214, Lot: 240. Estimate $100. Sold for $123. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

NABATAEA. Syllaeus and Aretas IV. 9-6 BC. Æ 1/2 Quadrans (13mm, 1.67 g, 12h). Petra mint. Struck circa 9-8 BC. Laureate head of Obodas III(?) right; Aramaic shin to left / Veiled female head right; Aramaic shin to left. Meshorer, Nabataea 120 var. (obverse letters); Schmitt-Korte II 50. Near VF, thick earthen black patina.

The joint rule of the ambitious Nabataean minister Syllaeus and his youthful and eventual successor Aretas IV produced a power struggle which lasted into their fourth year, corresponding to 6 BC. Coinage is thought to have been produced more neutrally at first, with the portrait of Obodas III, their predecessor, placed on many of the issues. Towards the end of the joint rule, this iconography was abandoned in favor of the portrait of Aretas himself, foreshadowing his eventual rise as the sole ruler and king of Nabataea. As this coin features the head of Obodas, it can most likely be dated to the earlier part of the joint rule.