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Research Coins: Electronic Auction

 
233, Lot: 197. Estimate $100.
Sold for $120. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of BOSPOROS. Kotys I. AD 45/6-68/9. Æ 12 Units (22mm, 5.42 g, 12h). Laureate and draped bust of Nero right / Draped bust of Poppaea left; monogram of Kotys before, IB (mark of value) below. MacDonald 332 corr.; Anokhin 351; RPC I 1929 note. VF, dark gray patina, some smoothing. Rare.


From the Alex Shubs Collection.

Both MacDonald and RPC discount the authenticity of this issue, based on the portrait of Nero, which they note as being “too young” for the time of his marriage to Poppaea. MacDonald remarks that these are probably “created” from worn examples of the issue of Nero with Agrippina (MacDonald 331). However, Frolova & Ireland located five examples from two die pairings. If the coins were tooled, there would be subtle differences in their appearance, making die matches unlikely. Furthermore, although the present coin exhibits some smoothing, there is no indications, even under a microscope, of any evidence of tooling in the legends. Also, the portraits of emperors on provincial issues, such as this, often become stylized renditions, which could explain Nero’s “youthful” appearance here.