Unpublished Issue for Claudius
Sale: CNG 75, Lot: 857. Estimate $500.
Closing Date: Wednesday, 23 May 2007.
Sold For $300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee. |
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PHOENICIA, Orthosia. Claudius. AD 41-54. Æ 20mm (8.02 g, 12h). Dated CY 354 (AD 42/3). Laureate head left; [L]
D N[T] / Baal of Orthosia standing right on two griffins. RPC I -; Rouvier -; Lindgren & Kovacs 2309; CNG 66, lot 1264 (same dies; misattributed). VF, dark green patina with slight beige overtones. Extremely rare and an unpublished type for Claudius.
Based on a coin from the collection of the “Abbé Karam à Beyrouth” as evidence, Seyrig proposed an issue of Orthosia dated to RY 4 of Tiberius. At the time of publication, RPC remained skeptical of such a reading (especially since Seyrig employed two ill-preserved specimens of the same type in the BN as supporting evidence), arguing that Seyrig’s attribution was a misreading of CY 368 (HXT), and, until a better example should surface, there was “insufficient evidence to justify an entry for Tiberius’ year 4.”
The CNG 66 specimen appeared to offer prima facie confirmation of Seyrig’s hypothesis with the clear L D in the left field. The partial presence of a letter in the right field to the right of the wreath tie, only partially visible on that coin, but clearly visible on this coin, shows that the unreadable letter is, in fact an N, more than likely followed by a T, making this coin of Claudian, rather than Neronian date, an attribution confirmed by the clear Claudius portrait.
