ISLANDS off THRACE, Thasus. Q. Braetius Sura. Proquaestor, 88-87 BC. AR Tetradrachm (34.5mm, 16.46 g, 11h).

Electronic Auction 503
Lot: 301. Estimated: $ 750

Roman Provincial, Silver

Sold For $ 2 250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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ISLANDS off THRACE, Thasus. Q. Braetius Sura. Proquaestor, 88-87 BC. AR Tetradrachm (34.5mm, 16.46 g, 11h). Wreathed head of young Dionysos right / Herakles standing left, holding club, lion skin on arm; S(VR) to inner left. Prokopov, Silberprägung, Group XVI, 1196 corr. var. (V–/R960 [unlisted obv. die; no Q above S(VR)]); Callataÿ, More 1 var. (O–/R1 [unlisted obv. die]); HGC 6, 360 var. (no Q above SVR); SNG Fitzwilliam 1828 (same rev. die). Lightly toned, flan crack, some scratches. VF. Very rare.

Q. Braetius Sura was the first Roman commander to find success in the First Mithradatic War. In 88 BC, while serving as a legate to Gaius Sentius Saturninus, the Roman propraetor of Macedon. Sura was given command of a detachment of Saturninus’s legionnaires, and tasked to stop the advance of the Mithradatic general Archelaos, who had invaded mainland Greece and occupied Athens. After a successful naval engagement, Sura captured the isle of Skiathos, which had been used as a supply point by Archelaos. He then positioned his forces in Boeotia, where his small detachment successfully fought against Archelaos for three days, preventing the Mithradatic general’s army from advancing further before the arrival of Lucius Cornelius Sulla and his large Roman army in early 87 BC. As Sulla’s advanced force arrived under his lieutenant, L. Licinius Lucullus, Sura was ordered to return to Macedon.

This particular tetradrachm is significant in that it adds a new obverse die to the very rare series struck under Sura. The series begins with an issue without the first initial of his praenomen, Q, for which there is only one reverse die known, used here, as well as on the Fitzwilliam coin, and two others, in Paris and Gotha. The new obverse die used here, certainly in the same hand as the previously known die, would seem to be the earliest die, as it is not known for the later issues where the Q was added to Sura’s name on the reverse. If correct, this coin would be the earliest known for the Sura series.

Closing Date and Time: 3 November 2021 at 11:40:00 ET.

All winning bids are subject to an 18% buyer’s fee.