RPC I, 2431A

 

Image of specimen #2

 

Coin type
Volume I
Number 2431A
Province Asia
Subprovince Conventus of Smyrna
Region Aeolis
City Aegae
Reign Claudius
Magistrate Nemeonikos
Obverse inscription ΕΠΙ ΝΕΜΕΟΝΙΚΟΥ
Obverse design helmeted bust of Roma (Athena?), wearing aegis, left
Reverse inscription ΑΙΓΑΕΩΝ
Reverse design Zeus standing, left, holding eagle and sceptre
Metal copper-based alloy
Average diameter 18 mm
Axis 12
Specimens 6 (1 in the core collections)
Note See now L. Bricault, RN 176 (2019), pp. 47-81, at 51-3, suggesting a Flavian date. Previous comment: The name on the obverse is perhaps the father of the Apollonios Nemeonikou who appears on coins of the reign of Vespasian (RPC II, 965–9). Nemeonikos is there translated as referring to a Nemean victor, but this coin shows that it is actually a name. The possibility was considered that this might be the same man as the one who appears on the Flavian coins (cf. on the Claudian coins, we have both ƐΠI ΑΠΟΛΛΟΔΟΡΟΥ ΠΟ ΥIΟΥ ΧΑΛƐΟΥ as well as just ƐΠI ΧΑΛƐΟΥ, both referring to the same man: RPC I, 2429–31), but the reverse design and epigraphy are different from the Flavian coin, and in fact very similar to that on the Claudian coins. If Nemeonikos is the father of the Flavian Apollodoros, then a date for this coin in the Claudian period (plus or minus) would fit well with the coin’s appearance. It is hard to be sure, as ever, whether the head is of Roma or Athena (see also 2428A).
Addition Additional coin-type (post publication)

Specimens of this coin type

Number Number Museum Bibliography
1 1     L: 2002,0201.2
2 2     ✸ CGT coll. = CNG EA 218, 9 Sept. 2009, lot 347
3 3     Naumann 45, 3 July 2016, lot 427
4 4     CGT coll. = Savoca 6 Blue, 7 Apr. 2018, lot 585
5 5     CGT coll. = Savoca 25 Blue, 27 Oct. 2019, lot 1232
6 6     CGT coll. = Savoca 98 Blue, 27 March 2021, lot 701