Gemini III, January 9th, 2007



                  Lot # 387 - Auction is closed.Estimate: US$15000 / Unsold: 
                  Available at opening bid of US$11000 + 15% Buyers Fee 
                  Antinous, Favorite of Hadrian. Framed bronze medallion, 
                  diameter 58 mm: medallion 37 mm; circular frame 10-11 mm 



             



            Antinous, Favorite of Hadrian. (). Framed bronze medallion, diameter 
            58 mm: medallion 37 mm; circular frame 10-11 mm (103 gm). Bithynia, 
            Nicomedia. ANTINOOC - HPÙC, bare head right / [H MHTPOÐO]ËIC 
            [NIKOMHÄEIA], bull standing right. Blum, Antinoos, p. 45, 1; pl. 
            III.2 (probably same dies, but reverse legend remade). SNG Aulock 
            7102 (same obverse die). Only framed medallion of Antinous in 
            private hands. Strong portrait. Some reverse porosity. Very 
            fine/fine. 

            Circular bronze frames, often with grooves or other decorations, 
            have been found on some Roman bronze coins from Augustus on, and on 
            occasional Roman bronze medallions from Hadrian on (see lot 368 
            above). Frames on provincial bronze coins are quite exceptional, 
            although one other example seems to be known for Antinous, on a 
            medallion of Tarsus in Paris (Blum p. 53, 13). Frames made coins 
            more impressive and decorative, but it is a myth, often refuted but 
            hard to eradicate, that coins were framed in order to insert them in 
            military standards. 




      © 2006 Gemini, LLC | Email: info@geminiauction.com

  ... Lot 387 was unsold.
 


Re-used by permission of Harlan J Berk (www.harlanjberk.com) and
                         Freeman & Sear (www.freemanandsear.com)