_(Tainaron)
so the figure on the reverse would be a Poseidon with a trident.
 
But I didn't find a single coin from this place  :(.

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Altamura

Offline Altamura

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Re: Julia Domna - Zeus with lotus-tipped sceptre
« Reply #2 on: June 20, 2021, 05:38:03 am »
Obviously there also has been found a dedication to Julia Domna at Tainaron:
http://www.maniguide.info/deepc.html  (somewhere in the middle of the page)
https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/supplementum-epigraphicum-graecum/*-a23_199

This underlines a little bit the speculation about the coin, but it would be a singularity  :-\.

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Altamura

Offline Ron C2

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Re: Julia Domna - Zeus with lotus-tipped sceptre
« Reply #3 on: June 20, 2021, 09:54:23 am »
The legend on the reverse could be TAINAPIΩN which would point to Tainaros (also Tainaron, Taenarus and other spellings) in Laconia on the Peloponnesus:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taenarum_(town)

There has been a sanctuary of Poseidon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Poseidon_(Tainaron)
so the figure on the reverse would be a Poseidon with a trident.
 
But I didn't find a single coin from this place  :(.

Regards

Altamura

I'm not an RPC guy, but that reverse figure is clearly Poseidon, not Zeus or Jupiter.
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Offline helvetica

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Re: Julia Domna - Zeus with lotus-tipped sceptre
« Reply #4 on: June 20, 2021, 10:08:45 am »
I just found the same reverse on a coin in CNG auction 435, Lot 246, Jan 2019. from Asopus, Laconia.
Described as unpublished, it is listed in Mionnet Supp. IV, 47, citing Eckhel, Cat. Vindob. p. 121, 1.

https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=373585

So this means I need to make a new city coin page on wildwinds for Tainaros !
An inscription from that city in a catalog (not a coin catalog) from Eton College has a lower case Omega  :Greek_omega_small:, as on the Caracalla CNG coin. The Domna coin has the usual upper case Omega.

 

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