[Home, My eBay, Site Map, Sign In/Out] [eBay logo] [Main Navigation] [Browse Sub-Navigation] ORC7009 Antony, Cyprus denarius, VF Item # 1387548153 Coins:Coins: World:Ancient:Roman: Republic Bidding is closed for this item. test2001[Spacer](96)[Spacer][star] is the winner and has completed Checkout. Buyer and seller can view Checkout Summary [Image] Learn more Payment Details Payment Instructions Item price US $300.00 PAYMENT INFORMATION FOR THIS ITEM: At this United States Shipping and handling US $0.00 time, we do NOT accept PayPal -- PLEASE USE Shipping insurance per item (Included in S&H) US $0.00 CHECKOUT AND EBAY PAYMENTS! --- NO CHARGE FOR SHIPPING (except to Italy, $7.00). --- FOR OTHER PAYMENT OPTIONS, GO TO: http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/oldromancoins.com -------------------------------------------------- [Spacer] [Show description]CurrentlyUS $300.00 First bid US $300.00 Quantity 1 # of bids 1 bid history [Leave feedback] Time leftAuction has ended. Location New England (to seller) Country United States (to bidder) Started Oct-09-02 12:18:49 PDT [envelope]mail this auction to a friend Ends Oct-16-02 12:18:49 PDT [Gift Alert] request a gift alert If you are the seller or a high [Image] bidder - now Seller oldromancoins.com[Spacer](1625)[Spacer][star][Spacer][Powerseller][Spacer][about me] what? (Rating) view comments in seller's Feedback Profile | view seller's other items | ask seller a question | Checkout summary [Image] High bid test2001[Spacer](96)[Spacer][star] [Image] Payment Billpoint (eBay Payments), money[Image] order/cashiers check, personal [Image] check, Visa/MasterCard, American [Image] Billpoint (eBay Payments): credit cards. Learn More. Express, or see item description for payment methods accepted. [Image] Shipping Seller pays for shipping. Seller ships internationally (worldwide). [Image] Seller Services Checkout summary | | Relist this item Seller assumes all responsibility for listing this item. You should contact the seller to resolve any questions before bidding. Auction currency is U.S. dollars ( US $ ) unless otherwise noted. Description Classical Cash and [Image] Please click the banner above to go to our eBay "AboutMe" home page. present -- our 170th eBay Sale! [Image] [Image] If the photos above do not load, click here for Obverse and click here for Reverse ORC7009 Antony, Cyprus denarius, VF Marc Antony, AR denarius, (3.40g) Paphos Mint, [ANT]ON AVG IMP III COS DES III [V R P C] Bare head of Antony right, P. mintmark in hair behind ear. / M SILANVS AVG Q PRO COS RSC 2; C 542/1; Vagi 169. VF, some roughness, closed crack. Silver Denarii for Mark Antony An important issue of denarii features the obverse portrait of Cleopatra with a small prow before, and the reverse portrait of Antony (Crawford 543). The clumsy style obverse Latin legend translates as, "of Cleopatra, Queen of Kings, (and) of (her) sons, who are Kings." Unlike most Imperatorial denarii, the coin has 12:00 die axis. The reverse Latin legend translates as, "of Antony, since Armenia has been defeated." Of all Cleopatra's coinage, this issue most clearly proclaims the dynastic ambitions set forth by Antony in the "Donations of Alexandria". Antony's "Donations of Alexandria" listed a number of provinces as the kingdoms of Cleopatra and her children. This is the only issue of denarii for Cleopatra, and her only issue with Latin legends, not Greek. The preferential placement of Cleopatra's portrait on this issue suggests the mint officials placed their Queen above her consort, Mark Antony. Sear writes, "careless engraving and shoddy execution. . . together with the imprecise form of the Latin, is consistent with their production by a mint which was unaccustomed to striking Roman coinage (i.e. Alexandria)," connected to Antony's triumph in 34 BC. However, Paphos had more experience in minting silver, and a location where denarii could have been utilized. In Alexandria, denarii were acceptable to Roman legionaries, but not to local merchants. As a Ptolemaic mint with Roman influence, the coins could be from Paphos instead. The prow before the bust of Cleopatra honors the ships supplied by the Ptolemaic Kingdom to the alliance of Antony and Cleopatra. While Alexandria was the larger city, Paphos was a ship-building center. The prow could be a symbol of either port. To Crawford, this issue immediately preceded the legionary denarii, in 32 BC. Like the legionary denarii, it is also found plated and with banker's marks. The frequency of the banker's marks indicate that ancient merchants were aware that this issue was often plated. However, the issue is generally not of base silver, and should be considered as separate from the legionary denarii. (Photo #26, Cleopatra appears on the obverse of this denarius, not Antony.) Very late in the reign of Cleopatra, in 34 or 33 or 32 BC, a mint described in some references as "Mint-moving with M. Antonius" or "mobile mint traveling with Antony," or "Athens" struck silver denarii with a large portrait of Mark Antony. The issue also has 12:00 die axis. The reverse has his titles, or those of his Pro-quaestor M. Silanus. (Crawford 542/2; 542/1). The letter "P." appears behind the ear of dies paired with both reverses. Since the initial discovery of this letter in a 1920 auction catalogue, the "P." has been assumed to be probably the signature of an engraver, unique among Republican issues. However, no other dies had not been signed by the engraver anywhere for 200 years. "P." may simply be a reference to Paphos, the mint. Only one other ancient issue is known with letters hidden in the hair, which are not an engraver's signature. This issue is also from Paphos. Back in 322 BC, the minute letters NIKOKLEOYS were hidden in the hair on Alexander the Great tetradrachms from Paphos (Price 3118-3123). The letters are sufficiently subtle that numismatists studying this series did not take note of the letters until 1919 (Newell, "Myriandros"). Price notes, ". . . seven different [Paphos obverse] dies. The different styles of the dies makes it certain that the name is not that of an engraver, and the conclusion that it must be that of [Nikokles] the king of Paphos is inescapable. The clandestine manner in which the inscription has been engraved suggests that it was not intended that it should be read by all. . . . There was little chance that it would have been spotted in ancient times." Even over 290 years, the idea of a subtle message hidden in the hair of portrait was familiar to engravers in Paphos. Engravers at Paphos had been marking their silver RA since the time of Nikokles in 322 BC. The denarii of c. 32 BC were the first Latin legend issue from Paphos, and R became P. The portrait style is not of special artistic merit, even by Roman standards, indeed it is rather clumsy and vulgar. It is quite similar to that of the Triumvir on the Cleopatra and Antony denarii, though the larger portrait fills more of the fields. Crawford, extrapolating from the numbers of dies in similar issues, notes that less than 30 obverse dies and less than 33 reverse dies for each of the two portions of this issue are known. This figure is likely to be inaccurate, but certainly there are many dies. All lack the "individual touch" that past signed dies exhibit. The dies are not special works for which an artist would break tradition to sign. The P. behind the ear of this denarius, previously interpreted as the signature of an artist, may be a mintmark for Paphos. CLICK HERE TO E-MAIL US before you bid, if you have a question about this item. 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