RPC I, 5111

 

Image of specimen #9

 

Coin type
Volume I
Number 5111
Province Egypt
Region Egypt
City Alexandria
Reign Caligula
Issue Coins probably incorrectly attributed to Caligula
Obverse inscription
Obverse design ibis, right or left
Reverse inscription L ΚΑ
Edition (ἔτους) καʹ
Translation of year 21
Reverse design crocodile, right or left
Metal copper-based alloy
Average diameter 12 mm
Average weight 2.49 g
Axis 9
Reference Savio, no. 7
Specimens 10 (7 in the core collections)
Note Savio (p. 17, n. 58) discussed the reading of the date and plumped for year B (or perhaps A), but K A seems clear on BMC 2629 and O5254. Diameter, weight and style vary widely. Another example, read as LKA, was attributed to Augustus by Dattari (D50); a similar piece, housed under Augustus in NY (1.46 g), seems to have only K, but K[A] cannot be excluded. A worn specimen (=5111/8) has recently turned up in a small hoard of bronzes from Syria, which otherwise had nothing later than AD 121/2. This seems to make an attribution to Augustus inevitable (see p. 694). See A. Burnett, 'The Alexandrian coinage of Caligula', in D. Gerin, A. Geissen and M. Amandry (eds), Aegyptiaca serta in Soheir Bakhoum memoriam. Mélanges de numismatique, d’iconographie et d’histoire, Collezioni Numismatiche 7 (Milano, 2008), pp. 45-7.

Specimens of this coin type

Number Number Museum Bibliography
1 1     Dattari 113 illustrated by Dattari = RIN 1900, 381, no. 112
2 2     L
3 3     L
4 4     L: 1924,1215.3 BMC 2631
5 5     O: HCR34472 M 5254
6 6     O: HCR34473 M 5255
7 7     B: 18233516, I-B
8 8     L: 1991,0130.70
9 9     ✸ J. Clark coll.
10 10     J. Clark coll.