453, Lot: 443. Estimate $150. Sold for $300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MESOPOTAMIA, Edessa. Caracalla. AD 198-217. AR Tetradrachm (28.5mm, 13.58 g, 12h). Contemporary imitation(?). Struck circa AD 215-217. AVT · K · M · AV · ANTΩNЄINOC CCB, laureate head right / ΔHMAPX · ЄΞ · VΠATOC TO Δ, eagle standing facing, head and tail right, with wings spread, holding wreath in beak; shrine with pediment between legs. Prieur 1712 (this coin; ‘Atypical Coins: Edessa Type’); cf. Prieur 850 (for regular reverse type); Agora 59, lot 121 (same obv. die). Toned, minor porosity, double strike on reverse. VF. Good metal. Extremely rare, only one known to Prieur, and two in CoinArchives.

From the Michel Prieur Collection.

While some of the Edessan types listed by Prieur under his “Atypical Coins” chapter are clearly barbarous (see Prieur 1724), some are die linked (Prieur 1723) or show a very close similarity in style to his official issues (this coin – Prieur 1712).