Nicaean Addenda: Scarcer Finds from Nikaia, Bithynia

[Kurt E]

I have a couple of additions to the thread for types that have been listed here. 

The first is Caracalla with Serapis on the reverse  This appears to be the same obverse die as reply 107 and 109, but paired with a third reverse die.  5.05 g  22 mm

OBV - M AVPH ANTWNINOC AVG - laureate head right
REV- NIKAIEWN - Serapis advancing right, right had raised holding long scepter over left shoulder

The second is Caracalla again.  This time with garlanded lit alter reverse.  The obverse is a small youthful, laureated head right which is different than the others posted. 2.57 g  17 mm

OBV- AVT K M AVP ANTWN[ ]  Youthful, laureate head right
REV- NIKAIEWN - garlanded lit alter

[archivum]

 
Caracalla laur. hd. r., [ANT]WNINOS AYG / Theseus beardless hd. in lionskin r., NIKAIEWN, AE16, 2.32 g., apparently unpublished; cf.  RPC temp. 6026 (http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/6026/, 2nd picture below), AE17, Commodus / Theseus beardless hd. in lionskin r., T'HSEA NIKAIEIS, interesting for how Theseus here is depicted as a lionskin-sporting kid-Herakles:

[Tom Mullally]

I just won this coin from a well respected German dealer.  He says it's Philip I, but I think it is most likely his son, Philip II.  The portrait appears un-bearded and youthful, traits which Philip senior would not have had.

it is 5.43 grams and AE 23.  The reverse type is a plow within a wreath.  

The coin does not appear to be listed in any references I've been able to check (Rec Gen, SNG VA, SNG Cop, BMC, Weiser, Righetti, Leypold, L&K, Lind III, ISEGRIM).

I want to clean it up a bit when it arrives, I'm sure I can get the legends to appear more clearly.  I'll post follow up pics when it arrives.

Tom

[Pscipio]

Here's a Commodus bronze from Nikaia that I recently acquired for my collection. It is worn and has a large cut on the obverse, but it is a very rare type:

Commodus AE16, 177-192 AD, Nikaia, Bithynia.
Obv: ΑV K ΚΟΜΟΔΟC ΑΝΤΩΝINOC, laureate head right.
Rev: ΘΗCΕΑ ΝΙΚΑΙΕΙC, youthful head of Theseus right, wearing lion's scalp.
16 mm, 3.48 g
RPC online 6026 (2 specimens: Paris and Florence), Rec. Gén. p. 433, 274

While it was perfectly normal for a polis to honor different myths, Nikaia is unusual in putting no less than five ktistai and heroes on coins: Dionysos, Asklepios, Alexander, Herakles and Theseus. I had not seen a Theseus before, apart from the Paris specimen that is pictured in Waddington and on RPC online. The specimen shown for Caracalla by archivum above reads just NIKAIEΩN (cf. Lanz 128 (2006), 580, same dies) and I would identify the head as Herakles with his normal attributes. Theseus needed a a clarification, Herakles didn't - and he doesn't have one in the Antonine period, either.

Lars

PS: click to zoom

[archivum]

 
Thanks, Lars; I'd still say that the young, slight kid-Herakles treatment of the lionskin-wearer on the otherwise-unpublished #203 (above and Lanz listing, RG -- and Weiser --, below) aligns him with the Theseus of your coin and RPC 6026.  After all, RPC 6026 surely counts as a local recent precedent.

http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=84878

[Pscipio]

The lion's skin is a regular attribute of Herakles, were it not for the explicit legend on the Antonine type, we wouldn't would call the bust there Theseus, either. At Nikaia, too, Herakles clearly got associated with the lion's skin (as everywhere in the Graeco-Roman world), as many of his types show, f.e. http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/5990/ Also, there are coins from the same period or slightly earlier than the Commodus, showing a lion's skinned head which again no one would call Theseus, I believe ( http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/5907/ - http://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/9902/). So I think it is safer to assume that when the mint decided to honor Theseus, they adapted the usual Herakles image rather than to assume that at Nikaia (and just there) all heads with lion's skin are to portray Theseus.

Lars

[Jochen]

Unlisted Geta from Nikaia?

Geta as Caesar, AD 198-209
AE 16, 2.43g, 15.5mm
obv. [GETAC] - KAICAR
        Bare head r.
rev. NIK - AIE[WN]
       Satyr riding on panther r., holding in r. hand branch(?)
ref. not in Rec.Gen., BMC, SNG Copenhagen, von Aulock

Found in www.muenzzentrum.de, Lagerliste no.273
 
Best regards

[Tom Mullally]

Unlisted, but not unique.  M&M sold one a few years ago.  Their description for the reverse is "Young Dionysos riding panther right, holding thyrsos and kantharos".  I think it's a match to yours.

Tom

[curtislclay]

Looks like the same rev. die, different obv. die.

A neat type on such a small coin!

[areich]

The detail on the M&M coin is amazing. Nicely engraved as well.

[archivum]

ANS has a specimen of this type (reverse shown); I do, too, and will post mine eventually ...

http://numismatics.org/collection/2003.26.3

[Tom Mullally]

I just won this one today.  Maximinus Thrax from Nicaea with Asklepios reverse, AE 25.  I cannot find this reverse type listed in any reference.  It does appear to me that the rev legend has been tooled, the edges look too sharp and the omega is a blundered W.  The tooling may be modern, although I think the legend may have originally been Nicaea.  Thoughts?

