Quinarius, 3.90g., uncertain Eastern mint (Emesa in Syria?), IMP CAES M AVR SE ANTONINVS AVG, laureate head right, rev. VICTOR ANTONINVS AVG, Victory advancing right, holding wreath and palm branch (cf.RIC 163D; BMC p.588; Leu 36, 1985, lot 310, same dies), unusual style and fabric, good extremely fine, one of the finest known, extremely rare

Details

Quinarius, 3.90g., uncertain Eastern mint (Emesa in Syria?), IMP CAES M AVR SE ANTONINVS AVG, laureate head right, rev. VICTOR ANTONINVS AVG, Victory advancing right, holding wreath and palm branch (cf.RIC 163D; BMC p.588; Leu 36, 1985, lot 310, same dies), unusual style and fabric, good extremely fine, one of the finest known, extremely rare

Provenance

F Sternberg auction XIX, 18-19 November 1987, lot 744

Lot Essay

Possibly from the mint of Emesa since this was Elagabalus' home town. See note to lot 148 in Sotheby's 8 July 1996 for a detailed discussion of the alternative attribution to Severus Alexander and Edessa in Mesopotamia.