RPC I, 4982

 

Image of specimen #8

 

Coin type
Volume I
Number 4982
Province Syria
Region Samaria
City Caesarea Maritima
Reign Claudius
Person (obv.) Agrippa I (king) ; Claudius (Augustus) ; Herod (king)
Obverse inscription ΒΑΣ ΑΓΡΙΠΠΑΣ ΣΕΒ ΚΑΙΣΑΡ ΒΑΣ ΗΡΩ[ΔΗΣ], LΗ
Edition Βασ(ιλεὺς) Ἀγρίππας Σεβ(αστὸς) Καῖσαρ Βασ(ιλεὺς) Ἡρώδης (ἔτους) ηʹ
Translation King Agrippa, Augustus Caesar, King Herod, of year 78
Obverse design Kings Agrippa and Herod crown the emperor Claudius, who stands wearing a toga capite velatio
Reverse inscription ΟΡΚΙΑ ΒΑΣ ΜΕ ΑΓΡΙΠΠΑ ΠΡ ΣΕΒ ΚΑΙΣΑΡ[Α Κ ΣΥ]ΝΚΛΗΤΟΝ Κ ΔΗΜ(Ο) ΡΩΜ ΦΙΛΙ Κ ΣΥ(Ν)ΜΑΧ(Ι) ΑΥΤ(ΟΥ)
Edition ὅρκια βασ(ιλέως) Με(γάλου) Ἀγρίππα πρ(ὸς) Σεβ(αστὸν) Καίσαρα κ(αὶ) σύγκλητον κ(αὶ) δῆμο(ν) Ῥωμ(αίων) φίλο(ι) κ(αὶ) σύμμαχο(ι) αὐτοῦ
Translation oaths of King Agrippa the Great to Augustus Caesar, and the Senate and People of the Rome, his friends, and allies
Reverse design wreath enclosing clasped hands
Metal copper-based alloy
Average diameter 25 mm
Average weight 14.81 g
Axis 6, 12
Reference Meshorer 5; Burnett Agrippa (1987) no. 8;  Burnett, Agrippa (2014) no. 4982
Specimens 25 (1 in the core collections)
Die-links 1, 21: same rev. die. 2–5, 8, 17–18, 22, 25, 27: same rev. die. 6–7, 9, 11–12, 20: same rev. die. 10, 16: same rev. die. 14, 23–4, 28: same rev. die.
Note For a related issue of King Herod of Chalcis, see RPC I, 4777.  See also A. J. M. Kropp, Crowning the Emperor. An unorthodox image of Claudius, Agrippa I and Herod of Chalkis, Syria 90 (2013), pp. 377-89. Many thanks to Richard Beleson, for his presentation to the ANS on 13 September 2024 (see https://youtu.be/9BtrdDvzdbI?si=uLzDNAbOG8xC1l5Y ), in which he identified some new specimens and established die-links for the reverses. He also suggested that the clasped hands represent the obverse, since on all other coins of Agrippa, this countermark is on the obverse. This is certainly what the countermarkers seemed to have thought, but the scene of kings and emperor on the Herod of Chalcis issue seems clearly to be the obverse.
Correction Corrected coin-type (post publication)

Specimens of this coin type

Number Number Museum Bibliography
1 1     J-BoI Burnett Agrippa (1987) no. 8.6 (with pl. 4.8) = Burnett, Agrippa (2014) fig. 37
2 2     P: 132 Burnett Agrippa (1987) no. 8.1 = BMC Palestine pl. xlii.10 = Burnett, Agrippa (2014) fig. 32
3 3     J-SBF Burnett Agrippa (1987) no. 8.2 = Spijkermann, Liber Annuus XIII (1962-2), p. 308 fig. 3b (from an Arab of the Hauwara village in the Nablus area’’) = Burnett, Agrippa (2014) fig. 33
4 4     J-SBF Burnett Agrippa (1987) no. 8.3 = Meshorer, Jewish Coins (1967), pl. XIII.93= Burnett, Agrippa (2014) fig. 34
5 5     Kadman Burnett Agrippa (1987) no. 8.4 = Burnett, Agrippa (2014) fig 35
6 6     Kadman Burnett Agrippa (1987) no. 8.5 = Burnett, Agrippa (2014) fig. 36
7 7     Künker 334, 17 Mar. 2020, lot 2139 = Samel coll. = Burnett Agrippa (1987) no. 8.7 = J. Maltiel-Gerstenfeld, 260 Years of Ancient Jewish Coins (1982), p. 153 no. 135 = Burnett, Agrippa (2014) fig. 38
8 8     ✸ CNG Triton XXII, 8 Jan. 2019, lot 730
9 9     Roma Numismatics XVI, 26 Sept. 2018, lot 435
10 10     Goldberg 104, 12 June 2018, lot 3103 = Markov The New York Sale XLII, 9 Jan. 2018, lot 267
11 11     CNG 103, 14 Sept. 2016, lot 592 = CNG 96 (14 May 2014), lot 670
12 12     CNG 100, 7 Oct. 2015, lot 1759
14 14     CNG 117, 19 May 2021, lot 429
16 16     CNG 118, 13 Sept. 2021, lot 761 = Fontanille 106, Apr. 2018, lot 6
17 17     Roma Numismatics XXII, 7 Oct. 2021, lot 524
18 18     CNG 120, 11 May 2022, lot 667 = CNG 114, 13 May 2020, lot 528.
20 20     CNG 96, 14 May 2014, lot 670 = CNG 94, 18 Sep. 2013, lot 917 = Burnett, Agrippa (2014) fig. 41
21 21     Archaeological Center (R. Deutsch) sale 40 (2007), lot 60 = Burnett, Agrippa (2014) fig. 39
22 22     Archaeological Center (R. Deutsch) sale 40 (2007), lot 61 = Burnett, Agrippa (2014) fig. 40
23 23     CNG EA 533, 22 Feb. 2023, lot 417
24 24     Sol Numismatik Special 1, 8 June 2024, lot 81
25 25     Naville Numismatics 91, 11 Aug. 2024, lot 341 = Triton XXVII, lot 5505
26 26     Beleson Coll.
27 27     Private Coll.
28 28     THE NEW YORK SALE 57, 11 Jan. 2023, lot 94