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 8
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) σύνκλητον κ(αὶ) δῆμο(ν) Ῥωμ(αίων) φιλί(α) κ(αὶ) συνμαχί(α) αὐτοῦ
Translation oaths of King Agrippa the Great to Augustus Caesar, and the Senate and People of Rome, his friendship and alliance
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