Tom

[curtislclay]

I see no trace of tooling.

[Tom Mullally]

That's good to hear, but how do you explain the omega?  I can't recall seeing one that looks like that.

Tom

[slokind]

The W shaped omega is only beginning to become current at this time.  In Ms majuscule, they have begun using a large sort of the miniscule omega, especially when they were doing very angular letters.  But I think I've seen it also a bit earlier.  Pat L.
Better drawings both monumental and Mss somewhere in old Britannica: here's the gist of it.

[Tom Mullally]

Thanks for the clarification.

Tom

[Tom Mullally]

FWIW, I just spent the past hour looking thru my Nicaean photofile (almost 1100 coins).  There is a grand total of TWO coins with the W type omega, the coin shown above and one other from Maximianus as well.  So it seems to be quite an oddity at Nicaea.  I'd love to see other examples of the W type omega.

Thanks,
Tom

[OldMoney]

Not from Nikaia, but here is a coin from Ephesus which shows not only the
lower-case or lunate Omega, but it is shown in tandem with the upper-case
Omega in the ethnic.



The reverse legend is:
ωΙΚЄCΙΑ ΑΝΔ-ΡΟΚΛΟC / ЄΦЄCΙΩΝ

Walter Holt

[Jochen]

Another "Young Dionysos riding on panther r., holding kantharos and thyrsos", found recently in a lot of small coins in bad shape. I could attribute the coin because of the discussion we have had above.

Jochen

[curtislclay]

Not from Nikaia, but here is a coin from Ephesus which shows not only the
lower-case or lunate Omega, but it is shown in tandem with the upper-case
Omega in the ethnic.
The reverse legend is:
ωΙΚЄCΙΑ ΑΝΔ-ΡΟΚΛΟC / ЄΦЄCΙΩΝ

What does WIKECIA mean? Seems odd with W not O as first letter. The closest thing I can find in Historia Numorum is Hercules as OIKICTAC, founder, on coins of Croton.

[Jochen]

Could the mysterious W actually be a reversed E? Then it would be EIKESIA, a term which appears in Plato's Cave Allegory, meaning 'imagining, simulating'. Don't ask for the sense!

Jochen

[OldMoney]

Not from Nikaia, but here is a coin from Ephesus which shows not only the
lower-case or lunate Omega, but it is shown in tandem with the upper-case
Omega in the ethnic.
The reverse legend is:
ωΙΚЄCΙΑ ΑΝΔ-ΡΟΚΛΟC / ЄΦЄCΙΩΝ

What does WIKECIA mean? Seems odd with W not O as first letter. The closest thing
I can find in Historia Numorum is Hercules as OIKICTAC, founder, on coins of Croton.

Hello Curtis,
The precise Greek is beyond my expertise, but my understanding is that it is a variation
of 'Oikistas or "founder" as you proposed, especially as it is in connection with Androkles,
the mythical founder of Ephesus. The appearance of the lower-case Omega is known on
other coins of this city (see RPC I, coins of eg: Augustus). I recall, without authority, that
there are several other examples from this time that also have the lower-case Omega.

Walter

[Tom Mullally]

First, I apologize for the poor picture.  I have tried to photograph it several times and it has defied my every attempt.  The coin has a high gloss patina to it reflecting the light where I need it the most!

Maximus  AE 24 (9.43 gm)

Obv: Bare-headed and draped bust right
Rev: Female figure standing, legs crossed head right, leaning on column, holding rod and cornucopia.

It is possible that the rod is actually a rudder, but every time I look at the coin in different angles and under different light, I think I see something different.  I think that part of the field is smooth with a few scratches.  Also, the head is not turreted, so I don't think it's Tyche or a city goddess.

It looks very similar to the Providentia types from the Imperial mints.  I don't see a globe at her feet, but it certainly could be there.  What is the Greek version of Providentia?  I cannot find this reverse type, especially with a column, in any reference.

Any help would be most appreciated, especially in identifying the reverse figure.

Thanks,
Tom Mullally

[Kurt E]

Here is a nice Marcus Aurelius from Nicaea which I recently acquired that is not listed n RecGen or other sources I have consulted.

18 mm  4.08 g

OBV- M AVPHLION . KAI  [ANNEIOV]  - the legend in the brackets I'm not 100% sure on except for the A and the OV
       Bare Head right

REV- EPIF TELE NIKAIEIC
        Telesphorus standing facing in hooded cloak

RecGen -
SNG VA -
RPC online -

cf RecGen 96 (Pius) - this is the same reverse and same reverse legend but for Pius instead.  The scans of the plates aren't good enough to tell if it is a reverse die match.

Does anyone know how the right side of the legend is supposed to read or to what it is referring?  I couldn't find any similar legends for Marcus Aurelius.   It is quite a nice coin.  Better than my photo unfortunately

Kurt

[curtislclay]

"The Nicaeans (honored, or raised a statue to, or beheld?) Telesphorus made manifest".

Judging from my reprint of Rec. Gén., I'm fairly confident that your coin shares its rev. die with their no. 96, pl. 69.3 of Antoninus Pius.