988. Carausius Æ Antoninianus. Londinium, AD 292. IMP C CARAVSIVS P F AVG, radiate and cuirassed bust right / PAX AVGGG, Pax standing left, holding olive branch and vertical sceptre, S-P across fields, MLXXI in exergue. RIC 141. 4.64g, 23mm, 6h. Good Very Fine. Rare.
300
Fine Style Zenobia
989. Zenobia Æ Antoninianus. Antioch, AD 272. S ZENOBIA AVG, draped bust right, set on crescent / IVNO REGINA, Juno standing facing, looking left, holding patera and sceptre; at feet left, a peacock; star in left field. RIC V 2 corr. (no star); Carson, Q. Tic VII, 1978, 4; BN 1267a. 3.57g, 22mm, 7h. Extremely Fine; among the finest known examples, struck from dies of fine style. Extremely Rare.
10,000
The issues struck for Zenobia at Antioch are of uniformly superior style to those produced at Emesa, and the present issue closely resembles the portraiture of Otacilia Severa and Salonina, whose coins had been struck there. The wife of the ruler of Palmyra, Septimia Zenobia came to power as regent for her son Septimius Vaballathus in AD 267 after the murder of her husband Septimius Odenathus, who had been entrusted with the defence of the Roman provinces in the east by the Emperor Gallienus. A strong character and very ambitious, Zenobia expanded her sphere of influence through the capture of the province of Egypt and the expulsion of the Roman prefect Tenagino Probus and his forces in 269, a campaign aided in its success in part due to the turmoil inside the Roman Empire after the death of Gallienus. The Roman east remained under the control of the kingdom of Palmyra under the subsequent emperors Claudius II and Quintillus, and when Aurelian came to power in 270 he pragmatically chose to acknowledge Zenobia and Vabalathus in order to allow himself time to first deal with the breakaway Gallic Empire. Though the mint for the rare portrait coins of Zenobia has long been a topic of debate, it is generally agreed now that they were struck in Syria, most likely at Emesa or Antioch, both Roman mints that were taken by Zenobia during her advance into Roman territory and expansion of her empire. The imperial title Augusta is proudly displayed on her coinage, but Zenobia’s power was not to last. Having subdued the uprisings in the west, Aurelian marched on her with an army. Their forces met outside Antioch, resulting in a battle that routed Zenobia’s army, which fled to Emesa. Zenobia and her son attempted to escape through the desert with the help of the Sassanid Persians, but were captured by Aurelian’s horsemen and subsequently taken to Rome to be displayed during the emperor’s triumphant return to the city.
Pleasing Probus Medallion
990. Probus Æ30 Medallion. Rome, AD 276-282. IMP PROBVS PF AVG, laureate and cuirassed bust left, holding spear forward and shield decorated with scene of profectio / MONETA AVG, three Monetae standing facing, heads left, each holding scales in their right hands above a stack of coins at their feet, and cornucopiae in their left hands. Gnecchi II p.118, 24; Cohen 376. 21.13g, 30mm, 5h. Very Fine. Very Rare.
176
2,000