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Author Topic: Isis coin #2 Alexandria? -- ID help please?  (Read 1784 times)

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Offline archivum

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Isis coin #2 Alexandria? -- ID help please?
« on: August 14, 2007, 09:45:22 am »
This one has me pretty much stumped -- AE15, 1.74 g, Isis head r. wearing uraeus, IC before / Harpokrates standing l. with cornucopiae, hand to mouth, altar before, unclear inscription, ... A ... O :Greek_Lambda:, comparable to a Roman Isis Festival issue, though that issue routinely has its legends in Latin and has no altar on the reverse.  In ANS there is a mysterious Alexandrian lead token that shares the reverse of my coin; any telling connection there?

1944.100.79883: Dept.: R   Obj.Type: C   Reference: D.6476M.-
Region: Egypt   Locality:    Mint: Uncertain   
Material: PB   Denom.: Token
Weight: 2.74   Size: 17   Axis: 5
Date: /    Era:    Date on Obj.:
Category: Alexandria   Person:    Dynasty:    Issuer:
ObvLegd:
ObvType: Nilus std. l. on rocks.
RevLegd:
RevType: Harpocrates stg. l. before altar.

 

Many thanks for all help!
Temper thy haste with sloth -- Taverner / Erasmus.

Offline iwaniw

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Re: Isis coin #2 Alexandria? -- ID help please?
« Reply #1 on: September 03, 2007, 01:22:57 am »
If the coin were made of lead, then a link to Alexandria would be possible -- but since it is AE,  I highly doubt it is from that city (at least before 296 A.D.).

There are lead tokens in Dattari (as well as the Dattari Sup. by Bernardi), some of which have Isis head/bust r. and some with Harpokrates standing (with Pan stg. facing in place of Altar) , but none with your combination. However matching a bronze coin with a lead one may not be the best route to follow.

You probably know this citation, but this might be a starting point.

Andrew Alfoldi : a festival of Isis in Rome under the Christian Emperors of the IVth century (1937)

Offline archivum

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Re: Isis coin #2 Alexandria? -- ID help please?
« Reply #2 on: September 05, 2007, 08:40:50 am »
Hello Iwaniw, and thanks for the reference, which I hadn't thought of; Alfoldi is rich in uncommon examples, and always worth a look.
Temper thy haste with sloth -- Taverner / Erasmus.

Offline archivum

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Re: Isis coin #2 -- ID'ed At Last
« Reply #3 on: September 05, 2007, 10:33:17 am »
--  There's a rare Isis bust / standing Harpokrates issue from Aegae, Aeolis, which doesn't make it into Isegrim (unlike another small bronze from Aegae with Herakles bust / standing Harpokrates); both issues are noted by David Magie, "Egyptian Deities in Asia Minor in Inscriptions and on Coins," American Journal of Archaeology, 57/3 (Jul. 1953), 163-187, n. 171, citing Coll. Waddington 1260, Imhoof-Blumer, Monn. gr. ( * ) 270, nos. 209-10, BMC Troas etc. 99, no. 29,  Weber Coll. 5469, and SNG Cop. 21.20-21.  Among these the Weber Coll. entry seems irrelevant --Serapis not Isis -- but Imhoof-Blumer, Monn. gr. 270, no. 210, cites a specimen from Munich which is clearly the same type as my coin, Isis head r., EIC - IC / Harpokrates standing left with cornucopiae, hand to mouth, altar before, AIGAE - WN.  I have yet to check SNG Munich; it would be great to learn of additional specimens if anyone ever encounters one.

   * Imhoof-Blumer's Monnaies Grecques, now online; see the further discussion of this Aegae reference at

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=49390.0 (note *)

Imhoof-Blumer does not date the coins, but the Herakles / Harpokrates type, listed twice in Isegrim, gets remarkably different dates, SNG von Aulock 7671 (200-0 BC) and SNG Cop.  21.21 (253-68 AD).  A third-century AD date appears likelier.
Temper thy haste with sloth -- Taverner / Erasmus.

 

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