Nomos AG
obolos 19 8 May 2021
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SYRIA, Coele-Syria. Damascus. Time of Augustus, 27 BC-AD 14. Hemiassarion or Semis (Bronze, 17 mm, 2.68 g, 12 h), dated Seleukid year ΓΠΣ = 283 = 30/29 BC. Laureate and draped bust of Apollo to right, with bow and quiver over his shoulder. Rev. ΔΑΜΑΣΚΗΝΩΝ L ΓΠΣ Athena standing, facing, with spear and shield; around, laurel wreath. RPC 4787.4 (this coin illustrated). RPC Online 4787.4 (this coin) De Saulcy 8. DCA 501. Scarce. Overlaid by earthen encrustations. Uncleaned as found. Good fine.
From the J. S. Wagner Collection.
The bust on the obverse was reattributed from Artemis to Apollo in RPC Supplement I. Neither divinity appears on any subsequent coinage for the city of Damascus. The fact that on the clearest examples of this type the bust clearly wears a laurel wreath, makes the attribution of Apollo certain: even though the way the bow and quiver over his shoulder is typical of Artemis, his masculine appearance and the laurel wreath on his head are quite definitive; in addition, when he appeared on earlier Seleukid coinage from Damascus he has a bow and arrow. - J. Clark
The weight of this coin (2.68 gr) is not consistent with the published weight RPC 4787.4 from the JSW Collection (it weighs 3.33 gr). In contrary, it corresponds to 4787.5 from the same collection. It seems that the metrics and the photos of those two coins were somehow mixed and the actual plate coin of this type in RPC I is not 4787.4 but 4787.5.
From the J. S. Wagner Collection.
The bust on the obverse was reattributed from Artemis to Apollo in RPC Supplement I. Neither divinity appears on any subsequent coinage for the city of Damascus. The fact that on the clearest examples of this type the bust clearly wears a laurel wreath, makes the attribution of Apollo certain: even though the way the bow and quiver over his shoulder is typical of Artemis, his masculine appearance and the laurel wreath on his head are quite definitive; in addition, when he appeared on earlier Seleukid coinage from Damascus he has a bow and arrow. - J. Clark
The weight of this coin (2.68 gr) is not consistent with the published weight RPC 4787.4 from the JSW Collection (it weighs 3.33 gr). In contrary, it corresponds to 4787.5 from the same collection. It seems that the metrics and the photos of those two coins were somehow mixed and the actual plate coin of this type in RPC I is not 4787.4 but 4787.5.